Job Description
New England Law/Boston (http://www.nesl.edu), an ABA-approved, AALS-member, free-standing law school, seeks a Director of Alumni Relations, reporting directly to the Dean, who is chief executive officer. With a robust financial posture, no operational issues or controversies and a devoted alumni community of some 12,000 living alumni, NELB offers an unusual career opportunity for an ambitious early career institutional advancement professional.
Working closely with the Dean’s office, the Director of Alumni Relations will lead NELB’s alumni engagement operation, providing strategic, tactical and managerial leadership for alumni relations efforts, supporting NELB’s recently appointed Dean in laying the groundwork for more robust institutional advancement capabilities.
The Director is dedicated to understanding alumni and facilitating ways to grow and sustain the base of alumni engaging with and supporting the school. The Director will oversee the Annual Giving Program and plan special events. The Director will work with the Dean to provide context for alumni institutional engagement and philanthropic support.
THE LAW SCHOOL
NELB has long been a pioneer in affording access to premium, practice-ready legal education. Founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, it began as the nation’s only law school for women at a time when other schools admitted only men. For much of its early history, most women admitted to the Massachusetts Bar were Portia Law graduates. In 1969, the school changed its name to New England School of Law to coincide with its accreditation by the American Bar Association. NELB joined the Association of American Law Schools in 1998. In 2008, the Law School began its second century with a new name and branding: New England Law/Boston. Today, it awards the JD and LLM, offering full-time, part-time day, part-time evening and flexible part-time instruction to 1082 students, with 32 full-time faculty members and more than 100 adjuncts who are leading practitioners, industry leaders, and members of the state and federal bench. The only independent law school in Massachusetts, NELB attracts a national student body, with over 70% of its students hailing from outside the Commonwealth.
NELB has no debt. With a robust productive endowment and outright ownership of four buildings in Boston’s Theatre District and Bay Village, NELB enjoys a strong financial situation and an enviable location. The city’s top attractions and legal institutions—including the State House, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Financial District and leading law firms—are a short walk away. Faculty and students describe the campus culture as “passionate and compassionate.”
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS
- Help build and strengthen the alumni network by planning and implementing engagement opportunities that foster lifelong mutually enriching connections and support New England Law priorities and initiatives (e.g., Alumni Reunion Weekend, regional receptions and activities that support recruitment and career development).
- Direct the development of the Annual Giving Program to build donor awareness and loyalty; establish goals, objectives and procedures related to communications and annual giving; and recommend and manage the implementation of best practices in strategic communications and annual giving processes.
- Oversee alumni digital strategy, alumni experience operations and measuring engagement—through both attitudinal and behavioral dimensions—of more than 12,000 alumni.
- Develop alumni backgrounders and conduct research to support alumni participation in events for the career services and admissions teams and for individual outreach from the Office of the Dean.
- Work closely with the marketing and communications department to produce the annual alumni magazine and to provide alumni insight for admissions, career services and the Office of the Dean.
- Cultivate a culture of engagement to include events and programs, volunteer opportunities and community partnerships.
- Lead alumni and student volunteer committees/groups; manage time, activity and expectations to achieve goals in support of institutional priorities.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Minimum three years of alumni relations experience.
- Experience working in the advancement field, preferably in higher education.
- Demonstrated ability to interact well with trustees, senior administrators, staff who report directly to them and the general school community
- Demonstrated analytical, organizational and decision-making skills with follow-up abilities are essential.
- Strong well-developed communication and planning skills, and a strategic, goal-oriented approach to work.
- Proven ability to develop good working relationships up, down and across an organization and easily communicate with a broad range of audiences.
- Must be skilled at making presentations to varied audiences.
- Integrity and high standards of professional conduct are needed, and flexibility in work hours is necessary since attendance at periodic evening and weekend meetings and school events is required.
SALARY RANGE AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
NELB has established the salary range for this position as $95,000 to $115,000. In addition to salary, NELB provides unusually generous employee benefits, including a 10% retirement contribution provided the employee contributes 5% on a pre-tax basis; expansive paid holidays and vacation time; and “summer hours” on summer Fridays.
Review of candidate materials will begin immediately and continue until the appointment. A complete application will include a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, and contact information for five professional references who can speak about the candidate’s qualifications for this appointment. Named references will not be contacted without the candidate’s prior consent.
Expressions of interest, applications, nominations and inquiries should be directed to NELB’s search consultant, Mr. Chuck O’Boyle of C. V. O’Boyle, Jr., LLC, at chuck@cvoboyle.com, who will furnish a detailed specification upon request.
It is the policy of New England Law | Boston to provide equality of opportunity for all persons, including faculty and employees, with respect to hiring, continuation, promotion, tenure, and any other terms or conditions of employment, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, military service, age, or disability. The School complies with all applicable federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws, including Title IX.
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