Director of Advancement

Job Description

St. Thomas Aquinas High School, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida seeks a mission-driven Director of Advancement to lead major gifts and annual giving campaigns, strengthen stewardship, and coordinate advancement communications and engagement. The Director will lead a small, specialized advancement team (Data & Special Projects Manager; Alumni & Parent Engagement Coordinator; Donor Relations Associate) and coordinate with cross-campus partners (Marketing; Finance; Athletics; Fine Arts; Campus Ministry; Administration). S/he will report to the Executive Director or the President and have an 11-month schedule from August June with July off. Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience and eligible for a performance bonus based on pre-established, measurable advancement metrics. The candidate performs all duties and responsibilities with the mission, vision, and values of the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.

Functions and Responsibilities include:
• Manage a portfolio of prospects and donors; cultivate, solicit, and steward major gifts.
• Build and maintain a disciplined major-gift pipeline to support campaign planning and readiness, partnering with the Executive Director and key volunteers.
• Own the annual fund strategy and execution (fall appeal, segmentation, calendar, results, and stewardship follow-through).
• Partner with Marketing to produce donor-facing communications (appeals, email, video, storytelling) with clear quality control and on-time delivery.
• Lead Giving Day planning and execution, including donor cultivation, challenge design, giving buckets, and post-event stewardship.
• Plan and deliver donor and community engagement experiences (e.g., donor Mass/reception, alumni gatherings, cultivation events).
• Drive corporate sponsorship strategy: prospecting, solicitation support, fulfillment, and accurate sponsor recognition.
• Ensure high-quality donor operations: documentation, restricted gift intent/designations, pledge/wire readiness, acknowledgements, and audit-ready records.
• Maintain strong CRM discipline and reporting; use data for segmentation, strategy, and performance management.
• Represent the school through constituent engagement, tours, and special initiatives as needed.
• Lead and coach the advancement team with clear priorities, timelines, and accountability.

Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree required; equivalent senior-level professional experience considered.
• Demonstrated success in relationship-based fundraising (major gifts and/or annual giving).
• Strong communication skills (written, verbal, and interpersonal) with close attention to detail.
• Project-management strength: ability to coordinate across teams and manage deadlines.
• Working knowledge of CRM/donor systems (Raiser's Edge or comparable preferred).
• Flexibility to work evenings/weekends for key events and constituent engagement.
• Self-starter with a high ownership mindset; thrives with autonomy and accountability.
• Creative communicator and storyteller; translates priorities into compelling donor messaging across channels.
• Resilient and persistent; maintains momentum through deadlines, ambiguity, and changing priorities.
• Capital campaign experience (planning, feasibility, quiet-phase preparation, or execution) preferred.

To apply: submit resume with cover letter to employment@aquinas-sta.org.
Subject line should read: Director of Advancement.

Please note: In addition to the eligibility requirements indicated in the Archdiocese of Miami Policy "Creating and Maintaining a Safe Environment for Children and Vulnerable Adults," the selected candidate for this entity must undergo a background screening through the Florida Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse and be granted a determination of eligibility as a condition of employment. For more information on the Clearinghouse please visit https://info.flclearinghouse.com/.

About the Employer

The Archdiocese of Miami is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America. Its ecclesiastic territory includes Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties in the U.S. state of Florida. The archdiocese is the metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, which covers Florida. The archbishop is Thomas Wenski. As archbishop, he also serves as pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Mary, the mother church of the archdiocese. Also serving are 428 priests, 160 permanent deacons, 50 religious brothers and 300 religious sisters who are members of various religious institutes. These priests, deacons and persons religious serve a Catholic population in South Florida of 1,300,000 in 118 parishes and missions.