Associate Director, Global Engagement

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $78,000 - $80,000

Position Summary

The Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) is dedicated to fostering a global network of Columbia alumni, students, faculty, and staff, encouraging them to explore shared interests, exchange ideas, and collaborate in ways that enrich both the University and the broader world.

The Associate Director of Global Engagement, reporting to the Director of Global Engagement, will serve as the alumni relations liaison for key global clubs across domestic and international regions. This individual will work closely with alumni volunteer leaders and University partners to strengthen relationships and develop initiatives that enhance alumni engagement. Key responsibilities include identifying potential alumni leaders, building a pipeline for leadership succession, developing and expanding volunteer opportunities, and coordinating alumni and student-related events. Additionally, the Associate Director will participate in CAA signature programs such as Leaders Experience and Connects while also supporting other global alumni clubs and shared interest groups (SIG) initiatives.

Responsibilities

• The Associate Director will be responsible for helping to grow and build the alumni community worldwide, identify potential volunteers, develop volunteer leaders, and strengthen our clubs worldwide by creating and implementing effective leadership training and fostering collaborative partnerships with our global alumni community.
• Collaborates with our alumni volunteer leaders in crucial regions/cities to create and sustain vibrant University relationships to develop, grow, and expand global and domestic regional-based alumni clubs.
• Collaborates with the Director to manage the CAA Board Subcommittees and volunteers (Leader's Experience). Works with the team to identify new volunteer leaders for succession planning.
• Develops and manages innovative programs and communications designed to encourage alumni engagement, participation, and involvement in CAA, University, and club-related programs and events (in-person, hybrid, virtual).
• Responsible for communicating global club vision, mission, strategy, and University-related information to alumni and volunteer leaders in both group and individual settings.
• Develops University best practices related to the development and implementation of effective processes, procedures, and governance for managing clubs, their alumni leaders, volunteers, and events. In addition, this role involves collaborating with these groups to develop programming for their constituencies. It also provides best practices and strategies for communicating with the members of their constituency groups.
• Utilizes the club categorization matrix and appropriate engagement metrics, tracking, and assessment tools to provide advice to club leaders regarding key performance indicators for managing and measuring the global club's success, engagement, and growth.
• Leads new club formation, volunteer leadership development, leadership transition/succession planning, and managing and recruiting volunteers for assigned global and domestic clubs, including Presidential or VIP trips or events.
• Strives to create, develop, and strengthen relationships and collaboration with our colleagues in Development, School-based alumni/development offices, and our various campus partners (admissions, career services, etc.).
• Identifies and recommends alumni for special consideration and more significant involvement in potential volunteer/leadership opportunities and committee roles within the CAA.
• Encourages active alumni/club use of CAA and university-provided systems for address updates, networking, access to information, email communications, event management, etc. (i.e., NationBuilder, Alumni Online Community).
• Highly proficient in using NationBuilder and other CAA and University platforms to help facilitate club operations and management, including sending email communications, event management, and membership management/growth.
• Manages the maintenance and updating of the University's Alumni Relations database.
• Manages the logistics for special events, projects, and meetings related to global and domestic clubs as assigned, including domestic and international Leadership Experience conferences.
• Collaborates with other clubs, SIGs, CAA signature events, priorities, projects, boards, committees, and various University-related initiatives as assigned.
• Identifies and partners with faculty campus-wide to develop intellectual programming and coordinate trips and special events for clubs in our major market regions.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum 3-5 years of alumni relations or similar work experience.
• Previous experience in higher education and/or complex academic/non-profit environments.
• Experience identifying, managing, and developing potential and existing alumni volunteer leaders, including succession planning.
• Experience in developing innovative programming, managing alumni events, and developing new programs.
• Proficiency in MS Office and Google tools is required.
• Flexibility and the ability to adapt to change.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, active listening, oral, and written communication skills.
• Detail-oriented with problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong negotiation, issue resolution, discretion, and influencing skills.
• Passion for excellent customer service and commitment to exceptional quality.
• Ability to effectively partner with diverse groups, including administrators, staff, faculty, students, alumni, and academic leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced and time-sensitive environment.
• Excellence in project management, teamwork, analytical thinking, and client/customer awareness.
• Superior presentation skills.
• Ability to confidently and comfortably speak at public events in front of large, diverse audiences.
• Effective communication with and navigation of diverse constituencies such as alumni, principal donors, board members, and field leaders.
• Must be available to work extended hours and or weekends as assigned.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with CRM systems and Salesforce experience preferred.

Other Requirements

• Subject to business needs, the Office of Alumni and Development supports a hybrid work arrangement for this position. Options will be discussed during the interview process.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.