Director of Development
Academy of Our Lady of Peace - San Diego
Admin & Clerical
Full-Time
About Our Lady of Peace
As the oldest high school and only all-girls’ Catholic highschool in San Diego, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace (OLP)is committed to providing young women unparalleledleadership opportunities in an innovative learningenvironment, amongst a community that celebrates a diverseculture of sisterhood. Sponsored by the Sisters of St. Josephof Carondelet (CSJ), the school continues to preserve theirlegacy, although the Sisters are no longer on campus, inwhich girls become “women of heart, women of faith, andwomen of courage.”
The Our Lady of Peace tradition has thrived for 140 years as the school’sleadership has responded to the needs of the times, iteratingalong the way, to ensure young women are provided aneducation rooted in excellence. The juxtaposition of beingboth the oldest school, while simultaneously being a schoolcommitted to offering a visionary and innovative curriculumto young women, is what set’s OLP apart!
Our historic campus was built in the early 1920’s and recentlyrenovated for the 2020-21 school year as part of the $24million Boundless Capital Campaign including the 40,000Esther Sanfilippo Navarra Hall and Shiley Center for Scienceand Innovation. The school broke ground in March 2022 on anew 20,000-square-foot state of the art Academic Buildingwith a 5,000-square-foot Library and Learning Center, and aPerforming Arts Complex, with an anticipated completion inSeptember 2023.
The Candidate
Our Lady of Peace is seeking an individual committed to the values of theSisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the mission of an all girls’catholic education, and a passion for strategic leadership asthe next Director of Development . This new position will havethe extraordinary opportunity to join Our Lady of Peace as the schoolculminates its first comprehensive capital campaign,Boundless, and looks to future initiatives around building arobust endowment, increasing major gifts to meet ongoingaging facility needs, a vision to expand school groundsallowing for access to athletic fields, and deepeningrelationships across constituencies. Reporting to the Head ofSchool, the Director of Development will join a dynamic teamof leaders on the Head of School’s Executive Leadership Teamand work collaboratively with the Board of Trustees and othercritical stakeholders to ensure the fiscal stability of Our Lady of Peace.
This mission-driven leader is expected to provideextraordinary vision, strategic guidance, and tacticalmanagement for the Office of Development. The successfulcandidate will continue building relationships with vitalconstituencies and securing the financial resourcesnecessary to maintain OLP ascent as a nationally recognizedall girls’ school. The successful candidate will also be arespectful, engaged, analytical, and an entrepreneurial leaderwith a demonstrated commitment to academic excellence,inclusivity and belonging, student success, and innovative growth.
Leadership Opportunities
There are several unique leadership opportunities to refinecurrent and develop new approaches to development andalumna relations:
- Build upon the success of the Boundlesscampaign
Channeling the energy driven from the school’s firstcomprehensive capital campaign that raised upwards of $12million, the school has identified the need to strengthen ourexisting Endowment funds. Furthermore, aging facilitiesand the vision to expand school grounds, allowing foraccess to athletic fields, looks to the need for ongoingcapital campaigns of varying sizes, engaging major donors.These priorities necessitate the need to secure significantcommitments in order to address the strategic fundingpriorities for the future of OLP. The next campaign will alsoserve as an important opportunity to engage in and deepenrelation- ships with a growing alumna and network offriends, foundations and corporations.
- Further develop alumna engagement strategies
Alumna relations has a unique opportunity to continue topartner with the annual Our Lady of Peace Women’s Symposium, alongwith the Academic Departments and Assistant Head of School in developing partnerships that will provide robustinternship and career opportunities for Our Lady of Peace students, whilefurther linking OLP to corporate sponsorships. Strengthening intentional collaboration will greatly enhancethe overall student experience and contribute to studentoutcomes, while also providing meaningful opportunitiesfor involvement with alumna.
- Strengthen a culture of philanthropy
Provide the vision, goals, education, infrastructure, andoperating procedures to manage some of the school’s mostimportant relationships, thereby increasing coordinationand collaboration on behalf of the school and with thebroader community. Work with academic and staffleadership to identify key opportunities for variouscorporate, foundation, and alumna partners to participate inand augment the overall Our Lady of Peace development objectives.Further diversification of giving opportunities for allconstituents, including planned giving and estate giving, linked with ongoing educational and learning opportunities.
