Executive Director, Advancement

Company: Northeastern University
Location: Boston
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

About the Opportunity JOB SUMMARY The Executive Director, Advancement (ED), as part of an interdisciplinary advancement team, reports to the Senior Associate Vice President of Development, and partners with colleagues at the Assistant, Associate, and Senior Associate Vice President level(s), as well as with the Vice President for Development and the Senior Vice President for Advancement. Multidisciplinary collaboration is now indispensable to transformative research and learning, and in this context, the Executive Director will provide structure and strategy to teams who will be integral to Northeastern’s ambitious fundraising to support its leadership in global experiential higher education. The ED will be a part of an evolving organizational model that will create a comprehensive team of Northeastern advancement generalists with access to content and expertise within the colleges, programs, and campuses. The ED will collaborate with academic leaders to develop individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies yielding major and principal gifts. In addition to managing a portfolio of top prospects, the principal responsibilities of the ED will be managing a small team of advancement professionals within this structure, working closely with colleagues who are responsible for other content specialty areas to identify new major and principal gift prospects across disciplines; to develop and manage comprehensive and compelling solicitation strategies; and to cultivate, solicit, and steward university-wide prospects and donors, thus securing significant philanthropic revenue for the university. In addition, the ED will plan, organize, and execute the major gifts fund-raising program for alumni, parents, and friends for their colleges/programs/campuses. They will manage a small team of advancement professionals. The ED works closely with their colleagues who are responsible for other content specialty areas to identify new major and principal gift prospects across disciplines; to develop comprehensive and compelling solicitation strategies; and to cultivate, solicit, and steward university-wide prospects and donors, thus securing significant philanthropic revenue for the university. They will oversee and provide strategic direction for their content and specialty expertise for not only their own advancement teams but also for their colleagues within the global network. Likewise, they will work with their advancement and other content partners to develop interdisciplinary fundraising programs that support areas within the global network. The ED will manage a portfolio of 80 prospects and donors and will actively solicit prospects at the $500K major gifts level and $1-5M principal gifts level. They will meet or exceed a goal of 80 personal contacts (virtual meetings, phone meetings, and personal visits) per year, utilizing virtual technology and travel to visit identified donors, prospects, and suspects, and meet or exceed annual fundraising and strategic goals. They will build and enhance relationships with Northeastern prospects and donors, involving them strategically in special programs and events, and connecting them to other university leaders and supporters to maximize their involvement with the university. They will use database donor software (Ascend) to track action on donors, prospects, and suspects in a timely and accurate fashion while maintaining appropriate records, reports, and analyses as required. They will oversee the design and production of regularly produced reports on progress toward annual goals for use by colleagues at the Assistant/Associate/Senior Associate/Vice President level(s). This position is Boston-based and not available for remote work. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree preferred The university is seeking a highly entrepreneurial, energetic, and collaborative individual who has 8 years of progressive major gifts fund-raising experience, preferably in higher education Proven track record in soliciting and closing major and principal gifts Demonstrated ability to strategically lead a team, manage a comprehensive program, and hold fundraisers accountable for meeting ambitious fundraising goals Data- and metric-driven mindset Tested ability to work closely with all constituencies Strong interpersonal skills necessary for building relationships with external (donors, prospects, trustees) and internal (deans, faculty, staff, colleagues) constituents Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills Excellent attention to detail Ability to travel frequently (anticipated 60% of the time) Must possess high degree of independent initiative and innovation, negotiation, interpersonal, and networking skills, and ability to build trust with keen communication skills KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES Develop a sound program to facilitate and increase principal and major giving. Working with an interdisciplinary focus, the ED will identify, qualify, and visit an assigned pool of approximately 80 prospects, suspects, and donors to assess their interest in the university and their capacity to make gifts. Develop and manage relationships with these individuals. Discover, cultivate, and solicit alumni, parent, and friend prospects and donors. Utilize virtual meeting technologies and travel as needed to qualify new parent prospects and to build relationships with existing parent prospects and donors. Actively solicit at $500K-$5M gift level. Utilize Advancement data management system (Ascend) to log activity, create call reports and progress reports, and maintain data integrity of prospect portfolio. Meet/exceed standard performance expectations (i.e. 80 personal contacts per year) as defined by supervisor. Collaborate with and guide other content expert colleagues within the global network to significantly increase major and principal gift commitments from prospects and donors. Oversee and provide strategic prospect management and direction to their colleges/programs/campuses. As part of their portfolio, the ED will identify, develop, manage, and support for their college/program/campus leadership prospects (at least 10 per unit), including but not limited to developing solicitation strategies, partnering on each dean’s travel to cultivate and solicit prospects and donors, and serving as the primary resource for these deans to advance strategic fundraising priorities for the college and university across the global network. Management The ED will manage a small team of individual gift fundraisers; participate in the hiring, orientation, and training of direct reports; provide guidance, feedback, coaching, and mentorship to direct reports; and lead by professional example to promote their professional and personal development. A focus of this role includes daily management and professional development of the team members who report directly to this position, including annual goal setting and performance evaluation. Provide indirect management to additional team members as applicable. Position Type Advancement Additional Information Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer. Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Compensation Grade/Pay Type: 115S Expected Hiring Range: $157,130.00 - $227,840.00 With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.

Keywords: Northeastern University, Lawrence , Executive Director, Advancement, PR / Public Relations , Boston, Massachusetts