Job description

Job summary

Imperial College London has 4 faculties, and as one of the faculties at the university Imperial College Business School is currently seeking a full-time Head of Alumni Relations to lead the next phase of the school’s strategy for building strong relationships with graduates, and creating a shared sense of community. Interested? Then your next question is likely about what the role entails. 

In brief, the Head of Alumni Relations at the Business School will need to lead a team that is responsible for the following areas of activity:

• Creating a Shared Sense of Community: Increasing alumni volunteerism generally among alumni in the UK and overseas, especially with regards to critical activities such as rankings feedback and outcomes, and community outreach more generally.
• Resourcing and Alumni Engagement: Supporting activities that drive student recruitment, rankings outcomes, employability outcomes and alumni career progression generally.
• Supporting Fundraising: Helping build a culture of philanthropy and giving that supports the Business School’s strategic priorities and targeted initiatives.
• Enabling Collaboration: Building strong relationships within the Business School as well as with the university’s Advancement team, and in particular central Alumni Relations and the Regular Giving team.

The post holder will be a skilled and diplomatic communicator, who excels at building strategic relationships, and implements processes and techniques to deliver best outcomes. The Head of Alumni Relations will also be a creative solutions finder, with regards to marshalling the resources they have at their disposal.

With a significant history of successful leadership and developing metrics, the Head of Alumni Relations will work primarily with the Executive Director of Institutional Relations and Strategic Initiatives, the Director of Alumni Relations, and the Head of Development for the Business School, and other senior stakeholders across the university.

Duties and responsibilities

While a full job description can be shared with you, most essentially you will be responsible for the following activities and areas of competency:

1. Strategy and Leadership: Work with senior leadership across the institution to make sure the Alumni Relations strategy is well-aligned with the Business School’s 10-year strategy, and the broader Alumni and Advancement strategy for the university.
2. Alumni Engagement: Starting with the Alumni Advisory Board, you will lead the end-to-end engagement with Business School alumni, reporting on engagement, and help other teams at the school engage with alumni.
3. General Management: You will be leading a sizable team that will help you deliver your mandate, and you will help your team develop their careers too.
4. Committees and Meetings: You will participate in Rankings Committees, Advisory Board meetings, and will work with senior leadership to ensure Alumni Relations is an active advocate and partner to groups across the institution.
5. Financial Management: You will be responsible for administering the financial resources allotted to Alumni Relations activities at the Business School.
6. Institutional Engagement: You will also have the opportunity to engage with your counterparts at other institutions, and work with senior leadership to ensure the Business School is building strong partnerships globally.

Essential requirements

While we’re looking for expertise, experience, and qualifications in a general sense, some of the more essential aspects of the role are as follows:

• Educated to a degree level or equivalent
• Previous leadership experience and especially with regards to strategy development and execution
• Working in large, complex organisations and an ability to manage a broad selection of relationships
• Experience in developing engagement programmes for targeted stakeholders, that link to strategic outcomes
• Experience in developing and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Experience in managing and developing a teams
• Experience in working with alumni, and particularly with business school graduates
• Strong communication, negotiation, and influencing skills
• Understanding of the technology that enables effective relationship management
• Strong fluency in the English language
• Strong sector-specific knowledge and network in higher education

Further information

This is a permanent, full-time placement and the candidate is expected to work on site at least 4 days per week at our South Kensington Campus in London.

This role includes international travel.

Should you require any further details on the role please contact: Joel McConnell, Executive Director of Institutional Relations and Strategic Initiatives at j.mcconnell@imperial.ac.uk

Documents

• Head of Alumni Relations JD.pdf