Job location: Sweeten Alumni House

Employment Type: Full-time
Posted data: 2019-08-20
Req: JR00004849
University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Posted Job Title

DIRECTOR, PENN TRADITIONS, STUDENT AND YOUNG ALUMNI PROGRAMMING

Job Profile Title

Alumni Officer B

Job Description Summary

DIRECTOR, PENN TRADITIONS, STUDENT
AND YOUNG ALUMNI PROGRAMMING

Definition

Reporting to the Executive Director of Alumni Relations and working closely with the Associate Vice President, the Director has primary responsibility for all alumni relations programs that engage current students and young alumni (recent graduates) in the life of the University of Pennsylvania. The Director of Penn Traditions, Student and Young Alumni Programming facilitates a lifelong connection to the University for alumni. The Director is responsible for building and maintaining long-term and mutually rewarding relationships, and cultivating the future generation of Penn alumni leaders. While not a frontline fundraiser, the Director will communicate Penn’s commitment to philanthropy and educate students about their role as future alumni, including giving back time, talent and financial resources.

The Director has primary and ultimate responsibility for all aspects of the design and implementation of programs that engage students (Penn Traditions) and young alumni (yPenn) in the life of the University, including: working closely with University staff to identify, recruit, steward, and assess students and alumni volunteers for program involvement, particularly regional, reunion, class-based, and affinity programs; serving as the primary liaison to Central DAR, VPUL, CHAS, New Student Orientation, Penn Admissions, and schools and centers; meeting regularly with leadership throughout the University to identify and discuss engagement opportunities; overseeing strategy, planning and coordination of the programs in close partnership with The Penn Fund young alumni staff; and develops new programs to foster student and young alumni engagement and philanthropy, including local, virtual and off-campus programs. The Director oversees the strategy and implementation of a menu of Career Networking events and opportunities for young alumni on campus, regionally and virtually in coordination with Penn Alumni Career Networking and Penn First Plus and Penn Career Resource Initiatives.

The Director works closely with the Executive Director and Associate Vice President of Alumni Relations and staff from Alumni Relations teams (Regional Clubs, Classes & Reunions, Alumni Education and Career Networking, Multicultural Outreach, TCPW and the Penn Alumni Interview Program) to create formal procedures for integrating students and young alumni into all activities/programs and to create substantive and innovate programming for engaging students and young alumni early and often in a meaningful, mutually beneficial way. The Director is also the point person/liaison to the student and young alumni representative on the Penn Alumni Board of Directors.

As a multicultural organization, Penn values human differences as an asset, sustains a culture that reflects the interests, contributions and values of members of diverse groups; and delivers educational programming to meet the needs of diverse audiences.

Job Description

Duties by Example

• Responsible for managing alumni volunteers serving on assigned committee(s) of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors. Working with committee chair and members, duties would include organizing committee meetings, assisting with committee presentations for Board Meetings and Leadership Retreat and coordinating with the Director of Penn Alumni Board Services in preparation for Penn Alumni Board leadership retreat and bi-annual meetings.
  
• Work with Central DAR, Admissions, VPUL, CHAS, NSO, on-campus schools and centers to build relationships and opportunities for collaboration, with the goal of increasing participation of all students and young alumni in University programs.

• Set and work toward accomplishing departmental engagement goals
  
• Supervise work-study students and Graduate Assistant as needed to broaden the impact of student and young alumni programs by giving them specific events to manage and tasks to complete.

• Strategize, plan, manage, and execute alumni relations-related programming and initiatives for current students and Penn’s most recent graduates through the Penn Traditions: Building Our Community and yPenn programs in the following ways:

• Manage the planning, budgeting, marketing, execution and evaluation of a diverse set of Penn Traditions student and yPenn young alumni programs, activities, and events including the staffing of the Young Penn Alumni Leadership Council and Penn Traditions Executive Board.
  
• Plan and execute Penn Traditions New Student Orientation events to include Penn Traditions Quizzo, “Highball to Hey Day: The Penn Experience,” Class Photo on Franklin Field, and Activities Fair.

• Recruit and manage student and alumni volunteers as they relate to the Penn Traditions and yPenn programs.

• Supervise and advise the Executive Board and Committees of Penn Traditions including student-initiated recruitment, programming, publications, and outreach.

