About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment organization for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hope’s translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin, monoclonal antibodies and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. AccessHope™, a subsidiary launched in 2019 serves employers and their health care partners by providing access to City of Hope’s specialized cancer expertise.

A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is ranked among the nation’s “Best Hospitals” in cancer by U.S. News & World Report and received Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California and in Arizona.

City of Hope’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe diversity, equity and inclusion is key in serving our mission to provide compassionate patient care, drive innovative discovery, and advance vital education focused on eliminating cancer and diabetes in all of our communities. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ensures we bring the full range of skills, perspectives, cultural backgrounds and experiences to our work -- and that our teams align with the people we serve in order to build trust and understanding. We are dedicated to fostering a community that embraces diversity - in ideas, backgrounds and perspectives; this is reflected in our work and represented in our people.

Position Summary

The AVP, Transformative Philanthropy Operations, will serve a pivotal role as a thought-partner, convener, organizer, and operational manager for the Transformative Philanthropy program, overall, as well as for the fundraising team engaging prospects capable of making donations at the $10M level and above. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Philanthropy (SVP), the AVP will develop a strong understanding of City of Hope’s vision for the Transformative Philanthropy program; work to enact that vision; and build, evolve, and scale the infrastructure necessary to support meaningful identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of the transformative gift prospect pipeline.

The AVP will consult on the development of transformative gift donor engagement strategies; facilitate and ensure their execution; and develop and implement an accountability framework consisting of meetings, reports, analytics, and other materials needed to effectively manage the program. The AVP will have ownership over the monthly Transformative Gift Prospect Review meetings with City of Hope’s CEO and Chief Philanthropy Officer (CPO) and oversees staff tasked with ensuring coordination of materials, development of agendas, and talking points.

The successful candidate will be an energetic and enthusiastic individual interested in joining a dynamic and hard-working team; a self-starter who takes initiative, likes to own projects, and is able to prioritize their work. This person will have strong writing skills, with an eye for detail. The successful candidate will be eager to absorb comprehensive knowledge of City of Hope’s campaign priorities and transformative prospects, and thrive in a mission-driven, dedicated, and collaborative office environment. This person will also be able to handle highly confidential information with great care.

The AVP will be an experienced transformative and/or principal gift officer who understands the complexities and intricacies of working on transformative gift prospects. They will also have an executive presence with extensive experience working on complicated “mega” gifts, while partnering with executive leadership and senior faculty

Key Responsibilities include:

• Supports the Senior Vice President, Philanthropy on the design, implementation, maintenance and expansion of the Transformative Philanthropy program
• In partnership with the SVP, shapes the strategic vision of the overall Transformative Philanthropy program and architects an infrastructure that supports the long-term goals of the program, including the design, implementation and oversight of fiscal-year and multi-year initiative and campaign strategies and plans related to the Transformative Philanthropy portfolio.
• As the Office of Philanthropy expands to a national philanthropy model, develops a roadmap to scale programs.
• Collaborates with Prospect Development colleagues to ensure the overall transformative prospect pipeline is healthy, robust and continually refreshed with new prospects; monitors prospect movement through stages and intercedes when prospects become stale/stuck; works to keep Transformative Philanthropy officers focused on moving their prospects toward gift fulfillment.
• Partners with Donor Experience colleagues to establish and sustain a robust Transformative Philanthropy stewardship platform/experience that ensures all transformative donors are appropriately stewarded; collaborates on the development of donor engagement plans for transformative prospects.
• Directs the production of tracking and reporting activities to manage movement on overarching strategies, including ensuring the capture of donor and prospect information, contact reports, updating records, and generating reports on the highest-level donors.
• Convenes and leads regular and ad-hoc Transformative Philanthropy strategy sessions, including joint CEO-CPO Transformative Prospect meetings, strategy alignment meetings, qualification/pipeline meetings, and other meetings as necessary; oversees development of agendas, presentations, talking points, reports, analytics, etc., to support meaningful and action-oriented strategy discussions.
• Facilitates CEO and system leader engagement with transformative prospects; meets with CEO and other system leaders as needed; liaises with Leadership Deployment team.
• Directs preparation of executive-level status reports on Transformative Philanthropy program and pipeline, progress and results of activities; synthesizes complex data into reports and executive summaries for CEO, CPO and SVP.
• Provides expert consulting services to Transformative Philanthropy officers on strategy development and tactical execution
• Serves as strategic thought partner for Transformative Philanthropy officers; consults on strategy development for transformative prospect/donor engagement; identifies gaps and challenges in strategies and tactics and resources from across Office of Philanthropy and City of Hope to fill the gaps and overcome challenges to gift fulfillment.
• Serves as the communications anchor among Transformative Philanthropy officers, Office of Philanthropy and System leadership.
• Coordinates development and production of high-level materials in partnership with Philanthropy Communications to ensure high-quality transformative prospect proposals and donor impact reports.
• Meets with donors and prospects as needed.
• Manages the CEO and CPO prospect portfolios
• Leads the collaborative development and execution of annual deployment plan for CEO and CPO.
• Works with colleagues across all programs to develop and implement “key moves” for the CEO and CPO with top prospects across all programs; collaborates to develop and implement regional “map” for top prospects and volunteers
• Manages, coaches and mentors direct reports
• Effectively manages, mentors and coaches direct reports and ensures that they provide a high level of service to all stakeholders and work collaboratively to meet City of Hope’s and Office of Philanthropy goals.
• Works with direct reports to identify professional development opportunities and develop career growth plans; provides access to resources and training for both soft- and hard-skills development; ensures that development goals are prioritized.
• Provides guidance on best practices according to department guidelines and industry standards.
• Ensures direct reports are engaged employees; actively works to remove barriers to engagement.
• Serves as a role model for the Office of Philanthropy. Includes:
  • Acting as spokesperson for City of Hope activities as requested.
  • Participating in search committees, task forces and other special projects.
  • Demonstrating an ability to solve problems, overcome hurdles, and navigate sensitive issues with discretion, tact and strong communication skills.
  • Developing and maintaining productive relationships with City of Hope faculty and staff to support fundraising initiatives for System priorities.
  • Possessing thorough knowledge of the key fundraising priorities for City of Hope.

Follows established City of Hope and department policies, procedures, objectives, performance improvement, attendance, safety, environmental, and infection control guidelines, including adherence to the workplace Code of Conduct and Compliance Plan. Practices a high level of integrity and honesty in maintaining confidentiality.

Performs other related duties as assigned or requested.

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• 7+ years development/fundraising experience
• 3+ years as a front-line transformative or principal gift fundraiser closing gifts at the $1M+ level
• 5+ years managing one or more direct reports

Preferred education experience and skills:

• 10+ years development/fundraising experience in a complex, matrixed organization
• 5+ years working as a front-line transformative or principal gift fundraiser closing gifts at the $1M+ level
• 7+ years managing one or more direct reports

Additional Information:

• The estimated pay scale represents the typical [salary/hourly] range City of Hope reasonably expects to pay for this position, with offers determined based on several factors which may include, but not be limited to, the candidate’s experience, expertise, skills, education, job scope, training, internal equity, geography/market, etc. This pay scale is subject to change from time to time.
• As a condition of employment, City of Hope requires staff to comply with all state and federal vaccination mandates.

City of Hope is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.