Strategic Director of Gifts & Records Administration

The California State University; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

San José State University seeks a Director of Gifts and Records Administration to lead gift acceptance, processing, and records management. You will oversee audits, data governance, and reconciliation, guiding system-wide compliance with IRS, CASE, and CSU policies.

You will collaborate with Advancement IT, Analytics, and campus partners to optimize CRM workflows and reporting, shaping strategic fundraising success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Five to seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in advancement services, development operations, or higher education administration.
• Experience supervising professional staff and building high-performing, service-oriented teams.
• High-level proficiency with CRM systems administration, data governance, and gift administration in a complex, multi-unit organizational environment.
• Documented success in maintaining audit readiness, ensuring regulatory compliance, and interpreting gift acceptance policies.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of gift and records professionals, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Establish performance expectations and provide coaching aligned with philanthropic goals and data quality standards.
• Serve as operational liaison to multiple campus and foundation teams to ensure high-quality data inputs for reporting.
• Act as lead auditor for gift processing and ensure adherence to SAM.
• Oversee gift and financial reconciliation processes, ensuring data integrity across CRM and financial systems.
• Collaborate with IT and analytics to optimize CRM workflows, integrations, and automation.
• Drive process improvements to support scalable operations and better data integrity.

Skills

Leadership

Data governance

CRM systems

Analytics

Communication

Regulatory knowledge

Policy compliance

Training & mentoring

Project management

AI in higher education

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Salesforce

Blackbaud CRM/NXT

Affinaquest

Ellucian

Job description

San José State University seeks a Director of Gifts and Records Administration to lead gift acceptance, processing, and records management. You will oversee audits, data governance, and reconciliation, guiding system-wide compliance with IRS, CASE, and CSU policies.

You will collaborate with Advancement IT, Analytics, and campus partners to optimize CRM workflows and reporting, shaping strategic fundraising success.