Achieving a best-in-class alumni engagement program will require exceptional leadership. As with any advancement officer, good human relations skills will be critical, but the Executive Director's position primarily calls for the ability to attract, hire, and manage a staff of 50 to 100; oversee a multi-million-dollar budget; build consensus across all schools and foundations; develop, test, build, and market new programs; be a credible and forceful voice for alumni in the University community; be technologically proficient; and lead culturally and geographically diverse organizations. Specific qualifications should include the following:

• Proven managerial leadership
• A service mentality
• Facility with technology
• Proven marketing skills, including database marketing experience
• Exceptional interpersonal skills
• Proven experience in managing geographically diverse organizations
• Cultural sensitivity and the ability to work with diverse communities
• Credibility with the University's leadership, including deans and program directors with a stake in alumni relations
• Significant understanding of the importance of education in society and a demonstrated interest in his or her own ongoing education
• Record of increasingly responsible volunteer service, including to the candidate's alma mater
• Understanding of the collaborative, multiple-constituency nature of decision-making in a university setting
• Clarity and persuasiveness in oral and written presentations
• Unusual stamina and the potential for significant tenure in the position