Development Director in the Office of Development

Position Summary:

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston ("UTHealth Houston") seeks an established fundraiser to serve as a Development Director, Major Gifts. This is a unique opportunity to join a philanthropic team supporting one of the most respected academic medical centers. This search is in partnership with WittKeifer, Nominations and inquiries can be directed to Ashley Buderus and Jevon Walton at [email protected]. Their advertisement can be found at:  

https://wittkieffer.com/positions/a1wut000006cizhmak

You are welcome to apply here as well. We will be reviewing these submissions. 

Founded in 1972, UTHealth Houston is a comprehensive academic health university in Texas, uniting schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, public health, biomedical sciences, and biomedical informatics. Located in the Texas Medical Center, considered the largest medical center in the world, UTHealth Houston comprises more than 60 owned buildings and leased facilities totaling nearly 5 million square feet of usable space. Its mission is to educate health science professionals, discover and translate advances in the biomedical and social sciences, and model the best practices in clinical care and public health. UTHealth Houston's development team is responsible for all private support to the organization from alumni, parents, friends, and foundations. In April 2023, UTHealth Houston completed its largest comprehensive Campaign, MANY FACES. ONE MISSION. The Campaign for UTHealth. The Campaign raised $534.4 million and became the largest gift of its kind in Houston's history. More than 11,315 donors contributed to the record sum. UTHealth Houston looks forward to building on the Campaign's momentum.

The Development Director, Major Gifts (Director), will play a key role on the development team. The Director will manage a portfolio of donors and look to raise $2 million annually. The Development Director will develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive fundraising and advancement efforts to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gifts, planned gifts, endowments, and annual giving programs to benefit the assigned service line or school within UTHealth Houston. With the Campaign's conclusion, UTHealth Houston has an opportunity to steward existing donors and engage new audiences.

The ideal candidate will be a distinguished fundraiser with a proven track record of major gift solicitations. The individual should be a team player who is intellectually curious. The ideal candidate should have at least five years of related professional experience, preferably in medicine, health care, higher education, or science.

The Development Director will have a deep commitment to advancing the quality of human life by enhancing the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injury and promoting individual health and community well-being. This commitment will be complemented by experience in highly matrixed, complex organizations, ensuring the selected Director can understand and learn organizational relationships and dynamics and use them to achieve objectives.

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’s resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

Once you join us, you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:  

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees  
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equate to around 37-38 days per year) 
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue! 
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service) 
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan! 

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ well-being is important to us. We offer work/life services such as... 

• Free financial and legal counseling 
• Free mental health counseling services 
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs 
• Other employee discounts, including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc. 
• Resources for child and elder care 
• Plus many more! 

Position Key Accountabilities:

1. Develops strategy and solicits major gifts primarily from individuals and occasionally from firms, corporations, and foundations.  Identifies, cultivates, and manages a large pool of prospective donors and qualifies leads.

2. Constructs a set of activities and initiatives leading to the solicitation of major gifts.  Works with volunteers to identify individual, corporate, and foundation prospects.

3. Works with the Prospect Research team to develop a strong and continuous donor pool.

4. Participates in strategic planning, working with volunteer and advisory boards, communications, and public relations planning; serves as an organizational liaison in planned giving, corporate, and foundation relations.

5. Travels primarily in the state with occasional national travel to secure private support from alumni, individuals, corporate, and foundation representatives.

6. Stewards alumni involved with major initiatives, to include follow-up visits as needed, and works creatively to successfully close pending solicitations.

7. Participates in University development meetings as appropriate.  Attends events/special functions as required.

8. Meets monthly goals for donor visits, and meets proposal, fundraising, program, and planned giving goals as established by the central Development Office.

9. Works with Dean and faculty to formalize funding priorities, and develops strategies for achieving service line or school’s major gift goals.

10. Lead, as applicable, special fundraising initiatives such as priority programs or events that result in increased fundraising success.

11. May manage Human Resources activities of the department in regard to: recruiting and selection, hiring and termination, training, professional development, mentoring, counseling, performance evaluations, and salary planning.  

12. Responsible for the design, execution, and effectiveness of a system of internal controls which provides reasonable assurance that operations are effective and efficient, assets are safeguarded, and financial information is reliable and compliant with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.

13. Performs other duties as assigned.

Certification/Skills:

• Demonstrated experience working with senior-level and executive leadership.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision; demonstrated energetic and enthusiastic self-starter with the ability to relate well with and influence decisions of a diverse constituency.
• Proven track record of cultivating, soliciting, and closing gifts of $50,000 and above.
• Ability to systematically analyze complex issues and resolve problems quickly, using discretion with sensitive material.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex information clearly in oral and written formats to a variety of audiences.
• Skill in working cooperatively in a team environment.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a related field required, Master's Degree preferred

Minimum Experience:

At least 5 years of related professional fundraising experience required. Experience in medicine, health care, higher education, or science fields preferred

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 10 pounds frequently and/or a negligible amount constantly to move objects.

Security Sensitive:

This position is a security-sensitive position pursuant to Texas Education Code §51.215 and Texas Government Code §411.094. To the extent that a position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Texas Business and Commerce Code §117.001(2), the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired for and to continue to be employed in that position. Personnel in such positions, and similarly situated state contractors, will be routinely reviewed to determine whether factors such as criminal history or continuous connections to the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary might prevent the applicant, employee, or contractor from maintaining the security or integrity of the infrastructure. A foreign adversary is a nation listed in 15 C.F.R. §791.4.

Residency Requirement:

Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.