Job Posting Title:
Director of Advancement Operations
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Hiring Department:
School of Civic Leadership
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Position Open To:
All Applicants
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Weekly Scheduled Hours:
40
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FLSA Status:
Exempt
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Earliest Start Date:
Immediately
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Position Duration:
Expected to Continue
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Location:
AUSTIN, TX
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Job Details:
General Notes
Established in 2023 as UT Austin’s newest college, the School of Civic Leadership is a community of scholars and students dedicated to studying the foundational ideas and institutions of a free society, with the goal of advancing human flourishing. We value independent thought, civil discourse, reasoned deliberation, and intellectual curiosity as we prepare to meet the challenges of the present and sustain the blessings of liberty for future generations.
Upholding the University’s motto—Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis, “Education is the guardian genius of democracy”—we advance The University of Texas at Austin’s mission to achieve excellence in education, research, and public service.
The University of Texas at Austin provides an outstanding benefits package to staff, including:
- Competitive health benefits (Employee premiums covered at 100%; family premiums at 50%)
- Vision, dental, life, and disability insurance options
- Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
- Teachers Retirement System of Texas (a defined benefit retirement plan)
- Additional voluntary retirement programs: tax sheltered annuity 403(b) and a deferred compensation program 457(b)
- Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses
- Training and conference opportunities
- Tuition assistance
- Athletic ticket discounts
- Access to UT Austin's libraries and museums
- Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Capital Metro buses with staff ID card
For more details, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards
Purpose
The Director of Advancement Operations ensures administrative excellence, process integrity, and executional discipline across fundraising activities. This role owns systems, workflows, reporting, and internal coordination to enable frontline fundraisers and leadership to focus on donor strategy, cultivation, and relationship management.
Responsibilities
- Own and continuously refine all development operations, including workflows, systems, and procedures, to ensure efficiency, scalability, and alignment with organizational strategy.
- Implement and maintain clear operational standards and best practices to drive consistency, accountability, and high-quality execution across the development function.
- Provide strategic oversight of fundraising pipelines, ensuring accurate tracking, forecasting, and timely movement from prospecting through stewardship.
- Partner closely with Chief Development Officer to translate strategic priorities into actionable plans, aligning resources, timelines, and performance expectations.
- Oversee budgeting, expense management, and financial coordination in collaboration with finance, ensuring transparency and fiscal discipline.
- Lead the development of reporting infrastructure, including dashboards and key performance metrics, to inform decision-making and measure impact.
- Direct the preparation of board materials, executive briefings, and high-level reports, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and strategic relevance.
- Oversee the full lifecycle of donor operations, including proposal development, gift processing, and stewardship, ensuring a seamless and high-quality donor experience.
- Drive cross-functional collaboration by aligning development with finance, communications, and other teams on data, messaging, and timelines.
- Serve as an operational advisor, proactively identifying challenges, prioritizing competing demands, and implementing solutions that advance organizational goals.
- Lead and mentor staff on operational processes, systems, and performance expectations, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required
- 5+ years experience in operations, advancement, administration, or project management
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex workflows
- Strong organizational and analytical skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication
Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in development / advancement / higher education
- CRM and reporting systems familiarity
- Budget and process management experience
- Stakeholder coordination experience
Salary Range
$90,000+ depending on qualifications
Required Materials
Resume/CV
- 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
- Letter of interest
Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.
Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.
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Employment Eligibility:
Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.
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Retirement Plan Eligibility:
The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.
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Background Checks:
A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.
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Equal Opportunity Employer:
The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.
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Pay Transparency:
The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.
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Employment Eligibility Verification:
If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.
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E-Verify:
The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:
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Compliance:
Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.
The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.
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