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Alumni Engagement Specialist (Finance)



Special Instructions to Applicants : All interested applicants must attach a cover letter and a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application in a PDF format . Please note that the applicant tracking system does not convert attachments in Word format successfully.

Position Summary

The Alumni Engagement Specialist in the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University is part of the Alumni Engagement team but works collaboratively with the Annual Giving team to conduct and support fundraising activities for the business school. This position supports alumni events and programming, as well as fundraising and fundraising communications. The individual works closely with alumni volunteers and donors and collaborates across campus with university colleagues to develop and implement events and programs that engage Rice Business alumni and current students regarding fundraising. The Alumni Engagement Specialist collaborates closely with development colleagues within the Rice Business External Relations department, as robust alumni relations activities and programs are integral to successful overall fundraising efforts for the business school. In addition, this individual collaborates extensively with Rice University Development & Alumni Relations staff regarding university events logistics and staffing, relationship management with donors and alumni, and to support the overall mission of the university.

The ideal candidate has direct experience in event planning and volunteer management. This individual should be highly organized, detail-oriented, and self-motivated. We are seeking someone who can work independently but also brings value and teamwork to our high-performing, collaborative department. Comfort working in a hybrid environment and with remote work technologies such as Teams and Slack is desirable. Comfort interacting with high-level stakeholders both in-person and via phone and video is critical to success in this role. The individual in this role is a public-facing representative of a top-tier business school and will regularly interact with VIP external stakeholders including alumni and donors. The candidate will occasionally have public speaking or presentation duties related to alumni events, student fundraising, and programming. This individual is responsible for writing print, email, and social media communications, so proficiency in writing and communicating is essential, as is knowledge of how to use social media.

Workplace Requirements

The candidate must be local to the Houston area and able to work from the Rice campus as well as travel to local alumni/development events throughout the week as needed/defined by supervisor. Local alumni/development events are defined as those events in the greater Houston region, including events held at or around the Rice campus, and events held in surrounding suburbs, e.g., The Woodlands, Katy, Cypress, Sugar Land, etc. Regular evening event work and occasional weekend event work is a core component of this job. While travel outside of the greater Houston area is not a core component of this role, it may be necessary occasionally throughout the year for the individual in this role to travel independently or as part of a team to conduct alumni engagement or fundraising business in other US cities/states or abroad.

Hiring Salary Range: $55,000 - $60,000

Requirements

  • Bachelor's Degree
    • In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted.

Essential Functions
  • Develops, markets, and implements a range of student and alumni events, programs, and services and tracks alumni engagement metrics and event and program outcomes
  • Develops and maintains relationships with alumni, faculty, students, staff, and vendors
  • Recruits and manages volunteers to support alumni programs and events and student fundraising.
  • Produces reports and analyzes the performance of alumni programs and services and student fundraising components
  • Attends student and alumni events as appropriate to represent the Alumni Engagement team
  • Recruits and oversees student workers and temporary/casual workers
  • Performs all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions
  • Manages and develops social media content and platforms for alumni engagement and fundraising efforts, including social media engagement data and trend analysis
  • Writes print and email communications for alumni engagement and fundraising efforts and partners with the marketing and communications team to disseminate communications
  • Owns planning and execution of Alumni Celebration (alumni reunion weekend), including logistics, volunteers, and Reunion fundraising efforts
  • Creates and owns efforts to encourage students to engage with alumni programming and alumni network as well as fundraising efforts

Preferences
  • 3 years in an administrative role with exposure to office settings and external-facing experiences
  • Ability to learn new strategies, work well under pressure, and manage multiple projects simultaneously
  • Ease with offering concierge-level customer service, even in fast-paced or stressful situations
  • Excellent writing skills
  • Strong verbal communication skills with comfort public speaking and presenting to both in-person and video (i.e., Zoom, Teams) audiences
  • Comfort with the technology required to work in a hybrid environment
  • Strong data analysis and reporting skills (Excel skills required)
  • Ability to balance competing demands for time and prioritize workload to meet deadlines
  • Flexibility and conflict resolution skills
  • Attention to detail and ability to be proactive
  • Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and a high level of personal integrity
  • Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite
  • Knowledge of CRM databases a plus
  • Ability to work independently and as part of a team to meet expected deadlines and schedules
  • Familiarity with fundraising in a higher education or nonprofit environment
  • Strong attention to detail and ability to quickly understand and remember details about alumni, donors, and projects

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.

Faculty and staff are expected (but not required) to have completed a full vaccination series for COVID-19 (currently defined as full course COVID-19 Vaccine (typically two shots of a WHO-approved COVID-19 Vaccine or one J&J) and a COVID-19 booster. Rice does not require documentation for COVID 19 vaccination at this time for faculty and staff. More information can be found here: https://coronavirus.rice.edu/policies.

About Us

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities. Apply