Director of Development Operations & Stewardship

United States

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Job Description

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities. 

 

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice’s culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name — RICE — Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

 

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Director of Development Operations & Stewardship

United States

Be the First to Apply

Job Description

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities. 

 

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice’s culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name — RICE — Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

 

Position Summary:

The Director for Operations & Stewardship will be responsible for maintaining the Owl Club’s Paciolan database including gift entry and reporting, the implementation of the Owl Club membership renewal plan, creating gift memo forms, implement donor relations and stewardship plans and create endowment reports. 

Other duties include managing direct mail efforts, assist with event planning and duties as assigned for game days. The Director for Operations and Stewardship will also serve as a liaison between the Owl Club and the Rice Athletics Ticket Office. This position will report up through the Athletics Major Gifts team.

The preferred candidate will have extensive experience with Paciolan, Blackbaud CRM, Microsoft Office applications and Google Workspace.

Workplace Requirements: 

This position is exclusively on-site, necessitating all duties to be performed in-person. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

*Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime. 

Minimum Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree
• One or more (1+) years of related experience

Skills 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 

• Strong organizational and time management abilities 

• Keen attention to detail, with a quick understanding and retention of information about alumni, donors, and assigned projects 

• Ability to collaborate effectively and adapt to changing situations 

• Proficient in data analysis 

• Capability to work well under pressure and manage multiple projects simultaneously 

• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team to meet deadlines and schedules 

• Familiarity with Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, and Paciolan 

Preferences:

Experience with fundraising in a higher education setting 

Essential Functions:

• Actively manages the Owl Club database in both Paciolan and Blackbaud CRM systems.
• Oversees stewardship for endowment donors, including facilitating connections with scholarship student-athletes.
• Assists in planning athletic development events, such as game day hospitality, fundraising dinners, golf tournaments, letterwinner reunions, and donor appreciation events. This includes invitation management, registration, logistics, and overall execution.
• Proactively support development staff in creating and coordinating personalized stewardship plans for donors and volunteers.
• Collaborates with Development and Alumni Relations staff to effectively steward donors and volunteers, ensuring consistent implementation of the campus's master strategic stewardship plan.
• Creates and develops compelling donor and volunteer stories for print and online publications.
• Works with athletics business operations, development, and alumni relations to ensure that all gifts to athletics are recorded promptly. 
• Engages with vendors for hospitality and event coordination.
• Performs additional duties as assigned.

 

Rice University HR | Benefits:  https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values:  Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact Rice University’s Disability Resource Center at 713-348-5841 or adarice@rice.edu for support.

If you have any additional questions, please email us at jobs@rice.edu. Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.

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Job Info

• Job Identification 5471
  
• Job Category Staff - Development
  
• Posting Date 01/21/2026, 09:54 PM
  
• Degree Level Bachelor's Degree
  
• Job Schedule Full time
  

• Locations United States

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