Senior Associate Director, Senior Leadership Engagement

The Senior Leadership Engagement team manages and implements donor and alumni engagement activities involving the President, Provost, Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Dean, SEAS Dean, and additional FAS academic leadership of Harvard University. These activities include planning AA&D-focused travel, facilitating event participation, and organizing donor and prospect meetings. To do this, the team builds strategic partnerships with AA&D colleagues from across the University to help coordinate and facilitate alumni engagement, donor cultivation and stewardship opportunities, with University and FAS leadership.
This is a strategic leadership position within the Senior Leadership Engagement team and includes management responsibilities for an assistant director, a coordinator, and an additional assistant director with a dotted line. The position is responsible for establishing and overseeing best practices related to supporting FAS academic leaders in trips, prospect meetings, and event participation. As part of this responsibility, the role serves as a strategic thought partner with FAS Development leadership and fundraisers to ensure that FAS academic leaders’ development time is aligned with fundraising objectives.
In addition to leadership responsibilities, this position also carries the FAS Dean’s portfolio and other FAS academic leaders, including but not limited to: itinerary and visit pipeline management, communication with prospects, briefing review, coordination with event hosts, trip logistics oversight, and partnership with academic leaders’ offices.
Job-Specific Responsibilities:
Works with the Executive Director, Director, and FAS Development leadership to develop fiscal-year plans for FAS academic leaders and administrators, including virtual visits, travel plans, event participation, and other FAS development needs.
Serves as a key partner to the FAS management team and regional leads to ensure effective engagement of FAS academic leaders with donors, volunteers, and prospects. This includes developing reporting processes, establishing criteria for engagement activity, and prioritizing leadership time.
Manages and oversees the work of two assistant directors supporting the FAS leaders and a coordinator.
Oversees all data management practices of the SLE team. This includes implementing tracking best practices, ensuring team regularly updates information, overseeing regular audits of Advance data, creating reports for senior management, and providing data to inform annual planning. This also includes working with Operation partners to identify new and better opportunities for data management.
Manages the FAS Dean’s portfolio and select FAS academic leaders.
This position will partner closely with the Associate Vice President and Dean of FAS Development, the Associate Dean of FAS Development, and FAS Administrative and Academic Leadership on leadership engagement with donors, prospects and alumni through 1:1 meetings and events. This includes:
Partnering with the FAS Development management team and regional leads to deploy leaders in trips, prospect meetings, and events, including itinerary development and pipeline prioritization.
Overseeing (with support from the coordinator and development assistant) all aspects of meetings and events arranged by AA&D, including outreach, scheduling, logistics, travel arrangements, briefing coordination, and record-keeping.
Working with senior leaders and prospect managers to review, finalize, and package all materials for leaders as they relate to their engagements with AA&D.
Maintaining ongoing communication with staff in FAS academic offices to prepare and coordinate AA&D activity, serving as their first point of contact for scheduling and logistics questions related to development and alumni affairs across the University.
Coordinating internal approval processes for event invitations, meeting requests, and other engagements.
Liaising with donor hosts for select small events and receptions and managing invitation pools and communications in partnership with fundraising colleagues.
As needed, is responsible for process-improvement projects at the direction of the Director.
Attends planning meetings, training sessions, events, and conferences as necessary.
Cultivates favorable working relationships with institutional and external constituencies and provides the highest level of client service.
The above covers the most significant responsibilities of the position. It does not exclude other duties, the inclusion of which would be in conformity with the level of the position.
Basic Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience required
A minimum of 8 years relevant work experience; preferably in a fundraising and/or academic environment
Proven ability in project management
Knowledge of Microsoft Office software
Occasionally work additional evening, weekend hours, and limited travel.
This job is hybrid, requiring specific days in office each week.
Additional Qualifications and Skills:
Must be highly organized, detail-oriented, and have strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Ability to establish and promote good working relationships with alumni, colleagues, faculty, administrators, and students.
Must be flexible and possess the ability to handle multiple tasks accurately under deadline pressure.
Proven ability working in a complex organization and making informed decisions in the context of strategic organizational goals and policies.
Must be able to work independently and take initiative. Must have ability to handle confidential materials with discretion.
Must be a professional, proactive, creative, collaborative, conscientious, and results-oriented individual. Should have ability to think strategically and conceptually, and display sound judgment.
Solid computer skills in a PC environment with the capability to master new software applications and technologies, including database management.
Must be energetic, motivated to learn and open to change.
Excellent speaking, writing, and client service skills required. Professional phone etiquette required.

Employment type
Full-time

Work arrangement
Hybrid