Executive Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics

About University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation

Established in 2003, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation (UMAF), a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, exists to raise philanthropic funds in support of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s mission and highest aspirations. Located on the Amherst campus and wholly dedicated to supporting the University’s mission, UMAF is a separately governed nonprofit organization with its own health, wellness, and retirement benefits. UMAF serves the University of Massachusetts Amherst community by serving as a best practices resource for fundraising strategy and implementation.

About the role

Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Advancement Services and part of the Advancement Services Management Team (ASMT). The Executive Director of Business Intelligence (BI) and Analytics directly supervises the Director of BI & Reporting providing standard and customized BI solutions enabling in-depth analysis towards discovering new opportunities for the UMAF’s continued growth.

The Executive Director will be required to challenge the status quo and spark innovative thoughts to convert complex data findings into data visualizations and insights. Working closely with UMAF leadership team to define alumni engagement and fundraising data analytics needs while taking consideration of industry best practices, Information Technology systems capabilities, and the alignment with the strategic vision and the priorities of the UMAF Executive Leadership Team. In collaboration with the Executive Director of Prospect Development conduct campaign performance analysis and develop strategic recommendations aimed at improving accuracy, and completeness of the data collection to support the fundraising campaign.

The Executive Director will be an expert in the design, development and implementation of Tableau technology-based solutions and services that support advanced analytics, benchmarking, and surveys for UMAF, to provide proactive and data-driven insights using Business Intelligence (BI) solutions that inform UMAF leadership team decisions with a primary focus on “data strategy”.

The Executive Director will need to develop and execute plans for continuous data quality improvement that will allow for the implementation of sophisticated BI and performance management solutions that support the fundraising efforts individually, at Colleges or Unit level and UMAF as a whole. Moreover, develop and maintain a comprehensive program for data management to facilitate the strategic use of the University data sources, including student records, faculty & staff records, and parent’s records, using data warehouse technology, social media and web and email communication with internal and external tracking and data collection systems.

In addition, the Executive Director will collaborate with the ASMT on initiatives to improve business processes that impact data integrity in the Advance database and related information systems, ensuring compliance with university policy and aligning with industry best practices and lead in change management initiatives to integrate best practices into current and future business processes. Including proactively engaging with the Prospect Development team to ensure that the fundraising analytics facilitate a strategic, integrated program of prospect identification, research, and prospect management in support of the alumni engagement and fundraising goals.

Location: This is a full-time hybrid position and is open to employees in select US states: Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

What you'll do

1. Lead the design, development and implementation of technology-based solutions and services that support fundraising business intelligence (BI), fundraising analytics, and benchmarking, for UMAF, to provide proactive and data-driven insights using robust Business Intelligence (BI) solutions that inform UMAF leadership decisions.
2. Lead a high-performing team of data visualization, reporting and data experts providing standard and customized BI solutions within UMAF, and collaborate with UMass Foundation and UMass Amherst technical leaders to understand UMass Amherst investments around data infrastructure and platforms to enable critical data capabilities while taking on consideration industry best practices, existing systems capabilities, and the alignment with the strategic vision and the priorities of the UMAF Strategic plan.
3. Challenge the status quo and spark innovative thoughts to set the operational strategy for visualizations and shape the overall landscape, direction, and data delivery to support the success of various functional teams via data-driven decision making and ensure alignment across teams based on their individual data needs.
4. Develop and execute plans for continuous data quality improvement that will allow for the implementation of sophisticated BI and performance management solutions that support the UMAF Strategic Initiatives. Will develop and maintain a comprehensive program for data management to facilitate the strategic use of the University data sources, including student records, faculty & staff records, and parents records, using data warehouse technology, social media, web and email communication with internal and external tracking and evaluate the data vendor landscape and identify strategic partnerships / solutions that can bring high ROI to the UMAF teams.
5. Collaborate with the UMAF leadership management teams on initiatives to improve business processes and assist in the migration to Salesforce CRM and related services, ensuring compliance with university policy and industry best practices and participate in change management initiatives to integrate industry best practices into current and future business processes.

