Advancement Programs Director

SHK; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

UNSW Sydney is recruiting an Advancement Programs Director to lead alumni and donor engagement at scale, reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer and guiding a multidisciplinary team to deliver strategic, insight-led journeys across the donor lifecycle.

The role shapes segmentation, data, reporting and communications, represents audiences to central marketing and senior leaders, and develops a clear early strategy mapping audiences and experiences to secure future investment.

Qualifications

• Senior leader with deep expertise in lifecycle strategy, loyalty or CRM-driven engagement in complex organisations.
• Ability to translate data, insight and audience behaviour into meaningful engagement and measurable results.
• Experience influencing across marketing, digital and data teams while managing change.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for supporter journeys, lifecycle engagement and development communications.
• Define segmentation, data, reporting and insights to understand audience behaviour and improve engagement.
• Represent Advancement audiences and priorities to central marketing, digital and senior leaders.
• Develop a clear first-year strategy mapping audiences and experiences and securing future investment.

Skills

Lifecycle strategy

CRM-driven engagement

Loyalty programs

Data-informed decision making

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

• Shape the future of alumni and donor engagement
• Build loyalty at scale

About the organisation

UNSW Sydney is a globally connected university with more than 400,000 alumni and a donor community of approximately 50,000. Its strategy, Progress for All, sets an ambitious agenda for creating positive societal impact through education, research and meaningful engagement with its communities and partners. Following a refreshed Advancement strategy, UNSW has created this new role to bring greater strategic coherence to how it engages alumni, donors and supporters throughout their relationship with the University. This is an opportunity to help shape the next phase of an ambitious Advancement function at one of Australia’s leading universities, applying contemporary thinking in loyalty, customer experience, data and lifecycle engagement to a purpose-led organisation with significant scale and impact.

About the role

Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, and leading a team, the Advancement Programs Director is a key member of the Advancement leadership team, working alongside the Directors of Development, Alumni Experience and Advancement Services to shape a more connected and insight-led approach to alumni and donor engagement.

The Director will provide strategic leadership for supporter journeys, lifecycle engagement and development communications, including community giving. A central focus will be understanding how different audiences move through the advancement ecosystem, from alumni engagement and community giving through to major and principal gifts, and designing more connected, purposeful experiences along the journey.

The role will establish the strategies, frameworks and standards that enable consistent communications, events, stewardship and supporter experiences. Working in partnership with Advancement Services, the Director will define the segmentation, data, reporting and insights required to understand audience behaviour, evaluate performance and improvement engagement over time.

The Director will also represent Advancement audiences and priorities to central marketing, digital and communications teams and senior University leaders. A key early priority will be developing a clear first-year strategy that maps audiences and cohorts, identifies the journeys and experiences required, establishes clear priorities and makes a compelling case for future investment.

About you

Tertiary qualified, you are a senior customer, marketing, or engagement leader with deep expertise in lifecycle strategy, loyalty or CRM-driven engagement, gained in complex organisations. Higher education or philanthropy experience is not essential.You understand how data, insight and customer behaviour can be translated into more meaningful engagement and measurable results. You bring a strong point of view on best practice, can distinguish between what is strategically important and what is simply possible, and are confident setting priorities, including being clear about what not to pursue. You have experience leading multidisciplinary teams and influencing across marketing, digital and data specialists while bringing stakeholders with you through change. You are comfortable operating across a complex institution, building a case for investment and translating strategy into practical action.

You bring curiosity and commercial judgement, along with the confidence to build something new in an environment where ambiguity, competing priorities and limited resources are part of the landscape. What matters is your ability to understand audiences, connect data and experience, build effective strategies and create the conditions for long-term engagement.

Most importantly, you will be excited by the opportunity to build something new and establish the foundations for more connected alumni and donor engagement at scale.