Assistant Dean for Development and External Relations (0464U), School of Public Health #88763

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Departmental Overview

At UC Berkeley School of Public Health (UCBPH), health equity and social justice are part of our DNA. For more than 75 years, we've been pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo. Established in 1943, we are a top-10 national school of public health located on the UC Berkeley campus, comprising six academic divisions, more than 20 graduate programs, and nearly 30 research centers and programs. Our mission is to improve population health, especially for the most vulnerable, and our most cherished values are health as a right; strength through diversity; thinking forward; and impact first. Learn more at: publichealth.berkeley.edu.

The Development & External Relations team manages a comprehensive development program (including major gifts, annual fund, corporate and foundation fundraising, planned giving, donor programs, research gifts, and gift processing and acknowledgment), in addition to programs to strengthen linkages between Berkeley Public Health and its alumni, as well as with other external constituents and stakeholders.

Position Summary

The Assistant Dean for Development & External Relations plans, manages, and executes comprehensive development, alumni, and external relations programs for the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. Reporting directly to the Dean, as well as to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Constituent Programs in University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR) via dotted line, the Assistant Dean works closely with the school's six academic division heads, directors of eighteen programs/areas of concentration, a dozen+ research unit directors, chief financial officer, chief innovation & entrepreneurship officer, chief social impact officer, communications and marketing team, and others, in a highly collaborative setting. In addition, given the school's interdisciplinary nature and dual degree programs, the Assistant Dean coordinates fundraising activities with other schools and colleges on the campus, as well as with colleagues in UDAR. They convene the Dean's Advisory Board, a key group of external constituents including alumni, employers of our graduates, policy makers, and current/potential donors, to provide important input on strategic priorities and direction.

The Assistant Dean uses a high degree of initiative, sound judgment, specialized knowledge, and sensitivity to individual needs to cultivate relationships with current and potential donors, exploring areas of potential mutual interest. They counsel and solicit donors and prospects for major gifts, balancing donor motivation with the needs of the school. They maintain a portfolio of donor prospects that includes the most influential, complex, or highest rated donors, with an expectation of personally raising $4.5M+ annually and overseeing revenue generating staff and activities that bring in over $20M annually for the School of Public Health. The Assistant Dean also manages a results-driven development and external relations team that explores the full range of fundraising options, including campaigns, annual giving, and deferred giving. The team also manages a multi-faceted alumni engagement program as well as overseeing the Public Health Alumni Association Board. The Assistant Dean is responsible for establishing and reaching strategic financial goals for private support for the school, including regular review and analysis of the program, with all of its elements, to ensure an efficient, effective, high performing, and quality operation. The Assistant Dean position requires local, domestic, and international travel, as well as occasional evening engagements.

Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is September 23, 2026. For full consideration, please apply on or before the first review date.

Responsibilities

Development - 50%

• Directs a comprehensive development program including major gifts, annual fund, corporate and foundation fundraising, planned giving, donor programs, research gifts, and gift processing and acknowledgment.
• Creates, develops, and executes a strategic vision and strategic plans related to all facets of development activities, in alignment with school priorities, including highly specialized program activities designed to maximize donor engagement with the school.
• Creates strategies linking opportunities/needs with philanthropic interests of donors, and ensures an organized and inclusive approach.
• Develops, writes, implements, and evaluates individualized plans and strategies for cultivation and solicitation of major gifts and gift planning, which often requires a high degree of innovation.
• Collaborates closely with the dean, as part of their leadership team, on direct engagement with donors and prospects.
• Presents formal fundraising proposals to major donors and prospects or prepares senior management for the presentation of proposals.
• Interacts with prospects, donors, faculty leadership, and staff to provide information, advice, and counsel regarding areas of subject matter expertise.
• Represents the dean and school at functions, meetings, and on committees.
• Manages a portfolio of 40-80 prospects that include the most influential, complex, or highest capacity-rated donors, typically with the capacity to give $250K or more.
• Qualifies major gift prospects and solicits gifts directly.
• Writes complex proposals for solicitation of high value individuals, corporate, and/or foundation prospects.
• Ensures that predetermined fundraising goals are met, including increasing annually the school's fundraising capacity.

People & Administrative Management - 25%

• Manages a team of 3-4 direct reports, 1-2 staff members and/or student workers who report to those direct reports, and 1 UDAR prospect researcher embedded on the team.
• This team is responsible for all areas of development and alumni/external relations.
• Leads team to achieve results, holding team members accountable for achievement of fundraising goals and metrics, as well as collective success.
• Recommends hiring of new employees, salary actions, terminations, performance ratings, and other related issues of managed staff.
• Ensures team members are fully trained and have the tools they need to perform successfully in their roles.
• Actively engages in and supports the professional and career development of direct reports.
• Effectively develops, leads, and manages team, harnessing strong team-building skills as a means to build staff morale.
• Oversees unit budget and expenditures, ensuring appropriate fiscal stewardship.

Alumni Relations - 10%

• Oversees a program to strengthen linkages between the School and its alumni, including: coordination and implementation of all alumni-related events and activities; oversight of the Public Health Alumni Association Board of Directors, including managing board and committee meetings and events, overseeing finances, coordinating activities with the California Alumni Association and other campus alumni groups, ensuring compliance with university-wide policies.
• Coordinates with the Student Services & Admissions unit to administer and award approximately 25 annual scholarships.

External Relations - 10%

• Convenes the Dean's Advisory Board, a key group of external constituents including alumni, employers of our graduates, policy makers, and current/potential donors, to provide important input on strategic priorities and direction.
• Designs and implements outreach strategies and programs related to local, state, and federal legislative and community relations matters with the objective of establishing/maintaining a level of visibility and credibility with various constituents that will turn into tangible support for the School.

Professional Development - 5%

• Participates in workshops, trainings, and other professional development activities; may participate in committees, projects, and other service activities. Other duties, as assigned

Required Qualifications

Fundraising & Program Building

• Expert working knowledge of the fundraising field, including expertise in donor relations and public relations concepts, principles, procedures, and/or techniques.
• Knowledge of design and implementation of donor identification, cultivation, and solicitation strategies and techniques.
• Working knowledge of foundations and non-profit, public benefit corporations.
• Skills to meet or exceed fundraising goals and objectives.
• Expert skills to conceive, design, implement, and evaluate effective fundraising programs.
• Ability to develop and structure complex gifts.
• Ability to develop multi-institutional frameworks and networks for collaborative projects; ability to identify needs of private and public sponsoring organizations to promote new opportunities.

People Management

• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain cohesive, high-performing, results-driven teams through excellent training, coaching, mentoring, and management of direct reports, to achieve goals through subordinate staff, and to hold team members accountable for their performance and collective success.

Strategic Planning & Execution:

• Demonstrates strong strategic, critical, and analytical thinking, creative and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of information.
• Expert ability to serve as strategic thought partner for the Dean.
• Ability to focus on vision and strategies, without neglecting operational details required to execute.
• High-level project planning/management skills, to lead successful execution of strategic development plans.

Communication

• Excellent verbal and written communication and listening skills; expertise in developing persuasive written materials from diverse and/or specialized information.
• Expert skill in making persuasive and compelling presentations of school goals/objectives in order to secure gifts.
• Ability to represent the School and Dean professionally in all settings.
• Advanced skill in advocating for and representing the institution to its various publics.