Required Qualifications
We seek an experienced development professionalwith progressively responsible managerial andleadership positions in development; a proven trackrecord in principal and major gift fundraising; and abroad understanding of the various roles, functionsand responsibilities of the different units within theOffice of development. Direct experience in non-profitfundraising is required, and school philanthropy ispreferred. A bachelor’s degree from an accrediteduniversity is required, and an advanced degree ispreferred. In addition, a qualified candidate for thisleadership position will have:
An understanding of and personal commitment toOLP’s mission, all girls’ catholic education, andthe Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Experience conducting or managing prospectdiscovery and pipeline development, as well ascultivating and soliciting major gifts fromindividuals, foundations, and/or corporations.
Successful experience participating in theplanning for, or implementation of, a multi-faceted comprehensive campaign.
Demonstrated experience in developingtraditional and virtual alumna and constituentengagement efforts while unapologeticallychampioning philanthropic participation.
History of identifying, cultivating, and retainingtrustee candidates and other key volunteercommittee members.
Ability to serve and add value to the high-performingand dynamic senior leadership of the school.
Experience managing and mentoring staff toeffective, metrics-driven performance, leading with asense of confidence and honesty, and challengingthem to meet quantitative goals and outcomes in acooperative, inclusive, and competitive teamenvironment.
Models and embodies a personal values system thatpromotes and celebrates a collaborative workplaceculture that recognizes and values diversity, equity,and inclusion.
Demonstrated ability to act with discretion andmaintain confidentiality.
Proven ability to multitask with strong timemanagement skills and the ability to addresscompeting priorities in a dynamic, high-performanceenvironment.
Responsibilities
The Director of Development is responsible to work with andfor the Head of School in the successful development of themission of OLP. In order to accomplish this, the Director ofDevelopment’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to,the following:
Crafting a vision for the development program insupport of the strategic plan’s goals and strategies by:Promoting and actively supporting a culture ofphilanthropy at Our Lady of Peace.
Develop and successfully execute a long-range,data-driven, aggressive strategic plan forDevelopment that supports this vision, updating theplan annually.
Ensuring all annual plans, goals, action plans,timelines, budgets, and outcomes for each of thedevelopment departments are completed andimplemented.
Crafting and implementing a vision and plan for aninnovative alumni engagement strategy reflective ofthe diversity of OLP.
Fostering a strong and collaborative partnership withschool leaders by:Serving as a member of the Executive LeadershipTeam, gaining broad awareness of school operationswhile educating faculty, staff, parents and studentson the school's culture of philanthropy.
Actively supporting the Head of School's work withmajor gift generation and cultivation.
Attend Board of Trustee meetings and serve as a liaisonon designated Committees of the Board as needed.
Strengthening the policies, processes, and proceduresthat facilitate collaboration with the school's operations,including but not limited to communications; finance andadministration; the annual audit; gift processing,endowment, etc.
Identify and cultivate new and existing major giftrelationships.
Demonstrating a culture of transparency, collaboration,and open communication about philanthropic andalumna strategies with the campus community, keyvolunteers, etc.
Providing effective leadership by:Overseeing all aspects of the Office of Developmentincluding annual, major, and planned giving activities;engagement of alumna, friends, and otherconstituencies (community, corporate, etc.);stewardship and reporting; endowments; prospectresearch and management; development services; andevent management.
Managing the staff, supervising the creation ofmeasurable outcomes through annual operational planswith key performance indicators, and evaluatingperformance.
Developing and implementing an effective prospectmanagement system to ensure productive donoridentification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship,working closely with the Head of School, administrators,faculty, Trustees, and others who can assist with thisprocess.
Working with major gift staff to develop and implementcomplex and sensitive strategies and plans forsolicitation of individual, corporate, and foundationprospects.
Managing a focused personal portfolio of 50–75 principaland leadership gift prospects and donors.
Provide leadership to key volunteer committees.
Creating within the department a commitment to teamunity and success while allowing for the praise ofindividual performance contributing to such success.
Providing professional development and performanceassessment.
Represent OLP at events and functions, traveling asnecessary to achieve the school's goals.
Desired Characteristics
Unafraid to employ creative and versatile methods tocounter emerging challenges, demonstrating flexibility andremaining emotionally steady through setbacks.
Has a growth and builder mindset, entrepreneurial spirit, anda commitment to continuous improvement.
