Director of Strategic Partnerships

As a part of a diverse community of faculty and staff who represent many faith systems and worldviews, Marian University seeks a Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Sr. Norma Rocklage Franciscan Leadership Institute to promote our Catholic Franciscan mission and identity by sharing the story of the institute’s programs through creative content that will fostering partnerships that further our mission of forming missionary disciples to renew the Church and society.

The Director of Strategic Partnerships is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders in the Catholic Church and community to enhance the institute’s visibility and support, and to position it as a national leader in forming missionary disciples. The position involves crafting compelling messaging and storytelling to engage a variety of audiences, ensuring that the institute’s Catholic Franciscan mission, vision, and values are clearly communicated. Responsibilities also include managing events, overseeing digital platforms, and creating content that aligns with the organization's overall strategy, with a focus on nurturing positive connections with supporters and the wider community.

The ideal candidate will be entrepreneurial and have a joy-filled missionary spirit. S/he will be creative, highly organized, opportunity focused, and collaborative. Resourcefulness and adaptability, with the ability to find solutions with limited resources, and the drive to create and implement systems that can scale, are important.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Actively engage the Catholic Franciscan mission and identity of Marian University by modeling the Franciscan Sponsorship Values and honoring the legacy of the founding congregation through transformative education, unity in diversity, leadership through service, integrating faith and life, and institutional policies.

• Strategic leadership




• Develop and implement strategic plan and systems that build upon and align the success of existing programs within the institute.


• Collaborate with institute program directors to tell the stories of their programs through creative content that will cultivate new partnerships and engagement.


• Provide monthly engagement progress reports highlighting successes, challenges, and recommendations for improvement.




• Partnerships




• Partnership Activation: Develop and secure new strategic partnerships (5-7 annually) to help build the organization's brand and expand its network, understanding that initial partnerships may need to be creative and unconventional.


• Partnership Performance: Increase partnership-generated revenue by 20% year-over-year through new and existing partnerships.


• Partnership Retention: Maintain a partner retention rate of 85% or higher, ensuring long-term collaborations and maximizing mutual benefits.




• Engagement




• Engagement Activation: Build and maintain relationships with at least 50 prospective donors, increasing this number by 20% annually.


• Engagement Performance: Generate $200,000 in new gifts annually through partnerships, contracts, supporter cultivation, and targeted campaigns.


• Engagement Integration: Connect prospective and active supporters with institute programs, events, staff, and students.




• Creative Content




• Content Activation: Take ownership of all digital content creation, producing compelling articles, newsletters, social media updates, visual content, and/or podcasts to establish and build the institute’s  presence from the ground up.


• Content Performance: Increase audience engagement (measured by comments, shares, likes, etc.) by 25% within the first year through innovative and relevant content development.


• Content Consistency: Create and maintain consistent brand voice and style across all content produced for the institute, with 100% adherence to brand guidelines in all published materials.




• Other duties as assigned (10%)

University Expectations:

• Knowledge of and a commitment to the mission of Marian University


• Adheres to Marian University’s policies and procedures


• Shows courtesy and respect in interactions with fellow employees, students subordinates, and supervisors


• Communicates regularly with supervisor about Department issues


• Meets department productivity standards


• Participates in developing department goals, objective, and systems


• Assists to establish department measurements that align and support the accomplishment of the University’s strategic goals


• Adheres to the department budget. 

Required Qualifications:

• Ability to embody the Catholic and Franciscan identity of the University as a practicing Catholic, exhibiting public conduct and ministerial practices reflective of the teaching of the Catholic Church.


• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g., Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Business, Nonprofit Management, or similar).


• 3-5 years relevant experience with measurable success


• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)


• Experience in budget management


• Technology Proficient

Preferred:

• Master’s degree or certifications in areas like fundraising or nonprofit management would be a plus.


• Spanish language proficiency

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.   

For Consideration All Applications Require:  

1. Cover Letter


2. Current resume or CV


3. Contact information of three professional references.  The reference contact information must be entered after the application is submitted in the "My Presence" section of the applicant profile.


4. Responses to the supplementary mission & identity questions.

Please Review Marian University’s Mission & Identity Statement before responding to the supplementary questions on your application:  

https://www.marian.edu/faith 

Essential Functions:
Work hours necessary to perform job requirements satisfactorily on a regular basis.  Manage absence from work in responsible manner to ensure service to clients, work teams, and coworkers.  Comply with Marian University policies and practices and seeking clarification of them when necessary.

Physical Requirements:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use their hands to handle or feel objects, equipment, or controls; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with their hands and arms, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Limitations and Disclaimer:
The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position.

All job requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.  Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position.  Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor in compliance with Federal and States Laws.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills and/or abilities.  To perform this job successfully, the employee must possess the abilities or aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently.  Continued employment remains on an “at-will” basis.

Marian University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.