Executive Director - Development Innovation & Enablement

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The University of Miami, Division of Development and Alumni Relations, has an exciting opportunity for an Executive Director, Development Resources to work in Coral Gables, FL.

Development Resources

Working Title: Executive Director, Development Innovation & Enablement

Division: Development and Alumni Relations
Reports To: Senior Vice President, Development and Alumni Relations

Position Overview

The Executive Director, Development Innovation & Enablement is a senior leadership role within the Division of Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) responsible for identifying, building, and implementing new approaches that improve fundraising effectiveness, strengthen donor engagement, and increase organizational productivity.

The Executive Director will lead a small team focused on practical innovation within the development enterprise, including the use of artificial intelligence, automation, emerging digital tools, and redesigned business processes. The position will help DAR translate rapidly evolving capabilities into practical applications that support fundraisers and advancement professionals in their day-to-day work.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The successful candidate must be equally comfortable setting strategy and directly designing, testing, configuring, and improving solutions. The Executive Director will be expected to move ideas from concept to working implementation rather than serving solely as an advisor, strategist, or project sponsor.

The role reports directly to the Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations and works closely with Development Resources, frontline fundraising teams, annual and leadership giving, donor relations, communications, and other DAR functions. The Executive Director will also partner appropriately with University technology, information security, compliance, and other institutional partners to ensure that solutions are implemented using approved tools and consistent with University requirements.

Department Specific Functions:

Development Innovation and Implementation

• Identify opportunities to improve fundraising performance, donor engagement, and staff productivity through better processes, automation, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies.
• Design, prototype, build, test, and implement practical solutions using University-approved platforms and tools, including reusable workflows, tools, templates, agents, and other resources that can be scaled across the division.
• Personally participate in solution development and configuration rather than relying exclusively on vendors, consultants, or technical partners.
• Translate fundraising and operational challenges into workable solutions that can be adopted by DAR teams.
• Maintain a strong understanding of developments in artificial intelligence, automation, digital engagement, and related technologies that may have practical application within advancement.
• Lead and develop a small team responsible for development innovation, process improvement, and implementation; Provide direct supervision, coaching, prioritization, and technical guidance to team members.
• Build the capabilities of existing staff who have demonstrated aptitude in automation, agentic workflows, and emerging technologies.

Fundraising Enablement

• Partner with fundraising leaders to identify opportunities to improve prospect identification, portfolio management, donor engagement, solicitation preparation, stewardship, pipeline development, and fundraiser productivity.
• Develop tools and workflows that make it easier for frontline fundraisers to access information, prepare for donor interactions, execute follow-up activity, and manage portfolios.
• Support the development of technology-enabled approaches for engaging donors and prospects who cannot economically receive traditional one-to-one staff coverage.
• Work closely with Leadership Giving, Annual Giving, Estate and Gift Planning, Major Gifts, Principal Gifts, Medical Development, and other fundraising teams to identify opportunities for increased philanthropic productivity.
• Help establish a disciplined process for moving successful pilots from experimentation into regular DAR practice.

Process Improvement and Organizational Effectiveness

• Work with Development Resources leadership to ensure that new approaches complement existing systems, data practices, and operational processes.

• Help DAR staff understand and effectively use new tools and capabilities introduced by the division.
• Partner with Professional Development & Training to develop practical training, guidance, examples, and resources.

Institutional Partnership and Responsible Use

• Ensure that tools and solutions developed by the team operate within University-approved technology environments and established policies.
• Partner with appropriate University offices on information security, privacy, compliance, technology standards, and related requirements.
• Protect confidential donor, prospect, alumni, patient, and University information.
• Establish appropriate human review and accountability within DAR workflows that use artificial intelligence or automation.
• Ensure that innovation efforts support, rather than displace, professional judgment and relationship-based fundraising.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

Core Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business, analytics, information management, computer science, advancement, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated experience personally building, configuring, prototyping, or implementing technology-enabled solutions, rather than solely managing projects or vendors.
• Demonstrated experience using automation, low-code/no-code platforms, artificial intelligence tools, workflow technologies, or comparable platforms to solve operational problems.
• Experience moving projects from concept and prototype through implementation and adoption.
• Experience leading and developing staff.
• Strong project management, prioritization, and execution skills.
• Excellent judgment and the ability to work effectively in environments involving confidential or sensitive information.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both senior executives and operational staff.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across organizational boundaries.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in advancement, fundraising, higher education, nonprofit organizations, or another relationship-intensive enterprise.
• Experience with CRM systems such as Salesforce, Blackbaud, Ellucian, or comparable platforms.
• Experience using enterprise artificial intelligence and productivity platforms such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Gemini, Claude, or comparable tools.
• Experience developing AI-enabled workflows, agents, automations, or similar applications.
• Experience with Microsoft Power Platform or comparable automation and low-code development environments.
• Familiarity with fundraising operations, donor pipelines, prospect management, annual giving, major gifts, or advancement services.
• Familiarity with privacy, security, and responsible-use considerations associated with sensitive institutional data.
• Master's degree or relevant professional certifications preferred.

Any relevant education, certifications and/or work experience may be considered.

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The University of Miami is recognized as one of the nation’s premier research institutions and academic health systems and is among the largest employers in South Florida.

With more than 20,000 faculty and staff, the University is committed to excellence and guided by a mission to positively impact the lives of students, patients, and communities locally and globally.

We are dedicated to fostering a culture where every individual feels valued and empowered to contribute meaningfully. United by shared values, the University community works together to build an environment defined by purpose, collaboration, and service.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law. Click here for additional information.

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