Demonstrates strategic leadership and an energetic, drivingpersonality that proactively pursues collaborative teamworkand partnerships, both internally with school leadership andexternally in the community.
Ability to successfully leverage evolving change in diversityof alumna and works to strategically engage all stakeholders.
Capacity to integrate new technology to manage workloadand the needs of a diverse culture.
Understanding of the requisite groundwork fororganizational transformation and change management.
A persuasive communicator who is able to listen effectively,has strong oral and written communication skills, and ademonstrated ability to compellingly and comfortablycommunicate with a variety of audiences, inspiring support,involvement, and investment.
Proven ability to initiate and nurture highly effectiveinterpersonal relationships with individual trustees;prospects and donors; faculty, staff, students; and otherexternal constituencies.
Application Process
This retained search is managed by Mary Law Executive Search,the California leader in placing nonprofit and private schoolFinance and HR professionals.
Mary Law
Mary Law Executive Search
[email protected]
925-785-6991
Salary and Benefits
This position is a full-time, exempt status,12-month, on-sitesenior leadership position that manages and overseespersonnel. There are opportunities for flexible, hybrid workduring student vacation times, depending upon job demandsand requirements, and with the approval of the Head of School.
The school offers a comprehensive benefits package for all full-time employees including 100% employee premium coverage ofmedical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, employeeassistance program, and teladoc. The school shares in the cost toward dependent premiums. Other optional programs such asidentity theft, legal insurance, 403(b) Retirement Plan are alsooffered. The school also partners with the Diocese of San Diegoto offer a pension plan. The school invests the requiredcontribution for the employee for those with work scheduledover 20 hours a week. Benefits are reviewed annually by theschool and and are outlined in the Benefits Handbook.
Full time non-faculty employees accrue vacation in addition tothe provided sixteen paid holidays, commensurate with years ofservice as outlined in the Employee Handbook.
The salary range for this position posting, commensurate withexperience and degrees, is $85,000 - $132,000.
Starting Date
This position is seeking to hire a leader to begin by March 1,2023, but will work with all candidates to find a date amenableto their current work situation. OLP understands that leaderscurrently serving in a management position will need to provideappropriate time to transition a team, and will work withemployees to find a conducive start date.
As the oldest high school and only all-girls’ Catholic highschool in San Diego, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace (OLP)is committed to providing young women unparalleledleadership opportunities in an innovative learningenvironment, amongst a community that celebrates a diverseculture of sisterhood. Sponsored by the Sisters of St. Josephof Carondelet (CSJ), the school continues to preserve theirlegacy, although the Sisters are no longer on campus, inwhich girls become “women of heart, women of faith, andwomen of courage.”
The Our Lady of Peace tradition has thrived for 140 years as the school’sleadership has responded to the needs of the times, iteratingalong the way, to ensure young women are provided aneducation rooted in excellence. The juxtaposition of beingboth the oldest school, while simultaneously being a schoolcommitted to offering a visionary and innovative curriculumto young women, is what set’s OLP apart!
Our historic campus was built in the early 1920’s and recentlyrenovated for the 2020-21 school year as part of the $24million Boundless Capital Campaign including the 40,000Esther Sanfilippo Navarra Hall and Shiley Center for Scienceand Innovation. The school broke ground in March 2022 on anew 20,000-square-foot state of the art Academic Buildingwith a 5,000-square-foot Library and Learning Center, and aPerforming Arts Complex, with an anticipated completion inSeptember 2023.
The Candidate
Our Lady of Peace is seeking an individual committed to the values of theSisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the mission of an all girls’catholic education, and a passion for strategic leadership asthe next Director of Development . This new position will havethe extraordinary opportunity to join Our Lady of Peace as the schoolculminates its first comprehensive capital campaign,Boundless, and looks to future initiatives around building arobust endowment, increasing major gifts to meet ongoingaging facility needs, a vision to expand school groundsallowing for access to athletic fields, and deepeningrelationships across constituencies. Reporting to the Head ofSchool, the Director of Development will join a dynamic teamof leaders on the Head of School’s Executive Leadership Teamand work collaboratively with the Board of Trustees and othercritical stakeholders to ensure the fiscal stability of Our Lady of Peace.
