Job Details

Advancement Operations & Scholarships Specialist

Position Number: 9727280
Location: Salt Lake City, United States
Position Type: Development and Fund Raising

Advancement Operations & Scholarships Specialist

Job Summary

The Advancement Operations & Scholarships Specialist provides essential operational, financial, and scholarship management support for the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). This role ensures accuracy, compliance, and timely execution across scholarship/award tracking, financial reporting preparation, donor data maintenance, and stewardship operations.

The Specialist may report to the Senior Advancement Director (or designee) and collaborates closely with LAS Advancement Services, finance teams, scholarship coordinators, Central Advancement, LAS frontline fundraisers, and the LAS Advancement Senior Director to maintain seamless operations supporting donor stewardship and student impact. This role is critical to ensuring that donor-funded scholarships are awarded, tracked, documented, and reported with accuracy and institutional integrity.

Responsibilities
Development SpecialistAdvancement Operations & Administrative Support (45%)

Draft, route, and finalize gift acknowledgment letters; coordinate review and signatures; ensure accuracy, tone, and timeliness aligned with LAS and University standards.
Prepare weekly gift reports for the Senior Advancement Director, Vice Provost/Senior Dean, and college deans.
Prepare monthly gift reports for department chairs and center directors.
Develop targeted outreach lists; maintain accurate donor records in the CRM; prepare giving and activity reports to support data?driven fundraising.
Maintain team operating budgets; track expenditures; support P?card and invoice reconciliation; prepare budget status reports; manage ordering of supplies and materials.
Provide administrative support to the LAS Advancement team, including calendar coordination, meeting preparation, note?taking, agenda development, action tracking, and document management.
Support LAS and college Advisory Board operations, including scheduling, agenda development, meeting materials, documentation, and coordination to align board activity with college priorities.
Identify workflow gaps and recommend or implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and constituent experience.
Collect, analyze, and summarize operational and stewardship data to assess effectiveness, identify trends, and support informed decision?making.

Scholarship & Award Administration (30%)

Maintain comprehensive, audit?ready stewardship records for LAS scholarships and awards, including fund criteria, recipients, award cycles, stewardee assignments, and financial activity.
Coordinate with LAS finance managers and scholarship administrators to confirm eligibility, award amounts, and disbursement timelines; proactively resolve discrepancies.
Collect, review, and quality?check student materials (thank?you letters, bios, photos, releases) to ensure timely, brand?aligned donor communications.
Liaise with department chairs and faculty to gather impact stories, data, and quotes for donor stewardship and reporting.
Compile scholarship narratives, student content, and summarized financial data for stewardship plans and donor reports; archive final materials for continuity and compliance.
Track and report scholarship stewardship metrics to support assessment and continuous improvement.

Additional Responsibilities (20%)

Support donor?related events, including scholarship receptions, student?donor gatherings, and recognition ceremonies.
Provide flexible operational support during peak cycles such as scholarship season, campaigns, and year?end stewardship.

Other duties as assigned (5%)

Complete additional responsibilities at the direction of the Senior Director of Donor Relations or LAS Senior Advancement Director.

Minimum Qualifications
EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor's degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).
Development Specialist: Requires a bachelor's (or equivalency) + 4 years or a master's (or equivalency) + 2 years of directly related work experience.

Preferences

Bachelor's degree in marketing, communication, finance, accounting, business, humanities or social sciences, or a related area.
6 years of directly related work experience or a master's (or equivalency) + 2 years of directly related work experience.
Ability to manage multiple deadlines and high?volume workflows with accuracy.
Strong editing, organizational, and project management skills.
Ability to collaborate across teams and manage multiple deadlines.
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail; maintains confidentiality.
Strong collaboration and customer?service orientation
Experience with CRM-style database.
Experience in a higher education advancement unit
Experience in external communications going to donors, foundations and corporate partners

Key Skills and Competencies:

Experience with scholarship administration, financial tracking, or advancement operations.
Proficiency with CRM/donor databases and strong Excel/data management skills.
Strong writing, proofreading, and document?coordination abilities.
Experience supporting events or stewardship activities (e.g., student-donor gatherings, scholarship receptions).

Special Instructions

Requisition Number: PRN45766B
Full Time or Part Time? Full Time
Work Schedule Summary: MonFri, 8:00 am5:00 pm; occasional nights and weekends
Department: 00289 - Development
Location: Campus
Pay Rate Range: $55,000 $58,000
Close Date: 09/15/2026
Open Until Filled:

To apply, visit <a href=""https://apptrkr.com/9727280"">https://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/206159