Director of Development and External Relations

The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York is hiring a Director of Development and External Relations to lead the School’s fundraising, communications, and public programming. Reporting to the Dean and working closely with CCNY’s Office of Institutional Advancement, the successful candidate will be a senior member of the Colin Powell School’s management team. The Director will (1) work with the Dean and others to create and implement a strategic institutional advancement plan, (2) work with the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors, led by General Colin Powell, which provides guidance and support to the School, and (3) engage with the School’s more than 250 full and part-time faculty and staff. 

The Colin Powell School is home to CCNY’s social science departments as well as to many of the College’s core leadership development and public service programs. With 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School mission is to transform the nation’s most diverse student body into tomorrow’s global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants and most come from lower income backgrounds. More than seventy percent are first-generation college students, and eighty percent are people of color. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The successful candidate will help craft a strategic plan for institutional advancement that leverages our unique qualities as a school and that is geared to generate resources to enrich this critical mission.

The Colin Powell School is dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations, disseminating research in usable forms which furthers equality, prosperity, stability, and peace for all people—in Harlem, in New York, and around the world. The School’s annual budget is $14 million. The Director of Development, Communications, and External Affairs will be an employee of the CUNY Research Foundation.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for leading efforts to secure new donors and gifts in support of the Colin Powell School and stewarding those donor relationships that already exist. The person will oversee communications, events, and external affairs that enrich the School’s identity within New York City and nationally.

Working closely with the Dean, as well as the Board of Visitors, faculty and staff, the successful candidate will have the following responsibilities:

• Devise and implement strategies for donor development, communications, and engagement. 
• Support the Dean and Board of Visitors as they structure and expand a major gifts program.
• Support the Dean’s efforts to identify, cultivate and solicit new support for the Colin Powell School from alumni and other individuals, foundations, corporations, and other sources.
• Oversee the engagement of the Board of Visitors and stewardship of alumni, foundations, corporations and community leaders in fundraising efforts.
• Direct and manage the School’s communications efforts, which currently include a twice-a-month e-newsletter, website, and social media.
• Direct and manage the School’s public events programming, which currently includes roughly a dozen events each semester.
• Manage, oversee and support the professional development of staff—currently two full-time people plus interns—who assist with communications and events.

Qualifications

The successful candidate should have a record of experience and success in fundraising and communications, and have experience in managing within a non-profit or similar organization. The candidate must be a highly motivated self-starter with superior written and oral communication skills, the ability to solve complex problems, and the passion for philanthropy required for successful institutional advancement. We seek candidates with:

• At least five years of experience working in a comprehensive and successful institutional development program.
• Experience in successfully planning communications programs, including newsletters, social media, and websites.
• Experience in successfully planning events that effectively engage advocates, donors, and the broader community.
• Knowledge of development infrastructure such as donor tracking, database management, and accounting systems.
• Ability to work comfortably and effectively with individuals and institutional leaders from diverse backgrounds and sectors.
• Exceptional organizational and time management skills.
• Ability and willingness to work flexibly in a dynamic and collaborative environment.
• Bachelor’s degree; graduate degree is preferred.