This mission-driven leader is expected to provideextraordinary vision, strategic guidance, and tacticalmanagement for the Office of Development. The successfulcandidate will continue building relationships with vitalconstituencies and securing the financial resourcesnecessary to maintain OLP ascent as a nationally recognizedall girls’ school. The successful candidate will also be arespectful, engaged, analytical, and an entrepreneurial leaderwith a demonstrated commitment to academic excellence,inclusivity and belonging, student success, and innovative growth.
Leadership Opportunities
There are several unique leadership opportunities to refinecurrent and develop new approaches to development andalumna relations:
- Build upon the success of the Boundlesscampaign
Channeling the energy driven from the school’s firstcomprehensive capital campaign that raised upwards of $12million, the school has identified the need to strengthen ourexisting Endowment funds. Furthermore, aging facilitiesand the vision to expand school grounds, allowing foraccess to athletic fields, looks to the need for ongoingcapital campaigns of varying sizes, engaging major donors.These priorities necessitate the need to secure significantcommitments in order to address the strategic fundingpriorities for the future of OLP. The next campaign will alsoserve as an important opportunity to engage in and deepenrelation- ships with a growing alumna and network offriends, foundations and corporations.
- Further develop alumna engagement strategies
Alumna relations has a unique opportunity to continue topartner with the annual Our Lady of Peace Women’s Symposium, alongwith the Academic Departments and Assistant Head of School in developing partnerships that will provide robustinternship and career opportunities for Our Lady of Peace students, whilefurther linking OLP to corporate sponsorships. Strengthening intentional collaboration will greatly enhancethe overall student experience and contribute to studentoutcomes, while also providing meaningful opportunitiesfor involvement with alumna.
- Strengthen a culture of philanthropy
Provide the vision, goals, education, infrastructure, andoperating procedures to manage some of the school’s mostimportant relationships, thereby increasing coordinationand collaboration on behalf of the school and with thebroader community. Work with academic and staffleadership to identify key opportunities for variouscorporate, foundation, and alumna partners to participate inand augment the overall Our Lady of Peace development objectives.Further diversification of giving opportunities for allconstituents, including planned giving and estate giving, linked with ongoing educational and learning opportunities.
Required Qualifications
We seek an experienced development professionalwith progressively responsible managerial andleadership positions in development; a proven trackrecord in principal and major gift fundraising; and abroad understanding of the various roles, functionsand responsibilities of the different units within theOffice of development. Direct experience in non-profitfundraising is required, and school philanthropy ispreferred. A bachelor’s degree from an accrediteduniversity is required, and an advanced degree ispreferred. In addition, a qualified candidate for thisleadership position will have:
An understanding of and personal commitment toOLP’s mission, all girls’ catholic education, andthe Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Experience conducting or managing prospectdiscovery and pipeline development, as well ascultivating and soliciting major gifts fromindividuals, foundations, and/or corporations.
Successful experience participating in theplanning for, or implementation of, a multi-faceted comprehensive campaign.
Demonstrated experience in developingtraditional and virtual alumna and constituentengagement efforts while unapologeticallychampioning philanthropic participation.
History of identifying, cultivating, and retainingtrustee candidates and other key volunteercommittee members.
Ability to serve and add value to the high-performingand dynamic senior leadership of the school.
Experience managing and mentoring staff toeffective, metrics-driven performance, leading with asense of confidence and honesty, and challengingthem to meet quantitative goals and outcomes in acooperative, inclusive, and competitive teamenvironment.
Models and embodies a personal values system thatpromotes and celebrates a collaborative workplaceculture that recognizes and values diversity, equity,and inclusion.
Demonstrated ability to act with discretion andmaintain confidentiality.
Proven ability to multitask with strong timemanagement skills and the ability to addresscompeting priorities in a dynamic, high-performanceenvironment.
Responsibilities
The Director of Development is responsible to work with andfor the Head of School in the successful development of themission of OLP. In order to accomplish this, the Director ofDevelopment’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to,the following:
Crafting a vision for the development program insupport of the strategic plan’s goals and strategies by:Promoting and actively supporting a culture ofphilanthropy at Our Lady of Peace.
Develop and successfully execute a long-range,data-driven, aggressive strategic plan forDevelopment that supports this vision, updating theplan annually.
Ensuring all annual plans, goals, action plans,timelines, budgets, and outcomes for each of thedevelopment departments are completed andimplemented.
