Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement

Overview:

Gordon-Conwell is a multidenominational, protestant graduate school, unique with its broad array of over 1,300 students and 200 faculty and staff from 78 denominations and over 50 countries. We offer a residential model of education at South Hamilton, MA (our main campus); an urban context in Boston, MA; adult educational models in both our Charlotte, NC campus and our offerings in Jacksonville, FL; in addition to online and cohort models involving students from around the world.

Our mission is to prepare men and women for ministry at home and abroad. Rooted in the gospel and God’s Word, the seminary seeks to develop Christian leaders who are thoughtful, globally aware, spiritually mature, and ready for a broad array of ministries. While being historically orthodox and evangelical, we seek to address the issues of our times with both relevance to the culture and faithfulness to Christ and God’s truthful Word.

Position Summary:

Reporting to the Senior Director of Alumni Engagement, the Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement supports and engages Gordon-Conwell alumni, with primary responsibility for: regular alumni communications, planning and executing on and off-site alumni gatherings and events, and managing two alumni and friends’ annual giving campaigns. The Assistant Director also shares responsibility for overseeing student workers. This is a full-time position with opportunities for hybrid work.

Key Responsibilities:

Regular Alumni Communications:

• Cultivate relationships with Gordon-Conwell alumni through in-person, online, and mediated interactions, growing the seminary’s support for our alumni and deepening their engagement with Gordon-Conwell and their personal, professional, and financial support.
• Produce bi-monthly alumni newsletters, alumni and friends prayer emails, and other content in consultation with the Senior Director and other seminary departments.
• Develop strategy and content for alumni related social-media posts and alumni web pages.
• Research and collect alumni news and stories as well as events and publications of interest to alumni for the purpose of continuing to inform and serve the alumni, promote Gordon-Conwell, and identify opportunities for partnership.
• Manage responses to incoming alumni communications and requests.

Alumni Event Planning:

• Collaborate with the Senior Director in designing, promoting, and executing successful on-campus and virtual alumni events.
• Oversee planning, logistics and communication for off-campus denominational, conference, and geographically based in-person alumni events. Serve as host for some of these events.

Annual Giving:

• Collaborate with the Senior Director and other Advancement colleagues to design a new annual spring alumni fundraising campaign and develop the fall campaign for Giving Tuesday.
• Investigate giving platforms for these campaigns; manage platform once selected.
• Implement and manage all aspects of the two annual giving campaigns, including communications, real-time campaign management, and reporting.

Other Responsibilities:

• Propose and develop new methods or strategies to engage and support Gordon-Conwell alumni.
• Supervise gathering, integrating, and analysis of Alumni survey data.
• Supervise one or more alumni office student workers.
• Various other duties as assigned by the Senior Director or VP of Advancement.

Key Competencies:

• Communication Skills: Must have excellent listening, writing, and verbal communication skills. Familiarity with interviewing, editing, and copywriting preferred.
• Interpersonal Effectiveness: Personal warmth, ease in initiating and developing relationships, exceptional interpersonal communication skills, and evident grace and thoughtfulness in relationships with a diverse constituency of alumni. Commitment to collegiality, diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness through actions, interactions, and communication with others.
• Event Planning: Must be able to design, plan, and facilitate events and trouble shoot issues accordingly to ensure positive attendee experience. Communicate effectively and in a timely fashion with attendees, outside organizations, venues, and vendors.
• Organizational Skills: Must be highly organized and accurately perform detailed work. Must have the ability to manage the full scope of multi-stage projects and manage time well amidst sometimes competing priorities. Must possess sound judgment and the ability to work independently and also demonstrate an ability to collaborate and serve in a team environment that requires collegiality and collaboration with other seminary offices.
• Knowledge and Discernment: Must be sensitive to the varied needs of a diverse alumni population, have the ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality, and be capable of functioning effectively within a matrixed environment.
• Technical Knowledge: Competent in using Microsoft Office Suite and comfortable learning and utilizing new software applications and digital tools. Familiarity with social media platforms, email marketing software, and/or experience with website content maintenance strongly preferred.
• Clear understanding of the Seminary’s mission and willingness to abide by the Community Life Statement.

Education & Experience

• Master’s degree preferred; a Gordon-Conwell degree strongly preferred.
• 3-5 years of experience in communications, event planning, and/or program management required.
• 1-2 years of experience supervising interns or student workers preferred.
• Prior experience in fundraising and/or campaign management preferred.

Application Process

Please apply through Gordon-Conwell’s Career Center available here: https://www.gordonconwell.edu/employment/

Please include these documents in either Microsoft Word or PDF formats:

• A cover letter addressed to Laura Carmer, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement, explaining your interest in the position preferred.
• A formal CV that includes the names of at least three references required.

No hard copy materials, please. Opportunities to interview will be made available at the search committee’s initiative. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.