Job Opening: Strategic Engagement Officer

Job Title & Grade: Donor Relations Officer I, Gr 8.

 

Position Title: Strategic Engagement Officer

 

Effort: 100%, Temporary 2 years

 

Reports to: Assistant Dean for External Relations and Strategic Initiatives, School of Architecture and Planning

 

Position Overview

 

SA+P is at an exciting inflection point in its history. With the forthcoming move to the Metropolitan Storage Warehouse and the school taking on leadership roles in MIT-wide initiatives (e.g., MIT Climate Project, MIT Mobility Initiative), SA+P is positioned for significant growth and impact in the years ahead. To build on this momentum, the SA+P Dean’s Office is expanding its fundraising team to secure the resources needed to fully empower our talented faculty and students to advance key priorities, pursue a bold research and teaching agenda, and address urgent global challenges.

 

The Strategic Engagement Officer will play a pivotal role in advancing the mission of SA+P by supporting fundraising communications, crafting compelling stories, and building impactful cases for support to meaningfully engage alumni, prospects, and donors. This individual will also support the efforts of the Dean’s Office to plan and execute events that engage a global community of alumni, friends, and stakeholders. This role will help support the Dean’s Office to manage, expand, and track a dynamic portfolio of alumni, donors, and prospects. As capacity allows, this individual will be encouraged to build and manage their own portfolio of prospects and donors, particularly among the SA+P alumni base. Overall, this individual will help foster a collaborative team environment that encourages innovation and excellence in engaging alumni, donors, and prospects. Please note that, in keeping with MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, the Dean’s Office is committed to experimentation, piloting new ideas, and out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to developing and deploying engagement opportunities with and for its global community. 

 

 

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions)

 

40% Donor communications strategy 

 

  • Develop and lead broad-based strategies and implementing an overarching stewardship and donor relations plan for donors to SA&P.
  • Work closely with faculty and academic leaders to understand their needs and priorities, crafting targeted fundraising strategies and communication plans that align with the School's mission and goals.
  • Develop and implement donor-centric communications, including through the preparation of correspondence from faculty leaders to prospects and donors.
  • Oversee and contribute to the development of high-impact fundraising materials that showcase the School's priorities. This will include taking a leadership role in drafting of proposals, cases for support, and collateral materials.
  • Collaborate with the Assistant Dean for External Relations and Strategic Initiatives, as well as School leadership and communication professionals across the Institute, to refine communications strategies and compelling stories of impact.
  • Explore creative opportunities to engage donors and prospects, both in person and virtually.

 

40% Stewardship pipeline and fundraising 

 

  • Collaborate with the Individual Giving Officer in the Dean’s Office to prepare and coordinate the production of compelling stewardship materials for the School’s donors, especially the most generous donors, so they can fully understand the impact of their giving.
  • Work with the departments, labs, and centers to help ensure gifts and funds are deployed in impactful ways, and help these units share stories of impact with external communities.
  • Support the Dean’s Office and units across the School to track tasks and next steps for a pipeline of donors and prospects for School-wide, unit-specific, and faculty-driven initiatives.
  • Collaborate with colleagues across the Institute to identify new potential prospects and help the Dean’s Office devise engagement strategies.
  • Identifies, cultivates, and solicits and stewards a limited portfolio of principal gift prospects
  • May develop a blended portfolio of prospects for purposes of qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding both prospects and donors.

20% Event strategy and messaging

 

  • Help oversee the School’s efforts to plan and execute events involving alumni and donors, ranging from intimate dinners, to large-scale alumni events, to virtual programming.
  • Support the work of the Dean’s Office, departments, labs, and centers in the School to plan fundraising-related events.
  • Serve as the Dean’s Office liaison with units across the MIT community, such as the Alumni Association and Resource Development, to help build a slate of compelling programs that can engage a broad base of alumni and friends in domestic and international markets.

 

Supervision Received

Reports to the Assistant Dean for External Relations and Strategic Initiatives.

 

Qualifications & Skills

REQUIRED

Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 5 years experience in stewardship/donor relations, communications, development or a related field required.. Candidates should have strong verbal and written communication skills, as well as strong interpersonal and presentation skills. Ability to work successfully with a diverse, international population of faculty, sponsors, staff, and students required.  Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. Experience with CRM systems and proficiency in using other software tools for project management, data analysis, and presentation development. Travel, evening, and weekend work as required. 

PREFERRED

Experience and/or a degree in the disciplines represented in SA+P, especially architecture, art, design, media, technology, and urbanism.

Hiring range: $90,000 - $105,000