Senior Associate Director, Donor Communications

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.  The mission is to eliminate cancer in Texas, the nation, and the world through outstanding programs that integrate patient care, research and prevention, and through education for undergraduate and graduate students, trainees, professionals, employees and the public.  With a vision to be the premier cancer center in the world, based on the excellence of our people, our research-driven patient care and our science, we are Making Cancer History®. 

MD Anderson has more than 25,000 employees including over 1,800 faculty members and approximately 3,100 onsite and offsite volunteers. 

The Senior Associate Director, Donor Communications, is charged with advancing the institution’s philanthropy goals by providing a broad range of fundraising and other donor engagement communications functions, including project planning, donor strategy, writing, editing and creating multimedia fundraising content. This includes initiating and managing complex priority projects, working independently, collaborating with other Philanthropy teams, MD Anderson faculty and additional staff/departments, and advancing the success of the Donor Communications team through ongoing mentoring, management and/or supervision. The candidate has excellent writing and editorial skills, as well as being highly professional, organized, detail-oriented, and able to leverage the strengths of others. They are also workflow-minded and possess excellent project management skills. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required for special projects. 

KEY FUNCTIONS
 

Leadership and Project Management (45%) 

Drive execution of strategic plans and lead decision making around the overall donor-driven communications strategy. This includes campaign strategy, as well as working across all giving levels. Serve as communications content expert for institutional fundraising priorities, and ability to interact with physician-scientists and institution leaders. Likewise, collaborate with Philanthropy leaders, Institutional Affairs, Donor Communications colleagues, priority program faculty/executive leaders and others to ensure consistent messaging and narrative arc. Delivering multimedia resources at the highest level of quality to support donor engagement, cultivation, solicitation  and ongoing stewardship. Assist in the training and mentoring of new writers; supervise and develop direct reports as appropriate; complete people leadership curriculum and continuing education. 

Programmatic Project Execution (35%) 

Consistently deliver skillful execution of team-specific work cognizant of continuous personal development, and the impact this position has on partnerships and the institution at large. Write, edit, format and customize creative, concise and compelling revenue-generating materials, which comprise executive summaries, proposals, impact reports, leadership correspondences, scripts and runs of show, talking points, visual treatments for film/video, mass communications publications and more. Conveying complex topics in an understandable and engaging way on behalf of gift officers, Philanthropy leaders, faculty and the Office of the President. Edit, proofread and otherwise assist in overall quality control of division communications. Protect and promote MD Anderson’s brand and standards.  

Perception and Attentiveness (20%) 

Accurately assess interests, organize and present information in thoughtful and engaging ways, constantly shifting between multiple activities and sources of information, maintain situational awareness, cultural awareness, institutional awareness and adeptly navigate cross-functional teams in support of team and division plans. Help develop new ideas for the creation and ongoing improvement of campaign and other fundraising materials and education opportunities.