Institutional Relations Manager

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research; United States; Hybrid; USD 83,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Tuition assistance

Parental leave

PSLF eligibility

Job summary

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) seeks a Manager of Institutional Relations to lead corporate and foundation fundraising, cultivating donors and stewarding a portfolio in collaboration with UCAR and NSF NCAR.

The role emphasizes relationship cultivation, strategic solicitations, and CRM management to secure six- and seven-figure gifts and advance UCAR's mission. Travel up to 10% and a hybrid work arrangement are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; 5 years fundraising experience.
• Experience securing gifts from corporate and foundation entities.
• Ability to navigate complex nonprofit and matrixed environments.
• Ability to open doors with external decision-makers.

Responsibilities

• Relationship cultivation with foundation program officers and executives.
• Manage portfolio of ~75 corporate/foundation prospects.
• Coordinate six- to seven-figure solicitation strategies.
• Conduct prospect research and maintain Salesforce records.
• Collaborate internally to align fundraising with scientific priorities.

Skills

Fundraising

Relationship cultivation

Prospect research

CRM management

Portfolio management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Salesforce

Office suite

Job description

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Position Type: Term - 6 months or more (Fixed Term) Visa Sponsored Job: No Relocation Assistance Eligible: No Hiring Range: 83,299.00 - 110,000.00 *Final salary and rates are based on education, experience, and skills relevant to the role. Application Closes at 12:00am MST on: 2026-08-31

About the Role

UCAR is excited to announce the job opening for the Manager of Institutional Relations. Reporting to the Executive Director of Friends of the National Center, this position will lead corporate and foundation fundraising efforts on behalf of UCAR. This role identifies, cultivates, solicits, and stewards foundation and corporate funding to secure significant philanthropic support advancing UCAR's mission, while managing a portfolio of institutional donors and prospects in close collaboration with leaders across UCAR and NSF NCAR.

Job Description

Position details:

• Term: 2 years, with potential for extension.


• Schedule: Hybrid — 3 days/week in the Boulder office or traveling to meetings throughout the Front Range.


• Travel: Domestic travel up to 10% of time.


• Events: Availability for networking events and in-person meetings (mornings, evenings, and weekends) approximately 2–3 times per month.


• Background checks are conducted for candidates selected for hire. Learn more.

Work Location Expectations: This position is open to candidates seeking in-person or hybrid (combination of 3 days in-person and 2 days of remote), opportunities. UCAR requires ALL positions to be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. Territories.

Key Responsibilities

• Relationship Cultivation: Initiate, build, and steward highly productive, long‑term relationships with foundation program officers, foundation and corporate executives, and institutional decision‑makers — designing systems to ensure donors receive exceptional reporting and impact metrics that lay the groundwork for renewed support.


• Portfolio Growth: Actively manage a portfolio of ~75 active corporate and foundation prospects/donors, systematically moving them through the qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship pipeline.


• Strategic Solicitations: Coordinate customized solicitation strategies to secure six‑ and seven‑figure gifts. Manage the growth of the corporate event sponsorship program, bringing in unrestricted gifts through event sponsorships.


• Prospect Research & CRM Management: Conduct prospect research to identify new or existing relationships that align with organizational funding priorities, and consistently record and track relationship development ("Moves") and institutional prospect profiles in the Salesforce database, ensuring organizational transparency and future‑proofing these relationships.


• Internal Collaboration
  
  
  
  • Strategic Matchmaking: Understand UCAR and NSF NCAR's organizational capabilities and emerging initiatives well enough to connect them with aligned funders — either by matching an internal project to a target foundation, or identifying a foundation's strategic goals and working internally to surface the strongest project to move forward. Serve as the central liaison between corporations/foundations and internal technical teams, ensuring fundraising strategies align with scientific integrity and organizational capacity.
  
  
  • Proposal Strategy & Stewardship Concept Development: Support the strategic framing of pitches and letters of inquiry (LOIs), determining how a project should be positioned to win corporate or foundation support.
  
  
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree required (Master's degree preferred); 5 years of relevant program experience; Or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Minimum of 5 years of successful fundraising experience, with a proven track record of securing significant gifts from corporate and foundation entities.


• Experience navigating complex non‑profit, academic, scientific, or highly matrixed research environments.


• Demonstrated ability to "open doors," navigate institutional hierarchies, and build authentic rapport with external decision‑makers.


