Director of Development Innovation & Enablement

University of Miami; Coral Gables, Northern (FL, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Miami seeks an Executive Director of Development Innovation & Enablement in Coral Gables to lead automation, AI, and scalable solutions across the Division of Development and Alumni Relations. The role blends strategy with hands-on design, testing, and implementation to enhance fundraising effectiveness and staff productivity.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years of relevant leadership experience, strong technical and collaboration skills, and a track record of delivering practical,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, analytics, information management, computer science, advancement, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated experience personally building, configuring, prototyping, or implementing technology-enabled solutions, rather than solely managing projects or vendors.
• Demonstrated experience using automation, low-code/no-code platforms, artificial intelligence tools, workflow technologies, or comparable platforms to solve operational problems.
• Experience moving projects from concept and prototype through implementation and adoption.
• Experience leading and developing staff.
• Strong project management, prioritization, and execution skills.
• Excellent judgment and the ability to work effectively in environments involving confidential or sensitive information.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both senior executives and operational staff.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across organizational boundaries.

Responsibilities

• Identify opportunities to improve fundraising performance, donor engagement, and staff productivity through better processes, automation, AI, and emerging technologies.
• Design, prototype, build, test, and implement practical solutions using University-approved platforms and tools.
• Personally participate in solution development and configuration rather than relying on vendors, consultants, or technical partners.
• Translate fundraising and operational challenges into workable solutions that can be adopted by DAR teams.
• Maintain a strong understanding of developments in AI, automation, digital engagement, and related technologies for practical applications.
• Lead and develop a small team responsible for development innovation, process improvement, and implementation.
• Build the capabilities of staff in automation, agentic workflows, and emerging technologies.
• Partner with fundraising leaders to identify opportunities to improve prospect identification, portfolio management, donor engagement, solicitation preparation, stewardship, pipeline development, and fundraiser productivity.
• Develop tools and workflows to make frontline fundraisers access information, prepare for donor interactions, execute follow-up activity, and manage portfolios.
• Support tech-enabled approaches for engaging donors who cannot receive traditional one-to-one staff coverage.
• Collaborate with Leadership Giving, Annual Giving, Estate and Gift Planning, Major Gifts, Principal Gifts, Medical Development, and others to increase productivity.
• Establish a disciplined process for moving pilots from experimentation into regular DAR practice.
• Ensure tools operate within University-approved technology environments and policies.

Skills

Project management

Staff leadership

Strategic thinking

Communication with execs

Automation/AI tooling

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/analytics/CS/advancement

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft Power Platform

Low-code/no-code platforms

AI tools (Copilot/ChatGPT Enterprise)

Job description

University of Miami seeks an Executive Director of Development Innovation & Enablement in Coral Gables to lead automation, AI, and scalable solutions across the Division of Development and Alumni Relations. The role blends strategy with hands-on design, testing, and implementation to enhance fundraising effectiveness and staff productivity.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years of relevant leadership experience, strong technical and collaboration skills, and a track record of delivering practical,