Other Duties as Assigned (10%)

UMAF is building and growing, and this position will support those efforts with other duties and projects as assigned from time to time.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or related field.
• 7+ years of relevant professional experience in Higher Education Advancement.
• 5+ years of relevant experience with Ellucian Advance Database Schema or related platform.
• 5+ years of experience working with complex relational-database systems.
• 5+ years of Tableau dashboards design and development.
• Experience with SQL/Oracle programming.
• Experience with MS BI stack administration.
• Good understanding of Data Management Platforms, Relational Databases Systems (RDBMS) Datawarehousing concepts, ETL development, and Systems Integrations.
• Experience managing and developing high-performance teams.
• Ability to lead and motivate teams as well as the broader organization through transformational and change management initiatives.
• Ability to respond quickly to changing business needs and priorities.
• Experience assessing needs and resources to recommend strategic Business Intelligence solutions.
• Ability to manage multiple high priorities projects with great diligence and execution in a timely and efficient manner.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure services such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, or Google.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA and/or Master of Computer science or Data Analytics graduate degree preferred.
• 10 years of experience in a Business Intelligence Development role with a Higher Education Advancement working with one of the leading Donor Management systems (Salesforce, Ellucian Advance, Blackbaud CRM, Raiser’s Edge, or Abila Millennium)
• Established track record driving business goals and offerings through data, business intelligence, and analytics.
• Have built and led a data team that has created a data-driven culture.
• Prior experience with a donor CRM system conversion project.
• Strong skills in managing multiple projects and ensuring a high level of responsiveness.
• Experience with advanced predictive analytics related to donor acquisition, cultivation, and retention.
• Good understanding of Data Governance and Master Data Management
• Excellent project management skills
• Understands how multidisciplinary teams consisting of research, design, creative, technology, and data work to create a competitively unique project and engagement model.
• Ability and passion to be in front of customers helping solidify and build relationships.
• Strong collaborator willing to partner with peers to form a strategically aligned core-leadership team.
• Experience with Salesforce cloud marketing or similar marketing automation platforms
• Experience with Salesforce Analytics platform (aka Salesforce Einstein)

Note: We’re passionate about building a diverse team. If your experience is close, but not an exact match, please consider applying. Experience comes in many forms, and skills are transferable. We know that diverse teams make better decisions and deliver better results, which is why we’re committed to adding new perspectives and encourage everyone to apply.

BENEFITS

• 20 vacation days, 12 holidays, 12 sick days, 5 personal days, and 2 office closure days.
• 4-day summer work week.
• 401(k) plan. You contribute 5% and receive a 10% match.
• Health insurance packages for medical, dental, and vision.
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave to use within 1 year of childbirth. An additional 6 weeks available for the birthing parent. Part-time work for full-time pay for the first 4 weeks post parental leave.
• Learn more about our benefits.

Proposed Annual Salary Range: $140,000 - $150,000

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

At the UMass Amherst Foundation, we understand the value that diversity, equity, and inclusion bring to our workplace, our constituents, and our community. View our DEI Statement here.

We welcome and value diversity in all its forms and recognize that a diverse and inclusive team strengthens our work and advances our mission. We recognize that the benefits of a diverse team are fully realized when people of all races, gender identities, ages, ethnicities, cultural heritages and nationalities; educational backgrounds; religious and political beliefs; sexual orientations; abilities; and socioeconomic and veteran status are valued, respected, and included at every level. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact careers@uma-foundation.org to request accommodation.

OUR VALUES (S.T.E.W.A.R.D.S)

UMAF is committed to building a team with these shared values:

Service: We focus on the needs of others above ourselves and support our colleagues when they need help.

Trust, Transparency, and Teamwork: We value honesty, trustworthiness, and open communication. Our colleagues can count on us for support.

Excellence: We pursue excellence in all that we do – each time, and learn and grow as a team.

Wellness: Our work culture provides flexibility and empowers individuals.

Accountability: We accept full responsibility for our decisions, actions, and results.

Respect: We respect each other and celebrate our different ideas, strengths, interests, and cultural backgrounds.

Donor-Centric: We find intersections between donor’s experiences and values, and our organization’s priorities and funding needs.

Synergy: We connect, communicate, and collaborate within teams, and across functions to enhance our effectiveness and impact.

Questions regarding the position or anything else related to careers with UMAF may be directed to the People & Culture team at careers@uma-foundation.org