Associate Director of Special Projects and Initiatives

Associate Director of Special Projects and Initiatives

Company: North Carolina State University

Job Location:

Category: Development and Fundraising

Type: Full-Time

Join the Pack! A community with nearly 8,000 faculty and staff, and 30,000 students. NC State is one of the largest employers in North Carolina, offering a large range of career opportunities. Visit us at https://jobs.hr.ncsu.edu/.

Location: Raleigh, NC

Essential Job Duties:
This Associate Director of Special Projects and Initiatives serves as a key operational and strategic support partner to the Associate Vice Chancellor for University Development. The role provides advanced administrative leadership, project coordination, and advancement operations support across the University Development team.

The individual will manage workflows, oversee administrative support functions, and coordinate execution of strategic priorities-ensuring alignment, accountability, and timely progress. This role plays a critical part in tracking and advancing key fundraising activities, particularly within the $1-$5 million prospect portfolio, by maintaining structure, monitoring progress, and supporting informed decision-making.

While not responsible for direct fundraising, this position acts as a central hub for organization, communication, and follow-through-helping leadership maintain momentum across multiple complex, time-sensitive initiatives.

Other Work/Responsibilities:

Administrative Leadership & Team Coordination

• Provide advanced administrative and operational support to the Associate Vice Chancellor and senior development leaders.
• Establish and maintain efficient workflows, systems, and priorities across administrative functions.
• Ensure consistent execution of scheduling, correspondence, travel coordination, and logistics.
• Serve as a point of escalation for administrative and operational issues, resolving challenges proactively.

Strategic Planning, Tracking, and Accountability

• Develop and manage detailed timelines for advancement initiatives, leadership priorities, and key deliverables.
• Track progress across multiple projects and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Identify delays or stalled work and proactively recommend next steps or adjustments.
• Prepare concise progress updates and summaries for leadership, highlighting risks and opportunities.
• Support prioritization and coordination of high-impact work across the team.

Advancement Operations & Program Coordination

• Coordinate execution of advancement-related initiatives across internal teams.
• Facilitate communication and alignment among development officers, administrative staff, and leadership.
• Support implementation of processes that improve efficiency and accountability.
• Assist with special projects and cross-functional initiatives within University Development.

Board Engagement Tracking and Coordination

• Establish and maintain systems to track board engagement.
• Monitor outreach activity and follow-up actions by leadership and staff.
• Prompt timely follow-up and ensure accountability for assigned actions.
• Maintain organized records of engagement efforts, outcomes, and next steps.
• Support planning and coordination of board check-ins and engagement strategies.

Proposal and Opportunity Tracking

• Monitor progress of key fundraising proposals and opportunities.
• Ensure timely updates and follow-ups on proposal activity.
• Maintain accurate documentation of proposal status, ownership, and next steps.
• Coordinate with support staff to ensure data accuracy in tracking systems.
• Alert leadership to overdue updates or emerging opportunities.

Top Prospect Monitoring

• Track engagement and activity for top prospects not currently in proposal stage.
• Identify inactivity or lack of progress and flag for leadership attention.
• Support reassignment or strategy discussions as needed.
• Coordinate communication regarding prospect status and portfolio changes.

Communications & Information Management

• Draft and manage professional communications on behalf of leadership.
• Synthesize complex information into clear, actionable updates.
• Maintain confidentiality and discretion with sensitive information.
• Serve as a central coordination point for information flow across the team.

Financial & Operational Support

• Assist with budget tracking, expense reconciliation, and financial coordination.
• Support travel planning, meetings, and event logistics.
• Ensure adherence to university policies and procedures.

Minimum Experience/Education:

• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree required with at least one-year related experience

Required Qualifications:

• Strong organizational and project-tracking skills witha high attention to detail and processes
• Ability to manage multiple timelines and priorities simultaneously.
• Clear, professional communication skills and confidence in prompting follow-up.
• Comfort working with data, tracking systems, and shared documents.
• Ability to identify issues, suggest solutions, and escalate appropriately.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines in a dynamic team environment
• Experience working collaboratively with senior leaders, volunteers, and student staff preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of the principles, practices, and ethics of successful fundraising and comprehensive capital campaigns
• Proven relationship builder with the ability to form trusting relationships and work collaboratively with faculty, administrators, volunteers, alumni and colleagues
• Experience managing volunteer boards
• Experience in higher education fundraising
• Familiarity with NC State University

Required License or Certification:
N/A