Description

Position Overview

Are you driven to leverage sophisticated gift planning strategies to transform healthcare, advance groundbreaking biomedical research, and improve outcomes for people locally and globally?

The Office of University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) - a global leader in health sciences and medical innovation - is seeking an expert, collaborative, and strategic Director of Gift and Endowment Planning. Reporting to the Executive Director of Gift & Endowment Planning, this high-impact position serves as a lead gift planning professional for broad UCSF priorities. Operating with significant autonomy, you will manage a high-capacity donor portfolio, partner with multiple frontline fundraising teams, and structure complex planned and blended gifts that build long-term support for UCSF.

Why This Role Is Unique

• Gift Planning Leadership: Serve as a gift planning expert and lead development strategist across broad UCSF advancement areas, providing diverse and expansive gift structuring exposure.
• Deep Strategic Collaboration: Partner closely with frontline development officers, department heads, faculty, and hospital leaders to co-solicit, negotiate, structure, and document complex planned and outright gifts.
• Internal & External Ambassadorship: Serve as an institutional resource and educator, elevating gift planning literacy among faculty, development colleagues, donors, and professional legal/financial advisors.
• Premier Academic Environment: Join UDAR's renowned Gift & Endowment Planning team in a flexible hybrid model, embedded in one of the nation's premier academic medical health systems. 
   

Desired Mindset & Competencies

• Sophisticated Gift Structuring Expertise: Strong technical command of legal, financial, and tax implications across deferred giving instruments, charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, real estate, and other complex assets.
• Collaborative Partnership & Influence: Demonstrated ability to work seamlessly with frontline major gift officers, elevating team efficacy and co-soliciting major, principal, and blended gifts while becoming a trusted expert in UCSF policies and practices and applying that expertise to develop and execute effective gift strategies.
• Strategic Ambassadorship & Communication: Exceptional ability to translate complex financial and legal gift vehicles into accessible, compelling philanthropic opportunities for donors and faculty. 
   

*Note: Salary commensurate with internal equity based on education, scope, and experience

Department Overview 

At UCSF's Office of University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR), we're proud to be the kind of place where great ideas can come from anyone, and you can do the most impactful work of your career alongside fantastic colleagues. From our pioneering work in the AIDS crisis to the creation of a silicon brain, you will experience the world-class nature of our work and the difference it makes.  

UDAR is a team of innovative professionals who partner with world-class scientists, healthcare providers, and philanthropists to advance breakthrough research and life-changing patient care. We're one of the nation's top fundraising organizations, home to smart, driven people who care deeply about UCSF's mission to advance science and transform health.  

Our success comes from the combined talents of many roles: frontline fundraisers who build transformative partnerships with donors; alumni relations professionals who nurture lasting connections with the UCSF community; writers and designers who help tell the university’s story; researchers and analysts who provide critical insights; and operations and information systems experts who keep us running smoothly.  

|What makes UDAR special? A commitment to growing talent from within, celebrating collective wins, and creating an environment where our staff thrive. Our culture of team-based fundraising is distinctly collaborative, and we're always eager to embrace fresh approaches.  

Regardless of your role at UCSF, you'll be part of a unified team operating at the very top of its game.

Read more about UCSF here https://magazine.ucsf.edu/ 

Requirements

Minimum Requirements:  

• Bachelor's degree in a related area and/or equivalent experience/training.
• Expert working knowledge of all aspects of planned giving, fundraising, and donor relations concepts, principles, procedures, and techniques.  
• 3–5 years of direct experience in gift planning, preferably within an academic health center or higher education environment.  
• Strong technical command of legal, financial, tax, and estate planning principles related to planned gifts, charitable trusts, endowments, and complex assets.
• Expert written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including high political acumen, to build effective relationships across internal leadership and external constituencies.  
• Expert organizational, analytical, critical thinking, and project management skills to manage gift pipelines and meet strategic goals within timeline and budget constraints.  
• Demonstrated ability to partner collaboratively with frontline major gift fundraisers, division chiefs, and health system leadership.  
• Expert-level skill in maintaining strict confidentiality and exercising sound judgment in complex organizational environments.  
• Professional level of expertise in the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint, etc.).
   

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Advanced degree (JD, LLM, CFP, or MBA) in law, taxation, finance, or related field.