Director of Development Research (112462)

Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) supports Johns Hopkins’
focus on research, teaching and patient care, and its role as a
national and global leader in higher education. We create and
foster enduring relationships that result in advocacy and
philanthropic support for Johns Hopkins University & Medicine;
strengthening the institution through partnerships with donors,
alumni, volunteer leaders, faculty, students, staff, and
patients.

 
Johns Hopkins University supports a flexible work
model which includes four different work modalities. This role has
a modified hybrid work arrangement with an onsite presence of 2
days per week. The manager will confirm the team’s core onsite days
where the majority/all team members will work in the office.
Employees who travel on university business can count those days
towards their onsite days.
 
Leading a team of ten-fifteen, the Director of
Development Research is responsible for the pipeline development
effort in support of major and principal gift fundraising for Johns
Hopkins University & Medicine. This Director is responsible for
the overall vision and strategic direction of prospect research for
Development and University Relations (DAR). The person in this
position will utilize their excellent project management research
and organizational skills along with their effective writing
abilities and persistent imagination to devise ways to secure and
analyze information and leverage existing relationships to make
connections to high net worth potential prospects and evaluate the
potential organizational risk in engaging with these entities. The
Director works with leadership, divisional, and department heads to
facilitate the identification, tracking, and prioritization of
fundraising prospects. In consultation with the Director of
Relationship Management & Analytics, the director designs and
executes projects and processes for the long-term growth of the
prospect pipeline. This position is responsible for creating
policies, procedures, and protocols for prospect development
functions, building a solutions-oriented team, and resources
required for fundraisers. They will develop and manage an annual
budget for the unit. The Director will coach, guide, support, and
sets professional development goals through the performance
management process to assist employees to reach their
potential.
 
Specific Duties and
Responsibilities:

• Partner with development offices on the development and
  delivery of both standard research deliverables and special
  research projects.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships and
  partnerships with divisional staff.
• Develop an understanding of divisional fundraising priorities
  and consult with development officers in university and hospital
  divisions about new and existing individual prospects and potential
  prospect pools.
• Design and update of standard research products; suggest new
  research products and services as needed to fulfill the information
  needs of fundraisers and management. Identify and pursue
  opportunities to streamline the delivery of and increase
  accessibility of information.
• Develop and manage special projects to expand Johns Hopkins
  network and donor pool.
• Maintain prospect information in DAR’s CRM and optical imaging
  system.
• Work collaboratively with the fundraising team to develop and
  implement strategies for engaging with potential major donors,
  including identifying appropriate cultivation and solicitation
  opportunities
• Keep abreast of trends and best practices in major gifts
  fundraising and prospect research and conduct regular evaluations
  of internal prospect management/research programs, and make
  recommendations for improvement
• Manage a team of ten to fifteen staff.
• Coach, guide, support, and set professional development goals
  through the performance management process to assist employees to
  reach their potential.
• Create and manage the development research operating
  budget.
• Conduct high-level prospect research and risk assessment
  research. Analyze, synthesize, and summarize information in the
  form of written prospect profiles and risk analysis reports used by
  the University President, Development & Alumni Relations
  leadership, and frontline fundraising staff in a deadline-driven,
  time-sensitive environment.
• Utilize advanced web search strategies and apply advanced
  expertise in the capabilities of available fee-based tools,
  providing comprehensive prospect research and risk assessment
  analysis.
• Interpret detailed legal, financial, technical, and trade
  documents and journal/media articles including tax records, annual
  reports, SEC filings, real estate property filings, etc. to help
  identify potential donors and their capacity and inclination to
  make a philanthropic gift.
• Interpret and evaluate complex court records, criminal filings,
  national and foreign sanctions records, and negative media coverage
  to gauge the reputational risk of prospective fundraising prospects
  and donors.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Liberal Arts
• Five years professional related experience required. Experience
  should include significant experience in prospect research and
  supervisory experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to mentor and grow staff.
• Experience with fundraising, major donor and gift databases,
  and a strong knowledge of fundraising terminology and
  processes.
• Experience in a broad range of prospect research and risk
  assessment techniques, including searching of databases and using
  other sources such as legal and financial documents, news/journal
  articles, real estate records, advanced web searches, and
  foundation and census data to retrieve biographical data, criminal
  filings, court records, sanctions data, philanthropic, and
  wealth-related data.
• Ability to synthesize a high volume of information and perform
  complex analysis to interpret litigation, financial data and
  individual wealth indicators; identify philanthropic patterns; and
  discover relationships among individuals, corporations and
  foundations. Possess an advanced ability to recognize and work with
  wealth indicators and assign appropriate gift capacity and
  financial ratings.
• Possess curiosity, patience, diligence, persistence as part of
  the research skill set.
• Must be able to resolve issues, represent findings, and
  interpret divisional research needs. Able to adapt to the dynamics
  of divisional changes in personnel, priorities or needs.
• Initiative and ability to learn quickly, prioritize tasks,
  problem solve, and work independently. Ability to re-prioritize
  individual work projects for time-sensitive requests.
• Must have strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills
  along with the ability to mentor staff and function in a team
  environment.
• Possess excellent written communication skills, including
  strong editing, spelling and grammar skills.
• High level of proficiency in the use of desktop systems and
  on-line databases.
• Must understand and practice a high standard of confidentiality
  and ethical information collection.

All applicants are expected to uphold the university’s core
values which includes diversity and inclusion. All staff treat
people with dignity and respect by being fair and consistent. We
demonstrate an open-minded approach to understanding people
regardless of their race, gender, age, national origin, religion,
ethnicity, disability status or other characteristics. We show
respect for the beliefs and traditions of others; encourage and
promote practices that support cultural diversity; and discourage
behaviors or practices that may be perceived as unfair, biased, or
critical toward people with certain backgrounds.