Crafting and implementing a vision and plan for aninnovative alumni engagement strategy reflective ofthe diversity of OLP.
Fostering a strong and collaborative partnership withschool leaders by:Serving as a member of the Executive LeadershipTeam, gaining broad awareness of school operationswhile educating faculty, staff, parents and studentson the school's culture of philanthropy.
Actively supporting the Head of School's work withmajor gift generation and cultivation.
Attend Board of Trustee meetings and serve as a liaisonon designated Committees of the Board as needed.
Strengthening the policies, processes, and proceduresthat facilitate collaboration with the school's operations,including but not limited to communications; finance andadministration; the annual audit; gift processing,endowment, etc.
Identify and cultivate new and existing major giftrelationships.
Demonstrating a culture of transparency, collaboration,and open communication about philanthropic andalumna strategies with the campus community, keyvolunteers, etc.
Providing effective leadership by:Overseeing all aspects of the Office of Developmentincluding annual, major, and planned giving activities;engagement of alumna, friends, and otherconstituencies (community, corporate, etc.);stewardship and reporting; endowments; prospectresearch and management; development services; andevent management.
Managing the staff, supervising the creation ofmeasurable outcomes through annual operational planswith key performance indicators, and evaluatingperformance.
Developing and implementing an effective prospectmanagement system to ensure productive donoridentification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship,working closely with the Head of School, administrators,faculty, Trustees, and others who can assist with thisprocess.
Working with major gift staff to develop and implementcomplex and sensitive strategies and plans forsolicitation of individual, corporate, and foundationprospects.
Managing a focused personal portfolio of 50–75 principaland leadership gift prospects and donors.
Provide leadership to key volunteer committees.
Creating within the department a commitment to teamunity and success while allowing for the praise ofindividual performance contributing to such success.
Providing professional development and performanceassessment.
Represent OLP at events and functions, traveling asnecessary to achieve the school's goals.
Desired Characteristics
Unafraid to employ creative and versatile methods tocounter emerging challenges, demonstrating flexibility andremaining emotionally steady through setbacks.
Has a growth and builder mindset, entrepreneurial spirit, anda commitment to continuous improvement.
Demonstrates strategic leadership and an energetic, drivingpersonality that proactively pursues collaborative teamworkand partnerships, both internally with school leadership andexternally in the community.
Ability to successfully leverage evolving change in diversityof alumna and works to strategically engage all stakeholders.
Capacity to integrate new technology to manage workloadand the needs of a diverse culture.
Understanding of the requisite groundwork fororganizational transformation and change management.
A persuasive communicator who is able to listen effectively,has strong oral and written communication skills, and ademonstrated ability to compellingly and comfortablycommunicate with a variety of audiences, inspiring support,involvement, and investment.
Proven ability to initiate and nurture highly effectiveinterpersonal relationships with individual trustees;prospects and donors; faculty, staff, students; and otherexternal constituencies.
Application Process
This retained search is managed by Mary Law Executive Search,the California leader in placing nonprofit and private schoolFinance and HR professionals.
Mary Law
Mary Law Executive Search
[email protected]
925-785-6991
Salary and Benefits
This position is a full-time, exempt status,12-month, on-sitesenior leadership position that manages and overseespersonnel. There are opportunities for flexible, hybrid workduring student vacation times, depending upon job demandsand requirements, and with the approval of the Head of School.
The school offers a comprehensive benefits package for all full-time employees including 100% employee premium coverage ofmedical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, employeeassistance program, and teladoc. The school shares in the cost toward dependent premiums. Other optional programs such asidentity theft, legal insurance, 403(b) Retirement Plan are alsooffered. The school also partners with the Diocese of San Diegoto offer a pension plan. The school invests the requiredcontribution for the employee for those with work scheduledover 20 hours a week. Benefits are reviewed annually by theschool and and are outlined in the Benefits Handbook.
Full time non-faculty employees accrue vacation in addition tothe provided sixteen paid holidays, commensurate with years ofservice as outlined in the Employee Handbook.
The salary range for this position posting, commensurate withexperience and degrees, is $85,000 - $132,000.
Starting Date
This position is seeking to hire a leader to begin by March 1,2023, but will work with all candidates to find a date amenableto their current work situation. OLP understands that leaderscurrently serving in a management position will need to provideappropriate time to transition a team, and will work withemployees to find a conducive start date.