• Exceptional verbal presentation skills, including the ability to translate complex Earth system science, computational modeling, and educational concepts into accessible, compelling value propositions for diverse foundation audiences.


• Exceptional emotional intelligence and a proven ability to work productively with subject matter experts, administrative leads, and development staff.


• Demonstrated ability to work independently, set priorities, and manage competing tasks and deadlines with strong attention to detail and flexibility in the face of change.


• Skill in identifying specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time‑bound goals and opportunities.


• Advanced skills in word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Google suite or similar software).


• Ability to use discretion in handling confidential information.


• Experience with non‑profit CRM databases, ideally Salesforce.

REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS (preferably in PDF Format)

Resume Cover Letter In lieu of a traditional cover letter, answer the following prompts that address the critical skills needed for this position. Your answers will be read and weighed equally to your Resume/CV and should provide specific, detailed, and informative responses based on your direct and previous work experiences. Please keep responses to 1-3 paragraphs per prompt.

• Track record with significant gifts: Describe a corporate or foundation gift (six‑ or seven‑figures, if possible) that you personally cultivated from first contact through to close. What was your strategy for moving that funder through the pipeline, and what specifically made your solicitation approach successful?


• Translating technical work into funder priorities: Tell us about a time you had to connect a complex, technical, or scientific initiative with an external funder's priorities (either by finding the right funder for an existing project, or by working internally) to identify a project that matched a funder's goals. How did you build that bridge, and what was the outcome?


• Navigating complex/matrixed organizations: This role requires building trust with both external funders and internal scientists, program directors, and leadership across two organizations (UCAR and NSF NCAR). Describe your experience working within a complex, academic, or highly matrixed environment. How did you earn credibility with technical experts while also managing external relationships, and what did you do when their priorities didn't initially align?

Application Requirements

Cover Letter, Resume/CV

For full consideration, all application materials must be submitted by 12am (MST) at the start of the application deadline. These should highlight how your skills and experiences align with the responsibilities of this position.

We recognize that no candidate will meet 100% of the listed qualifications.

Together supplemental questionnaires are often requested in lieu of a cover letter, where you address critical skills needed for the position. Your answers will be read and weighed equally to your resume and should provide specific, detailed, and informative responses based on your direct and previous work experiences. Background checks and/or federal screenings are conducted for candidates selected for hire.

Benefits Overview

UCAR offers a comprehensive benefits package: health insurance, dental, retirement plan, leave plans, tuition assistance, and employee assistance programs: Medical, Dental, Vision, and Short & Long Term Disability Insurance Generous retirement plan - UCAR contributes of 10% of base salary Time Off Plans Minimum 20 days of annual PTO 10 paid holidays 12 weeks of paid parental leave FAMLI Leave Tuition Assistance Program Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligible employer

Equal Opportunity

UCAR is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes applications from all individuals. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Applicants are not required to provide age‑related information (like date of birth or graduation dates) in initial submissions.

For sponsored positions: UCAR can sponsor individuals for H-1B status only if they are already in the U.S. in H-1B status or another visa status that allows them to change to H-1B status within the U.S. UCAR is unable to sponsor new H-1B visas for individuals who are outside the U.S. and need to obtain H-1B status through Consular Processing. While UCAR does not prohibit the use of AI tools in job applications, we strongly recommend that applicants submit primarily original work. All roles require compliance with U.S. export control regulations and work location requirements. All hybrid staff are expected to work on-site approximately 3 days per week.

About NCAR and UCAR

At NCAR - the National Center for Atmospheric Research - we study weather, water, climate, air quality, and space weather to help protect lives and livelihoods, grow the economy, and enhance our nation’s security and well‑being. We collaborate with research partners to advance the science that makes predictions better and with end users to develop applications for forecasters, farmers, resource managers, retailers, the military, and many other stakeholders. UCAR - the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research - manages NCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation. We are a nonprofit consortium of more than 115 colleges and universities with research and training programs in Earth system science. We bring together the academic community and provide the operational management that are both essential to NCAR's success. UCAR’s community programs, from educational resources to data delivery and other services, extend the reach and impact of NCAR’s world‑class research to the community and society. We seek talented people with diverse backgrounds, training, and skills to join us in our mission of science in service to society. Want to learn more? Visit ucar.edu.

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