Associate Director of Alumni Communities, External Relations

Job Summary

Reporting to the Director of Alumni Communities, the Associate Director of Alumni Communities is a key member of a team responsible for creating and sustaining lifelong relationships between Harvard Business School and its alumni through engagement opportunities.  This team has been at the forefront of developing and implementing a strategy to support the transition of Harvard Business School (HBS) MBA graduates into the HBS alumni community.  Building on this foundation, the team is evolving its approach to create a more integrated arc of engagement - from prospective student to recent graduate, to lifelong alumnus.

This role is primarily responsible for leading the recent alumni engagement strategy as well as strategies for other audiences as defined by current School priorities.  The Associate Director will play a critical part in strengthening these connections, ensuring that engagement is not episodic but cumulative, reinforcing a lifelong sense of belonging and mutual value between alumni and the School.

Job-Specific Responsibilities

This role is responsible for creating and supporting the strategy, the development, and the execution of programs and engagement opportunities for recent alumni and other audiences as identified by the School (which may change over time).

• Partners with the Director of Alumni Communities to set audience strategies and ensure activity is aligned with overall alumni engagement, development and School priorities.
• Develop, collaborate on, and lead recent alumni strategy engagement opportunities across External Relations and HBS.
• The role offers the opportunity to directly manage staff. May supervise additional staff, students, and/or interns as assigned or for specific events, programs, or projects and collaborate with the Director to distribute team workload and responsibilities.
• Ideates new and evolving methods to enhance engagement of recent alumni and target audiences.
• Support the creation of new scalable programming methods to both broaden and deepen engagement.
• Execute individual portfolio of high-level, complex events and programs assigned.  The Alumni Communities team currently operates the following programs:  Alumnae Circles Program, Recent Alumni Regional Events, One-Year Reunion, Alumni Dinner Series, Admitted Student Dinners, MBA Student events, other recent alumni and audience specific events, as applicable.
• Collaborate with the Director to manage any team budget and financial deliverables.
• Develop and manage engagement metrics and data to measure ROI.
• Oversee a portfolio of activities developed in partnership with alumni volunteers, managing individual volunteers and committees.
• Builds and maintains cross-department and cross-School partnerships to ensure alignment on messaging, execution, events and programs, and support of the broader goals of AR, ER and MBA.
• Serves as knowledgeable institutional ambassador to better connect alumni with the School and its resources, answer questions, and engage in conversations about HBS and Alumni Relations services.
• Build trust and collaboration by being present on-site and engaging directly with colleagues and various constituents.
• Other duties as assigned.

Working Conditions

• Limited travel required. Some night and weekend work is required.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree is required
• 7+ years of experience in community engagement, program development, marketing or comparable experience is required, preferably including volunteer management and collaboration with multiple stakeholders.
• Exceptional project management and organizational skills and the ability to meet deadlines and adhere to strict schedules on multiple projects.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) and the ability to represent HBS and the University professionally both internally and externally.

Additional Qualifications and Skills

• Strong professional, interpersonal, and collaborative skills; diplomacy in working with diverse populations.
• Possess sound judgment, be resourceful, and demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze, and solve problems.
• Adept at engagement strategy, marketing, volunteer management, content development, and collaboration across internal teams.
• Detail-oriented and efficient.
• Motivated to learn and flexible to change.
• Ability to work independently, enlist the cooperation of others to get projects done, and take ownership of work.
• Possess proficiency with a variety of software programs, and willingness to learn.