Director of Development for Principal Gift Operations

🇺🇸 Hybrid - Chapel Hill, NC 🕑 Full-Time 💰 TBD 💻 Communications 🗓️ January 16th, 2026

Edtech.com's Summary

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is hiring a Director of Development for Principal Gift Operations. This role leads strategic and operational efforts for the Principal Gifts Program, managing donor engagement, solicitation, stewardship, and high-level donor experiences. The Director works closely with senior university leaders to ensure seamless execution of donor interactions, executive briefings, and proposal development, while building and supervising a dedicated team.

Highlights

Provides leadership for engagement and stewardship of donors capable of $5 million+ gifts.
Manages donor hospitality, campus visits, gift acknowledgements, impact reporting, and proposal coordination.
Collaborates with university executives and departments for executive-ready briefings and real-time data dashboards.
Leads concierge-level donor experiences including VIP events and personalized stewardship.
Initially supervises one full-time and one temporary team member; builds team to support long-term goals.
Requires bachelor’s degree and minimum 1 year of professional fundraising experience; preferred 7+ years fundraising and 4+ years in research university setting.
Must demonstrate fundraising expertise, operational excellence, executive presence, and strong communication skills.
Experience in principal gift practices and process improvement is preferred.
Position type: Full-time permanent, EHRA Non-Faculty appointment.
Requires writing sample demonstrating executive-level communication ability.