Lawrence Development Leadership Administrator
About the Role
This position provides administrative, communications, and operational support to three Lawrence Development Assistant Vice Presidents whose portfolios include constituent fundraising management, the development and execution of strategic fundraising initiatives, and oversight of their own donor portfolios. The individual in this role manages day-to-day operations for senior leaders, including oversight of email inboxes and dynamic calendars. They ensure calendars are structured with thoughtful pacing—including breaks and travel time between commitments—and anticipate meeting needs by preparing required materials in advance. Responsibilities also include proactive monitoring, triaging, drafting responses, and routing inquiries appropriately, while collaborating closely with the AVPs, who remain actively engaged in their own communications. Additional duties include supporting expense reporting, mileage tracking, monitoring development budgets, and capital and development projects management as needed.
Success in this position requires exceptional organizational skills and strong written communication abilities; the capacity to draft sensitive, time critical materials with minimal guidance; and the confidence to represent leadership priorities accurately and consistently. The individual must handle confidential information with sound judgment and discretion. This role is essential to ensuring development leaders remain focused on their highest value work, enabling them to carry out fundraising, strategic planning, and people management responsibilities efficiently and effectively.
The individual in this position is expected to embrace KU Endowment's stated core values – collaboration, curiosity, empowerment, and excellence – and demonstrate support for them through professional interactions and activities.
Hybrid Work Environment
Following the initial training period, this position offers a hybrid work schedule, with the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. However, the role requires multiple days per week on-site at our Lawrence, KS office to ensure effective collaboration, team engagement, and alignment with organizational goals.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary administrative and communications support for two managing Assistant Vice Presidents of Development and one Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives.
- Serve as a central coordination and execution support resource for leadership driven-initiatives by translating priorities into actionable tasks, coordinating inputs across teams, monitoring progress, and supporting the development of key deliverables, in partnership with formal project management resources when applicable.
- Actively monitor, manage, and triage email inboxes, determining appropriate action, drafting responses, redirecting inquiries, and escalating issues as needed.
- Draft, edit, and finalize critical written communications, including internal memos, donor correspondence, campus partner communications, and leadership summaries, often with minimal direction.
- Correspond independently and directly with donors, campus partners, and senior staff, exercising discretion and sound judgment.
- Anticipate needs, manage deadlines, and proactively address conflicts or gaps across leaders' portfolios. Ensure timely follow-through and clear communication across teams.
- Manage multiple and complex calendars, balancing competing priorities and proactively resolving scheduling conflicts.
- Coordinate meeting preparation, including agendas, briefing materials, background information, and post meeting follow-up.
- Maintain records and documentation of a highly confidential nature, ensuring compliance with privacy and data handling standards.
- Support onboarding and integration of new AVPs by serving as a knowledgeable resource on processes, partners, and expectations.
- Represent AVPs with professionalism, diplomacy, and confidence in interactions with donors, campus administrators, and internal stakeholders.
- Build strong working relationships across departments to facilitate collaboration and problem solving.
- Model executive presence and sound judgment in all interactions, serving as a trusted and reliable point of contact.
- Regular and reliable attendance is essential.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- High school diploma or equivalent required.
- Bachelor's degree preferred.
- Minimum of three to five years of administrative or executive support experience, or an equivalent combination of administrative and transferable professional experience (e.g., project management, coordination), preferably supporting senior or executive leadership.
- Familiarity with KU Endowment and the University of Kansas enterprise preferred.
- Valid driver's license.
- Must have access to reliable transportation to travel between multiple locations for training, donor meetings, networking, events and/or work-related activities.
- Must be able to respond quickly and effectively to directions and safety hazards.
Skills
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft high stakes-communications independently.
- Proven ability to exercise discretion, judgment, and confidentiality.
- Advanced organizational and prioritization skills; able to manage complexity across multiple leaders and functions.
- Ability to provide administrative support for projects, including managing timelines, organizing materials, tracking next steps, and coordinating communication among team members.
- Strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence; able to build trust with donors, campus leaders, and colleagues.
- Strategic thinking with the ability to connect daily execution to larger organizational goals.
- Proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with the ability to anticipate-needs and propose improvements.
- High proficiency in Microsoft Office products, collaboration tools, and databases.
- Ability to work independently while operating as an integral member of a senior leadership team.
- Preferred experience in CRM databases (e.g., SalesForce), project management tools (e.g., Asana), business intelligence and analytics software (e.g. Tableau), and visualization tools (e.g., Visio).
Benefits
- 100% employer-paid pension plan
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) and Roth 401(k) matching program
- Section 125 flexible benefits
- Generous paid leave including holidays, personal and sick leave
- Volunteer and community engagement opportunities
- Paid Parental Leave
- Life, AD&D, short- and long-term disability insurance
- Legal & ID Theft protection
- Critical Illness
- Accident and Hospital Indemnity insurance
- KU education assistance
- Free parking