• Manage all operations of the Penn Traditions Class Ambassadors program, including student recruitment and training leading up to Alumni Weekend.
• Coordinate the Penn Traditions Admissions Ambassador recruitment for Quaker Days activities.
• Oversee Traditions committee to plan large-scale Penn events for undergraduate students.
• Advise Penn Traditions Alumni Engagement Fund to allocate funding to student groups on campus who engage their own alumni populations.

• Manage the planning and execution of the 1-year and 5-year reunions including event planning and communication, volunteer recruitment, cultivation, and stewardship.
  
• Serve as a consultant/liaison to the graduate and professional schools’ DAR colleagues for student advancement programming.

• Create and implement a comprehensive and robust strategy of student and young alumni engagement for first year students through 10 years out.

• Provide the leadership for collaboration (specifically with The Penn Fund) in the planning and execution of outreach to current seniors and young alumni classes to ensure a continuity of engagement.

• Strategize, plan and execute Career Networking/Resources program for young alumni on campus, regionally and virtually in collaboration with Directors of Career Networking and Penn First Plus Alumni/Career Resource Initiatives

• Serve as primary alumni relations liaison to student-related departments such as College Houses, Athletics, Assembly of International Students and other student life related departments.

• Manage a comprehensive electronic strategy of communication and engagement for current students and recent graduates, including updating and maintaining the web sites.

• Track student and recent graduate involvement in programming and leadership roles in ATLAS to serve as a leadership pipeline.

• Serve as the primary point person for student/young alumni related matters in the DAR Planning Group related to all University Campaign/Presidential events like “Our Penn,” “Penn to You,” etc.

• Manage and streamline the student award nomination and selection process to effectively coordinate the Penn Alumni Student Awards of Merit, the Diversity Alliance Awards, the TCPW Awards and the Association of Alumnae Awards.
  
• Serve as the chief contact to the Student Affairs Leadership Team (SALT) and Networking Group and coordinate all workshops and presentations on alumni networking for student groups.
  
• Identify and manage young alumni leaders and liaisons in each of the key city markets and focus on event planning and leadership development including close collaboration with the Penn Clubs in those cities.

• Collaborate with the Penn Alumni Interview Program on recruitment and training of young alumni interviewers with particular emphasis on recruiting seniors as they prepare to graduate.

• Work with the Office of Admissions and the Penn Alumni Interview Program to recruit and train alumni for the Young Alumni Admissions Panels.

• Work closely with each team in Alumni Relations to maximize programs and resources and advocate for collaborative and inclusive programs for students and young alumni.

• Serve as a member of the Alumni Relations Lead Team to ensure collaboration across all areas of Alumni Relations and further the mission of the University.

• Develop and manage systems and correspondence log, as well as compile and track data relevant to measuring effectiveness of Penn Traditions and yPenn programs.

• Create a strategic online and social media presence for student and young alumni programs and initiatives.

• Other duties as assigned.

Training, Experience and Personal Attributes:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university required. Master’s degree in Education preferred.

• Three to five years of significant professional and personal development within alumni relations, other area of higher education administration or related field required.

• Ability to balance several projects simultaneously, set priorities, meet deadlines, and maintain a high level of professionalism under pressure. Good organizational skills, with keen sense for detail and accuracy required for the large number of volunteers, alumni groups, related activities, and records that need to be maintained.
  
• Knowledge of Alumni Relations, and program development strongly desired.

• History of mentoring others to create leaders throughout an organization, with superior listening skills to help understand the developmental needs of others.

• Proven success managing others, both subordinates and superiors alike.

• Ability to motivate and oversee volunteers, especially those of high visibility and stature on campus and in local communities. Proven ability to exercise diplomacy, judgment, discretion and grace under fire.

• Ability to initiate and encourage collaboration among colleagues.

• Proven success in events, project or conference management, with financial acumen to oversee revenue and expense budgets for disparate groups and events.

• Public speaking skills and a history of making presentations to diverse audiences.

• Strong comfort with technology, including state of the art data collection tools, office productivity packages, content management systems, and the Internet as a tool for reconnecting alumni to Penn and with one another.

• Willingness to work non-traditional hours and travel on occasion.

• Comfort with ambiguity and working within constraints of scarce resources.

• Valid driver’s license required.

Please provide a resume and cover letter for consideration. Please upload all documents in the “Resume/CV” section of the application prior to submitting.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Development and Alumni Relations

Pay Range

$50,684.00 - $91,232.00

Affirmative Action Statement 
Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.

Special Requirements 
Background check required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.