Assistant Vice President of Advancement Operations - Harvey Mudd College

About the role

The Assistant Vice President of Advancement Operations and Campaigns (AVP) at Harvey Mudd College will oversee the design, integration, and oversight of the systems, policies, analytics, and campaign infrastructure that enable the college's fundraising success. Reporting to the Vice President for Advancement, the AVP will shape and lead the foundational architecture required for an ambitious comprehensive campaign and sustained annual fundraising exceeding $25 million.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic direction and day-to-day leadership for the Operations and Campaigns division, overseeing approximately 10 professional staff across Donor Relations, Prospect Development, and Advancement Services.
• Ensure that advancement operations function as an integrated system supporting frontline fundraising, volunteer leadership, and institutional priorities.
• Oversee divisional budget, staffing models, workflows, and technology investments to ensure readiness for a campaign environment and long-term scalability.
• Build and mentor a cohesive, forward-looking team grounded in data-informed decision making, professional development, and continuous improvement.
• Lead prospect identification, research, qualification, and prioritization to sustain a strong pipeline of major and principal gift opportunities.
• Establish and monitor clear metrics for portfolio balance, movement, and velocity; lead regular portfolio review processes in partnership with Development leadership.
• Leverage data analytics, wealth screening, and predictive tools to inform prospect strategy and maximize fundraising effectiveness.
• Lead the operational planning and execution of Harvey Mudd College’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, ensuring alignment with the strategic plan, institutional priorities, and leadership expectations.
• Support campaign governance structures, including internal and external committees, volunteer leadership roles, timelines, and deliverables.
• Develop and maintain sophisticated dashboards and reporting tools that provide the Vice President, President, and senior leadership with real-time insight into campaign progress, pipeline health, and goal attainment.
• Partner closely with the AVP for Development, Advancement Communications, and campus leadership to ensure campaign goals, messaging, and execution are fully aligned.
• Ensure best-in-class performance in gift processing, records management, database integrity, and donor data security.
• Lead the implementation and use of advanced tools, including FundMiner, to support campaign counting, fund vitality analysis, and endowment performance monitoring.
• Develop and implement division-wide policies and standards, including campaign counting, gift acceptance, naming conventions, and internal controls.
• Partner with Business Affairs, Finance, and IT to ensure compliance with IRS regulations, audit requirements, and institutional financial controls.
• Serve as a strategic partner to the Vice President for Advancement and senior leadership, aligning advancement operations with campaign, fundraising, and engagement objectives.
• Represent Advancement Operations in cross-campus initiatives, advocating for systems, data, and process needs that support institutional goals.
• Ensure continuity of critical advancement systems and operations, including responsiveness during peak campaign periods or system disruptions.
• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with key offices and partners across campus, including the President’s Office, the Dean of Faculty Office, Admission, Financial Aid, Student Affairs, Financial Affairs, Communications & Marketing, academic departments and centers, and Career Services, to coordinate and amplify engagement opportunities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• 7 to 10+ years of progressive advancement or operations experience, including 5+ years in a senior leadership role overseeing campaign infrastructure, operations, research, advancement services and donor relations.
• Proficiency with fundraising CRMs (e.g., Salesforce, Blackbaud), campaign and donor reporting, and a track record of transitioning manual workflows into automated, system-driven processes.
• Exceptional written and verbal skills, with a proven ability to translate complex data or institutional successes into compelling, donor-centric narratives.
• Confidence interacting with high-profile donors, board members, and executive leadership, while maintaining absolute confidentiality with sensitive financial data.
• A proven track record of managing, mentoring professional staff across diverse operational functions (e.g., data, research, donor relations); ability to set high performance expectations and build a culture of continuous improvement grounded in trust.
• Experience building and managing the infrastructure procedures, and policies for comprehensive campaigns, with a proven ability to design executable workflows, align divisional budgets, and establish precise pipeline tracking and performance metrics.
• Ability to work independently and commit to occasional evening or weekend hours for major fundraising events.