Director of Discovery

Director of Discovery

Location: South Hadley, MA, United States

Full Time or Part Time: Full time

In-Person, Hybrid, or Remote: Hybrid

Minimum Starting Rate of Pay: $110,574.00

Rate of pay commensurate with experience

Job Description:

I. PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Director of Discovery is an innovative, frontline development professional and a key member of Mount Holyoke College's Development Team. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Development (AVP), the Director is responsible for creating and leading a new Discovery Program focused on the qualification and early cultivation of prospective donors. This role will manage a small team of 1-3 Discovery Officers and be charged with building a robust and scalable system to uncover new major and leadership gift prospects.

The Director will apply best practices from traditional Donor Experience Officer (DXO) programs and blend digital and personal engagement strategies to build a dynamic pipeline of future major gift donors. In DXO models, caseloads of 500-1,000 prospects are not uncommon, and success requires efficient systems, message cadences, and the ability to personalize at scale.

This role will also play a key role in the design and implementation of outreach cadences within Mount Holyoke's new CRM, which will launch in Fall 2026. The Director will help build and refine high-volume donor engagement workflows that align with evolving best practices in discovery work and data-driven fundraising.

Success in this role requires strong management and analytical skills, comfort with both virtual and in-person engagement, creativity in building scalable discovery systems, and a deep commitment to inclusive donor engagement.

II. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and lead the College's new Discovery Program with a focus on strategic donor qualification and early engagement.

• Supervise a team of 1-3 Discovery Officers, providing strategic direction, management, and ongoing coaching.

• Build a comprehensive discovery strategy that integrates digital, phone, video, and in-person outreach to connect with a wide pool of unqualified or lightly engaged prospects.

• Collaborate with CRM and technology partners to build outreach cadences and reporting tools as part of the College's transition to a new CRM platform launching in Fall 2026.

• Personally manage a high-volume discovery portfolio of 50-75 unqualified or newly identified prospects at any one time, and support officers managing larger DXO-style caseloads of 250-500+.

• Design and implement workflows and metrics to track discovery activities, qualification results, and return on investment.

• Work collaboratively with the Alum Association, Marketing and Communications, and other campus partners to collect timely, relevant, and compelling content that can be incorporated into personalized outreach.

• Leverage institutional data streams and messaging resources to build cadences that reflect MHC's mission, strategic priorities, and areas of donor interest.

• Use data analytics and engagement scoring to identify high-potential prospects and determine outreach priorities.

• Coordinate closely with Leadership Giving, Gift Planning, and Annual Fund teams to ensure qualified prospects are seamlessly transitioned to the appropriate portfolios.

• Maintain consistent, detailed documentation of donor interactions and discovery outcomes in the CRM.

• Contribute to a culture of collaboration, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

• Stay current on trends in discovery, qualification, and digital fundraising strategies, and bring new ideas forward for testing and implementation.

• Participate in professional development and represent the College in appropriate professional settings.

• Actively support Mount Holyoke College's values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all donor engagement strategies.

• Remote work flexibility is available, as determined by the AVP and VP for College Relations.

III. SKILLS / KNOWLEDGE / CERTIFICATIONS:

1. Required

• Bachelor's degree.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in development/fundraising, marketing, sales, or a related field with a focus on relationship management and prospect development.

• Strong ability to design and manage scalable programs focused on discovery or lead generation.

• Experience supervising or mentoring professional staff.

• Demonstrated experience using digital tools for outreach (e.g., video messaging, email cadences, virtual meeting platforms).

• Comfort managing or supporting high-volume caseloads in the 500-1,000 range.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Strong organizational skills and analytical abilities.

• Proven ability to collaborate across teams and lead projects from concept to implementation.

• High level of discretion and integrity in managing confidential information.

• Commitment to inclusive engagement and equitable fundraising practices.

• Availability for some domestic travel and occasional evening/weekend work.

2. Preferred

• Experience managing or contributing to a Donor Experience Officer (DXO) or discovery program.

• Experience building email cadences or engagement sequences in a CRM platform.

• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRMs, especially during implementation or major transitions.

• Familiarity with multi-channel engagement and marketing automation.

• Knowledge of fundraising best practices and campaign development.

V. SUPERVISION:

Reports to the Associate Vice President for Development. Supervises 1-3 Discovery Officers.

VIII. PHYSICAL / MENTAL / WORK ENVIRONMENT DEMANDS:

• Sedentary work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time.

• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word.

• Sufficient clarity of speech required to discern verbal instructions and communicate effectively in person and by telephone.

• The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform activities such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; and extensive reading.

• Employees operate office equipment and computers to perform essential duties and responsibilities.

Hiring Range: $110,574 - $121,466

DISCLAIMER:

This job description may not be inclusive of all assigned duties, responsibilities, or aspects of the job described, and may be amended at any time at the discretion of the Employer.

Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

Special Instructions for Applicants:

Apply online; application materials must include:

• A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications

• A complete resume or curriculum vitae

• For faculty positions, statements on mentoring, teaching, and research will also be required.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment.