Strategic Prospect Director: Research, Tech & Growth

Harvarduniversity; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Harvard University is seeking a Director of Prospect Strategy & Research to lead the institution's fundraising strategy and research function, aligning with priorities and pipeline development. The role oversees research, analytics, technology, and relationship intelligence to identify and prioritize high-value prospects, expanding coverage and improving fundraising outcomes.

Reporting to senior advancement leadership, you will recruit and coach staff, establish service models, develop metrics

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in prospect research, prospect development or related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing staff.
• Strong understanding of major gift fundraising, prospect management, and prospect development principles.
• Experience working with prospect research tools, screening resources, and constituent data.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership for prospect identification, qualification, ratings, screenings, and prospect prioritization efforts.
• Develop scalable approaches to prospect identification and prioritization leveraging research, analytics, constituent engagement data, screenings, and emerging technologies.
• Partner with fundraising leadership to support portfolio strategy, pipeline development, and fundraising planning.
• Support proactive prospecting focused on strategic industries, alumni segments, affinity groups, and emerging opportunities.
• Establish frameworks to ensure research resources focus on high-value prospects and opportunities.
• Collaborate with advancement partners to broaden prospect coverage and strengthen fundraising pipelines.
• Oversee prospect research, ratings, screenings, and constituent intelligence activities.
• Develop relationship intelligence and network-based approaches to prospect strategy.
• Ensure research products are relevant, actionable, and aligned with fundraising priorities.
• Maintain quality standards and consistency across ratings, screenings, prospect identification, and research practices.
• Evaluate and refine methodologies to assess prospect capacity, engagement, and philanthropic potential.
• Provide leadership for workflows, service models, and operational processes that support prospect strategy and research activities.
• Develop metrics, dashboards, and reporting to show team activities, outcomes, and impact.
• Evaluate opportunities to leverage automation, AI-enabled tools, and other technologies to improve efficiency.
• Partner with analytics and advancement operations teams to support data-informed decision making.
• Identify opportunities to streamline processes and reduce administrative burden.

Skills

Prospect research

Staff leadership

Analytical skills

Communication

Relationship building

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Harvard University is seeking a Director of Prospect Strategy & Research to lead the institution's fundraising strategy and research function, aligning with priorities and pipeline development. The role oversees research, analytics, technology, and relationship intelligence to identify and prioritize high-value prospects, expanding coverage and improving fundraising outcomes.

Reporting to senior advancement leadership, you will recruit and coach staff, establish service models, develop metrics