Assistant Director of Development, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth

Department

ADV Climate and Sustainable Growth

About the Department

The Advancement Office engages alumni (~220k), current students, parents, and friends of the University through intellectual, professional and social activities on campus, around the world and online. Advancement raises $600 Million annually to support faculty and researchers, practitioners and patients, and students and programs across the University. Our work supports priorities in every division, school, department, and institute.

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth (ICSG) advances the University of Chicago's commitment to confronting the global climate challenge through rigorous research, education, and engagement that drive scalable, market-based solutions. The ICSG development team partners with faculty and university leadership to secure philanthropic support from individuals, foundations, and organizations that share this mission. Together, they work to accelerate research on markets and policy, climate systems engineering, and energy and technology; as well as support innovative educational programs that prepare future leaders in climate and sustainability.

The Development team leads efforts to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors in close collaboration with colleagues across Advancement. Through strategic outreach, targeted engagement opportunities, and high-level events, the team deepens relationships with supporters and expands the visibility of ICSG's work within the University community and beyond.

Job Summary

The Assistant Director supports the execution of a comprehensive fundraising and engagement strategy that advances the Institute's mission. Working closely with the Director of Development and colleagues across Advancement, this role helps implement programs to meet contributed income goals, develop and strengthen relationships with alumni, friends, faculty, administrators, and organizations with philanthropic potential, and execute communication, engagement, cultivation, and stewardship efforts that deepen support for ICSG priorities.

This role manages and supports a range of high-level fundraising and engagement initiatives, including prospect and campaign tracking, donor communications, alumni engagement, stewardship activities, and major fundraising projects. In addition, the Assistant Director supports the ICSG Alumni Group and helps coordinate events such as advisory group meetings, institute convenings, and other engagement opportunities that connect alumni, partners, and key stakeholders to ICSG's mission and impact.

This position implements programs designed to meet fundraising goals for contributed income with moderate guidance. Helps build relationships with alumni, faculty, administrators and organizations with potential to make gifts at the instruction of others. Executes communication strategies for projects.

Responsibilities

• Supports the Director of Development (DoD) in all aspects of ICSG fundraising strategy and execution. Provides strategic planning support to the DoD and ICSG team.
• Manages and tracks the status of ICSG campaign initiatives, including maintaining prospect lists, updating case statements, and preparing high-level overviews of campaign priorities.
• Prepares and maintains up-to-date materials that capture ICSG priorities, including case statements, proposals, and presentation decks for use by the DoD, Faculty Director, and other leaders.
• Assists with prospect development and portfolio management, including qualifications, developing giving opportunities, and coordinating with internal partners to move gifts forward.
• Collaborates with colleagues across the University to identify, research, and track new prospects for ICSG priorities.
• Manages the stewardship and acknowledgment process for gifts to ICSG, working with the DoD, faculty, and unit administrators to ensure timely and meaningful follow-up.
• Contributes to special appeals and giving day campaigns by working with communications team to develop targeted content that highlights ICSG impact and opportunities for support.
• Works with the DoD to manage the ICSG Alumni Group and engage alumni active in the climate and energy sector.
• Collaborates with the DoD and ICSG leadership to plan, implement, and follow up on local and regional events for prospective and current donors, alumni, and partners.
• Tracks and assesses event outcomes as they relate to giving, engagement, and new prospect development.
• Maintains accurate donor and prospect records in the Advancement Salesforce CRM system, including visit notes, engagement history, and solicitation tracking.
• Manages internal reporting cycles, ensuring timely updates on campaign progress, prospect movement, and proposal status.
• Serves as a database power user and in-house expert, extracting and analyzing data from Phoenix and other systems to produce custom reports, spreadsheets, charts, and summaries.
• Coordinates communication processes for key announcements and events involving ICSG prospects and donors, ensuring alignment with Advancement and University Communications.
• Drafts and edits materials, such as event briefings, prospect strategy documents, and correspondence.
• Seeks opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance including attending webinars, seminars, and building networks within the University and with colleagues at peer institutions.
• Writes timely and strategic correspondences to advance relationships.
• Works with others to maximize prospective donor cultivation.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

• --

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of two years of professional work experience in fundraising, development, alumni relations, donor relations, nonprofit management, research, marketing, communications, sales, or similar field.
• Background in fundraising, contact management or other database software.
• Familiar with research and prospect management.
• Background in prospect management, research and/or other advancement services.
• Working knowledge of planning and executing events requiring a high attention to detail.

Technical Skill or Knowledge:

• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to quickly learn, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools available to Advancement, including Phoenix, the University's Donor Relationship Management System.
• Proficient in a Microsoft Windows computer environment, especially Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Trello.

Preferred Competencies

• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, and write effectively.
• Manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
• Act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Self-motivated and take initiative.
• Prioritize multiple projects and independently follow through with detail.
• Attend and help with weekend and evening events as needed.

Working Conditions

• This position has a hybrid work schedule which includes weekly in-office presence.
• Standard office environment.
• Travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business.
• Work evenings and weekends as needed.
• This position is located in Hyde Park at 5235 South Harper Court.
• This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter, addressed to Hiring Committee (required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Alumni Relations & Development

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Range

$63,750.00 - $75,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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