Assistant Director, Advancement - Major Gifts

About the role

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Advancement team supports the School's philanthropic, alumni, industry, and constituent engagement priorities through coordinated fundraising, donor relations, stewardship, communications, events, and advancement operations. Working in close partnership with school leadership, academic departments, faculty, university advancement colleagues, alumni, donors, and external partners, the team advances university fundraising campaigns and school-level fundraising plans while building long-term relationships that support Viterbi's strategic priorities and philanthropic goals.

Position Overview

The Assistant Director, Advancement - Major Gifts is one of two positions that build and manage portfolios of prospective major gift donors, focusing on qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. The position strengthens the Major Gifts pipeline by developing donor relationships and securing philanthropic support for the School's priorities, with an emphasis on gifts of $100K-$250K.

Core Job Duties

• Qualify assigned prospects based on philanthropic capacity, interests, inclination, and engagement, and build and manage a portfolio of approximately 100 prospects.
• Develop and implement individualized strategies to cultivate, solicit, and steward prospective donors.
• Conduct substantive donor outreach and visits to advance relationships and secure philanthropic commitments.
• Develop fundraising proposals, donor briefings, and follow-up communications in collaboration with the Managing Director, faculty, academic leaders, and Advancement colleagues.
• Identify donor interests and align them with School priorities, developing opportunities for meaningful philanthropic support.
• Serve as the Major Gifts team liaison to Annual and Alumni Giving, supporting lead qualification and donor transfers.
• Assist with prospect research and qualification for both Assistant Director- and Director-level prospects and assignments.
• Coordinate and support Major Gifts regional activities, board engagement, and related initiatives.
• Coordinate with university and school partners to advance prospect relationships, solicitations, gift planning, recognition, and stewardship.
• Maintain accurate and timely prospect records, contact reports, forecasts, and next steps in accordance with University Advancement policies and procedures.
• Achieve established fundraising revenue, activity, pipeline, and proposal goals.

Preferred Position Qualifications

• Demonstrated fundraising experience, preferably involving gifts of $100K-$250K.
• Experience in donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and portfolio management, preferably at a research university or other complex organization.
• Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to work effectively with donors, faculty, administrators, and university partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including proposal development and presentation.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and digital tools for prospect management and contact documentation.
• Valid driver's license required; evening and weekend work may be necessary to support donor engagement and fundraising priorities.

Additional information

Additional Expectations: Job duties, responsibilities, and assignments are subject to change based on business needs, advancement priorities, university fundraising campaigns, school-level fundraising plans, donor and constituent needs, emerging technologies, and organizational requirements. The incumbent is expected to work with agility, adapt to changing priorities, support alignment between university-wide fundraising initiatives and Viterbi School priorities, identify opportunities for innovation, and contribute to continuous improvement across the advancement and fundraising enterprise.

Work Modality and Travel: This position is designated as hybrid. The employee must be available to work onsite as needed to support business operations, donor and constituent meetings, fundraising meetings, school and university events, campaign activities, peak-cycle priorities, and constituent needs.

The position may require local, domestic, and international travel, as well as occasional evening or weekend work to support donor engagement, fundraising events, campaign activity, and other advancement priorities. Any hybrid work arrangement must comply with the Viterbi School of Engineering Flexible Work Arrangement Policy and is subject to approval, operational needs, and change in accordance with that policy.

Pay and benefits

The annual base salary range for this position is $101,565.19 - $114,730.16. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope of responsibilities, work experience, education and training, skills, internal equity, and market conditions.

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree

Addtional Education Requirements Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education

Minimum Experience: 5 years

Addtional Experience Requirements Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum work experience

• Minimum Skills: Experience in development, maintaining meaningful relationships with a wide variety of internal/external stakeholders.
• Ability to self-manage, prioritize work assignments and manage multiple deadlines.
• Experience maintaining and interpreting large datasets and database systems.
• Excellent planning, organizational and interpersonal skills.
• Detail oriented with excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office.

Preferred Education

Bachelor's degree Business Administration Or Bachelor's degree in related field(s)

Preferred Skills

• Development experience in higher education.
• Experience in management/leadership roles.
• Volunteer experience in fundraising, campaign or non-profit environments.
• Experience with email marketing, website development/coding and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Extensive customer service experience.
• Fluent in one or more language in addition to English (e.g., Spanish).

• Notice of Non-discrimination
• Employment Equity
• Read USC's Clery Act Annual Security Report
• USC is a smoke-free environment
• Digital Accessibility

Additional information

If you are a current USC employee, please apply to this USC job posting in Workday by copying and pasting this link into your browser: