Administrative Officer, Principal Gifts

Details

Open Date 04/25/2025

Requisition Number PRN41732B

Job Title Administrative Officer

Working Title Administrative Officer, Principal Gifts

Job Grade D

FLSA Code Administrative

Patient Sensitive Job Code? No

Standard Hours per Week 40

Full Time or Part Time? Full Time

Shift Day

Work Schedule Summary

M-F, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (with flexibility of up to one hour earlier or later based on operational needs, occasional evening events as required).

VP Area President

Department 00289 - Development

Location Campus

City Salt Lake City, UT

Type of Recruitment External Posting

Pay Rate Range $48,000-$58,000, commensurate with experience

Close Date 07/25/2025

Priority Review Date (Note - Posting may close at any time)

Job Summary

The Advancement Administrative Officer, Principal Gifts Team provides high-level administrative and logistical support to ensure the smooth operation of donor engagement, financial processes, and office management. This position plays a vital role in supporting Principal Gift’s team fundraising efforts, which focus on securing principal gifts ($1M ) and transformational gifts ($5M ) to advance the University of Utah. The role manages key administrative functions, coordinates project logistics, and handles in-person needs such as check deposits, campus errands, and meeting preparations.

University Advancement is a rewarding place to work for those motivated to make a lasting impact. The ideal candidate is highly organized, a proactive problem-solver, and has a strong understanding of university operations. This role requires exceptional attention to detail, strong communication skills, and the ability to anticipate and resolve challenges independently. A high level of customer service is essential, as the position regularly interacts with university leadership, faculty, internal teams, and occasionally donors.

This position reports directly to the Principal Gifts Team, providing essential operational support to ensure the team’s fundraising efforts run smoothly, while also maintaining a dotted-line reporting relationship to the University Advancement Director of Administration to ensure consistency in administrative processes, budget management, and logistical coordination across University Advancement.

This role directly contributes to University Advancement’s mission to generate engagement and philanthropic support to advance the University of Utah’s priorities. As part of a division striving to be a top 10 public advancement organization by 2028, we value belonging , collaboration , empowerment , and integrity in all that we do.

The University of Utah offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Excellent health care coverage at affordable rates
• 14.2% employer retirement contribution
• Tuition reduction for employees and family members
• Paid leave time (vacation, sick leave, and holidays)
• Wellness programs to support physical and mental well-being
• Professional development opportunities for career growth
• Free UTA public transit pass (buses, TRAX , and FrontRunner)
• On-campus shuttles for convenient transportation
• Pre-tax commuter benefits for parking expenses
• Employee discounts for campus events, athletic games, and cultural experiences

Responsibilities

1. Day-to-Day Support, Customer Service, and Office Management

Manages daily office operations and serves as the first point of contact for internal teams, donors, and university leadership. Provides responsive support, ensuring inquiries are addressed promptly and directed appropriately. Maintains office records, schedules meetings, distributes mail, and oversees administrative support functions. Manages the calendar for the Deputy Chief Philanthropy Officer for Principal Gifts and supports the Principal Gifts team’s scheduling needs as needed. Coordinates meetings, donor engagements, and internal team schedules. Prepares meeting spaces, assists visitors, troubleshoots office logistics, and manages campus errands such as check pickups, document deliveries, and maintaining office supplies. Writes professional emails and correspondence on behalf of the team, ensuring clear and effective communication with internal and external stakeholders.

2. Financial and Budget Administration

Oversees financial transactions, maintains budget records, and ensures compliance with university financial policies. Prepares financial reports, assigns costs, and ensures timely processing of expenses. Manages purchasing card (p-card) reallocation and receipt tracking, ensuring timely reconciliation. Coordinates travel arrangements and reimbursements for Principal Gifts Team staff and donors, ensuring that itineraries, confirmations, and documentation are processed correctly. Works directly with Gift Processing to ensure proper documentation of check deposits and financial transactions. Coordinates payments for external sponsorships and ensures funds are allocated appropriately, working with departments to manage related expenses. Occasionally picks up checks and ensures proper documentation and accurate fund allocation in coordination with Gift Processing. Utilizes the UNITE CRM system for financial tracking and reporting.

3. Travel Arrangements and Logistics

Coordinates travel for staff and donors, ensuring itineraries, confirmations, and reimbursement paperwork are processed correctly. Assists with last-minute travel adjustments or document delivery as needed. Serves as a key resource for travel-related inquiries, troubleshooting booking issues, and ensuring all travel logistics align with university policies.

4. Donor Engagement, Acknowledgment, and Stewardship Logistics

Supports donor engagement and stewardship logistics, ensuring high-priority donors receive personalized and seamless experiences. Oversees the preparation and timely distribution of stewardship gifts and donor baskets, including holiday gifts. Manages logistics for donor visits, ensuring meeting spaces, materials, and details are handled professionally. Ensures stewardship reports, financial statements, and other donor-related materials are prepared and distributed professionally and on time.

