Executive Director, Alumni Engagement- New Brunswick

Reporting to the Associate Vice President, Alumni Engagement, the Executive Director develops and executes a comprehensive alumni engagement strategy for Rutgers University–New Brunswick, ensuring alignment with the engagement framework of Go, Give, Help, and Connect. This role partners closely with campus leadership, including the Chancellor, Provost, Deans, and the Senior Vice President for Development, to design and deliver signature engagement initiatives that strengthen alumni connections and advance campus aims.

The Executive Director leads a team of engagement professionals responsible for New Brunswick, including focused alumni affinity groups and major campus traditions such as Homecoming, Rutgers Day, and Reunions. In addition, the Executive Director collaborates with alumni engagement professionals embedded within academic units to ensure a cohesive, coordinated, and impactful approach to alumni engagement across the campus.

Essential Functions

• Collaborate with academic departments and other school and university units to develop meaningful programming that aligns with the mission of Rutgers and the interests and needs of alumni and external stakeholders.
• Develop and support affinity-based programming that fosters meaningful connections among alumni with shared identities, interests, or experiences.
• Collaborate with campus partners and embedded engagement professionals to integrate affinity group activities into broader alumni engagement strategies.
• Design value-driven engagement to ensure all activities (panels, networking events, mentoring, reunions, homecoming, etc.) are developed to offer professional value, moving beyond generic events to interconnected, high-impact programming.
• Create a coherent process where alumni engagement moves beyond a series of ad-hoc events to sustainable engagement pathways.
• Partner closely with Rutgers University Foundation colleagues to align engagement activities with active fundraising areas, ensuring that events and initiatives serve as effective cultivation vehicles for annual and major giving.
• Actively identify and qualify high-potential alumni through their participation, converting general engagement into a tangible pipeline of philanthropic support.
• Other duties as assigned

Competency Aptitudes

Leadership

• Lead and execute a comprehensive department/project/program strategy
• Lead a complex and/or multiple comprehensive engagement teams, region(s), and/or initiative(s) to increase meaningful engagement of alumni and communities who align with the values and mission of Rutgers University
• Demonstrate ability to successfully manage and lead a team (and/or staff volunteers), and/or broad engagement collaborations in a way that maximizes potential of each team member, volunteer, or collaborator
• Demonstrate a high level of discernment and ownership of a department and/or team

Autonomy

• Manage teams and/or internal/external collaborators to deliver engagement at or above an established level and contribute to meeting/exceeding the alumni engagement goals for Rutgers Foundation
• Manage a team, volunteers, relationships or projects with minimal oversight
• Set goals, manage budgets and meet deadlines for themselves and the team
• Manage a personal engagement portfolio with a primary focus on building pride, belonging, and meaningful engagement through Go, Communicate, Help
• Demonstrate initiative with clarity of purpose and alignment with RUF organizational goals

Complexity

• Able to partner with other leadership across the organization
• Effectively collaborate with your supervisors and University partners across the enterprise
• Able to create, deploy and execute projects with increasing levels of autonomy
• Set direction and approach in partnership with assigned RU leader's vision
• Able to adapt to changing situations and different fundraising partners

Strategy

• Demonstrate an ability to set priorities and determine strategy for multiple units/departments including staffing and budgets
• Develop strategy with input of cross-functional teams to negotiate and influence solutions
• Develop and submit strategies, budgets, and other collateral materials as needed for engaging alumni and community partners who align with the values and mission of Rutgers University
• Manage the employee/volunteer experience for a department/program
• Demonstration of aligning alumni/community engagement to university priorities

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor's degree and/or 10 years of professional experience in fundraising, alumni relations, non-profit organizations, event planning, higher education, or related fields.

Working Conditions

This position requires clarity of focus while juggling complex projects or deadlines with little physical effort. Will work evenings, weekends, or odd hours to meet resource-raising commitments. Typical working conditions with an absence of disagreeable elements. This position requires some early mornings and late evenings to accommodate meetings, travel, events, and external constituents’ schedules.

Workplace Arrangements

This is classified as an office-centric hybrid position. Colleagues working under an office-centric hybrid arrangement have a primary workstation in a university or foundation location and are in the office between one and five days a week. The frequency with which they are present in the office depends on their role and function and the interdependency of other functions.

Compensation and Benefits
The position is budgeted for an annual salary of $120,000. In addition to salary, Rutgers University Foundation offers: 

• Office-centric hybrid work schedule
• Comprehensive medical
• Comprehensive no cost dental, and no cost vision insurance for employee and dependents
• 403(b) plan with matching employer contribution
• Accrual of three weeks of annual vacation time, in addition to five wellness days and fifteen sick days per year
• Nine holidays, as well as four floating holidays
• Significant tuition reductions
• Professional development is highly valued at the Rutgers University Foundation, where employees are encouraged to look across the organization to develop new skills and abilities for professional career progression.
• $40 monthly cell phone reimbursement

Equal Employment Opportunity 

It is Foundation policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all its employees and applicants. The Foundation prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, national origin, ancestry, marital status, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, and any other characteristics protected by applicable state, federal and/or local laws. Equal employment opportunity applies to hiring, placement, transfer, promotion, demotion, recruitment, advertising or solicitation for employment, treatment during employment, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, selection for training, layoff, or termination.