Associate Director, Development

Department: Advancement and External Relations 

Job Type: Continuing

Full-time/Part-time: Full Time (>=1249 hrs/year) 

Campus: Waterloo 

Reports to: AVP,  Advancement

Employee Group: Management 

Application Deadline: July 5, 2026

Requisition ID: 10844 

Wilfrid Laurier University is a leading multi-campus university that excels at educating with purpose. Through its exceptional employees, students, researchers, leaders, and educators, Laurier has built a reputation as a world-class institution known for its rich student experience, academic excellence, and global impact. With a commitment to Indigenization and commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, Laurier’s thriving community has a place for everyone.

Laurier has more than 21,000 students and 2,100 faculty and staff across campuses in Waterloo and Brantford, as well locations in Kitchener and Milton. The university is committed to providing an inclusive workplace, a flexible work policy and employing a workforce that is reflective of local and national demographics. Laurier's Waterloo, Kitchener, and Brantford campuses are located on the shared traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. This land is part of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty between the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe peoples and symbolizes the agreement to share, protect our resources, and not to engage in conflict. Laurier's Milton campus is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and part of the Nanfan Treaty of 1701 between the British Crown and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

This job posting is for a current vacancy.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director, Development, Lazaridis School, the Associate Director, Development: oversees, develops and implements fundraising and donor relations strategies to secure gifts in support of the priorities and values established through consultation with relevant stakeholders at the University. 

In addition to personally managing and advancing an assigned list of 100 major gift and principal giving donors and prospects; s/he strategically approaches to secure gifts and pledges from individuals (alumni and friends) corporations, and foundations.; develops and manages timelines for various fundraising activities to ensure strategic plans and critical fund raising processes are carried out in a timely manner; works with senior administrators, faculty and volunteers; and monitors and evaluates fundraising activities to ensure that the fundraising goals are being achieved.

This position is comprehensive and based at the Waterloo Campus. The incumbent provides leadership in a multi-campus environment, requiring regular interaction, communication and collaboration with staff and stakeholders at the Waterloo Campus, Brantford Campus and external partners.

As a key member of the Development team at Laurier, the Associate Director, Development participates in faculty/department-wide planning and initiatives which enhance fundraising.

Major Gift Fundraising and Prospect Management

• Manages an assigned list of 100 major gift and principal giving donors and prospects representing individuals, foundations, corporations and associations for the purpose of securing financial support;
• Develops and implements strategies for identification, cultivation, and solicitation of prospects to achieve financial targets and staff activity metrics;
• Coordinates prospect/donor calls, makes visits and ensures all necessary follow-up including correspondence to donors, contact reports, updates to Banner, and drafting of terms and conditions;
• Develops, submits and follows up on funding proposals to prospective donors;
• Develops and implements, in concert with the Donor Relations team, stewardship strategy for individual donors, including gift announcements, donor cultivation/recognition events, and reports to donors on progress and outcomes of fundraising projects they have supported with a view to strengthening those relationships.

Specific Fundraising, Planning, Strategy Development & Reporting

• Collaborates with Faculty and Staff to develop new fundraising priorities that align with the priorities of the university
• Maintains a good working knowledge of the activities, priorities and needs in teaching, research
• Recommends specific actions to increase the effectiveness of development activities including own performance;
• Engages and assists senior leaders and individual faculty members and staff in fundraising and donor relations activities
• Works collaboratively with PMR, Alumni Relations and Annual Giving teams to ensure prospect identification and relationship building occurs;

External Communications

• Collaborates with the Communications team and other Advancement staff to prepare and coordinate all communication pertaining to fundraising and donor relations
• Works in collaboration with the gift compliance team on solicitations and gift agreements

Volunteer Management, Faculty Liaison and Administration

• Identifies, recruits and manages volunteers to assist in fundraising activities as appropriate
• Follows all university policies and procedures, with particular attention to those that pertain to fundraising
• In consultation with other colleagues, ensures the effective and efficient use of centralized resources and information;

Qualifications

• University degree preferred; CFRE preferred
• A strong commitment to post-secondary education and continuous learning;
• Proven experience in prospect development, management and stewardship
• 5 to 7 years’ experience in a post-secondary major gift fundraising and donor relations function. Capital Campaign experience preferred
• Strong managerial/operational skills;
• Demonstrated leadership and team building skills including experience in goal setting, motivating, leading, supervising, evaluating and developing a capable team of professionals;
• Experience collaborating with a variety of stakeholders, particularly senior volunteer leadership;
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with Deans, senior leadership, volunteers and colleagues;
• Strong planning and project management skills;
• Sound analytical and decision-making skills;
• Relationship building skills, good judgement and diplomacy;
• Proficiency in the use of data base management tools, contact management software and office management software;
• Collaboration and teamwork; strong work ethic; ego in check.
• Strong oral, written, and presentation skills.

Hours of Work: This is a full-time, continuing role. The normal hours of work are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday. Flexibility in scheduling hours of work and extensive travel are required

This position is eligible for a flexible work arrangement, as per Policy 8.14 (Flexible Work Policy). All arrangement must be approved by the direct manager. In-person attendance for events, as required to meet operational needs, is expected. On occasion, this schedule may need to be adjusted to meet operational requirements.

Compensation:

Grade: MG-2B

Rate of Pay: $85,357 - $106,696

When new employees are hired the appropriate base salary is determined using these sub-ranges as a guide while adhering to rules on hiring as defined in our compensation policy. Considerations for new hire salaries include, qualifications and length/depth of required experience, relevant market rates for similar jobs, internal equity, and estimated learning curve in starting the job.

Wilfrid Laurier University endeavors to fill positions with qualified candidates who have a combination of education, experience, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position while demonstrating Laurier's Employee Success Factors.

Equity, diversity and creating a culture of inclusion are part of Laurier’s core values and central to the Laurier Strategy. Laurier is committed to increasing the diversity of faculty and staff and welcomes applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous, racialized, having disabilities, and from persons of any minority sexual and gender identities. Indigenous candidates who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact the Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Candidates from other equity deserving groups who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact Equity & Accessibility. We have strived to make our application process accessible, however if you require any assistance applying for a position or would like this job posting in an alternative format, please contact Human Resources. Contact information can be found at careers.wlu.ca/content/How-to-apply/

Should you be interested in learning more about this opportunity, please visit www.wlu.ca/careers for additional information and the online application system. All applications must be submitted online. Please note, a resume and cover letter will be required in electronic form.

Please note, when pre-screening questions are used as part of the application process, AI is utilized to score responses. All other aspects of the hiring process are reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team.