5. Proposal and Grant Management

Tracks deadlines, compiles materials, and submits proposals in coordination with the Principal Gifts Team. Compiles pre-proposal concepts into donor-ready documents, ensuring they are formatted professionally and align with donor engagement strategies. Professional writing and editing of proposals and grants. Ensures grant reports and stewardship materials are completed and submitted on time. Manages in-person tasks such as printing, assembling, and delivering proposals and financial reports to key stakeholders. Tracks award notifications, collects account information, and ensures event sponsorship payments are correctly documented.

6. Meeting Coordination and Donor Events

Manages logistics for internal and donor-related meetings, securing meeting spaces, setting up rooms, preparing materials, and troubleshooting technology issues. Orders and manages promotional items for donor visits and fundraising efforts. Coordinates small donor events, including ordering catering, securing parking, and handling other logistics. Tracks event sponsorship details, collects chartfield information, and ensures all event-related payments are processed correctly while providing real-time support during meetings and events.

7. Team Morale and Internal Support

Supports the Principal Gifts Team by establishing weekly meeting agendas, assisting with retreat planning and execution, and coordinating internal team engagement activities. Ensures smooth adoption of process changes and provides support for special projects that require research, troubleshooting, and sourcing materials or information.

8. Vendor and Catering Coordination

Manages vendor orders and catering logistics, ensuring orders are placed accurately and delivered on time. Troubleshoots catering-related issues and ensures a high level of service for guests while serving as the primary contact for vendors and catering providers.

9. Onsite Troubleshooting and Other Duties as Assigned

Provides onsite troubleshooting and administrative support to ensure office, meeting, and event logistics run smoothly. Troubleshoots technical issues, arranges last-minute print jobs, and ensures spaces are set up correctly. Handles urgent, unexpected logistical challenges, such as resolving catering issues, retrieving last-minute materials, or adjusting meeting spaces as needed.

10. Operational Support and Special Projects

Supports high-priority projects, process improvements, and operational initiatives. Fields questions from internal teams, providing customer service and troubleshooting administrative challenges. Assists with research, sourcing materials, and implementing new workflows as needed. Researches and applies Advancement and University policies to ensure compliance with administrative procedures. Uses project management software (such as Notion) to organize work, track deadlines, and support team-wide efficiency. Occasionally supports donor-related tasks in coordination with the Principal Gifts Team.

This position requires a proactive and adaptable approach to supporting donor engagement, financial management, and office operations. The officer ensures that all processes run efficiently while providing extraordinary customer service to donors, university leaders, and internal teams. Additionally, the individual in this position must demonstrate our University Advancement core values of belonging, collaboration, empowerment, and integrity when interacting with donors, alumni, colleagues, students, faculty, staff, patients, volunteers, and community members.

This job description is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.

Work Environment and Level of Frequency typically required

Nearly Continuously: Office environment.

Physical Requirements and Level of Frequency that may be required

Nearly Continuously: Sitting, hearing, listening, talking.

Often: Repetitive hand motion (such as typing), walking.

Seldom: Bending, reaching overhead.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or a related field, or equivalency (one year of education can be substituted for two years of related work experience). Three years experience that includes specific involvement in maintaining complex financial records, developing and monitoring departmental budgets and preparing related reports; and demonstrated organizational, human relation and effective communication skills.

Applicants must demonstrate the potential ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined in the position description.

Preferred Qualifications:

A strong background in administrative support, financial processes, and office management, with the ability to learn quickly and adapt to evolving priorities is strongly preferred. Candidates must have experience handling complex scheduling, processing financial transactions, and managing office logistics in a fast-paced environment. Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks while meeting deadlines are essential.Experience in a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

The ideal candidate demonstrates professionalism, discretion with sensitive data, and strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft professional emails and correspond effectively with leadership and internal teams. A customer-service mindset and the ability to work independently while anticipating needs and troubleshooting challenges are critical. Proficiency with basic functions in Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams, is required, along with the ability to manage digital records and maintain organized files. Experience with or the ability to quickly learn UNITE CRM and project management tools such as Notion is preferred.

Preferences

Type Benefited Staff

Special Instructions Summary

Additional Information

The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems (“URS”). Eligible new hires with prior URS service, may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801) 581-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS’ post-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801) 366-7770 or (800) 695-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801) 581-7447 if you have questions regarding the post-retirement rules.

This position may require the successful completion of a criminal background check and/or drug screen.

The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and patients from all backgrounds and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education and quality healthcare for historically underrepresented students and patients.

All qualified individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.

The University of Utah is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran’s status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.

for a disability or if you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, you may contact the Director/Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action ( OEO /AA). More information, including the Director/Title IX Coordinator’s office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number can be located at: https://www.utah.edu/nondiscrimination/

Online reports may be submitted at oeo.utah.edu

https://safety.utah.edu/safetyreport This report includes statistics about criminal offenses, hate crimes, arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, and Violence Against Women Act offenses. They also provide information about safety and security-related services offered by the University of Utah. A paper copy can be obtained by request at the Department of Public Safety located at 1658 East 500 South.