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Vice President for University Advancement and Alumni Engagement
Job Location:
Job Location:
Pittsburgh, PA - USA
Monthly Salary:
Not provided by the employer
Monthly Salary:
Posted:
29 September 2026 (4 days ago)
Posted:
Application Deadline:
27 December 2026
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Vacancies:
Job Summary
Vice President for University Advancement & Alumni Engagement
Carlow UniversityCarlow University located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania seeks an accomplished Vice President for University Advancement & Alumni Engagement to provide strategic leadership at a consequential moment in the Universitys history. Reporting directly to President Kathy W. Humphrey PhD and serving as Carlows Chief Advancement Officer and a member of the Presidents Cabinet the Vice President will lead an enterprise whose impact reaches across the University and extends into the lives of the individuals families organizations and communities Carlow serves. Philanthropic investment helps make possible the programs partnerships student opportunities and community initiatives through which Carlow creates an impact disproportionate to its size advancing social mobility responding to consequential community needs and extending its Mercy mission well beyond the boundaries of campus.
Carlow enters the search with genuine institutional and philanthropic momentum. Enrollment has grown 19.5% since Fall 2020; academic and community partnerships are expanding; and innovative programs responsive to workforce and community needs have strengthened the Universitys reach and relevance. Intentional work to clarify Carlows identity and expand external engagement has also increased awareness of who Carlow is whom it serves and the impact of its work. Carlow has demonstrated that compelling ideas rooted in mission and responsive to human need can attract significant investment from individuals foundations corporations government and community partners. Its philanthropic case therefore extends well beyond a traditional alumni-centered fundraising model.
Carlow has already demonstrated its philanthropic potential. The next Vice President will build the Advancement enterprise needed to bring greater strategy discipline scale and sustainability to that work. Current vacancies provide meaningful latitude to assess organizational design align talent and responsibilities with the capabilities Carlow needs recruit strategically and strengthen the systems and infrastructure required for increasingly sophisticated fundraising. Importantly this work must occur while maintaining momentum in relationships solicitations campaign priorities and philanthropic opportunities. The President and Board of Trustees recognize that Carlows ambitions require corresponding investment and are committed to strengthening the people technology and resources necessary to support this work.
Central to the role will be a close strategic partnership with President Humphrey an energetic externally engaged and respected leader who is prepared to be an active partner in advancing Carlows philanthropic priorities. The Vice President will serve as the Universitys senior Advancement strategist: establishing priorities determining where presidential and other leadership engagement can have the greatest impact preparing the President for important donor and partner interactions and driving cultivation and solicitation strategies forward. The Vice President will also engage trustees academic leaders and colleagues throughout Carlow helping evaluate prioritize and translate the Universitys abundance of ideas and aspirations into focused and compelling opportunities for investment.
Pittsburgh provides a particularly fertile environment for this work. The regions longstanding culture of philanthropy and its concentration of foundations healthcare organizations financial institutions corporations nonprofit organizations civic leaders entrepreneurs and other partners create a broad landscape for relationship development. Carlow already has meaningful connections across many of these sectors. Its more than 19000 living alumni remain an important constituency particularly in the Pittsburgh region while representing one part of a much broader universe of prospective supporters and partners.
Success will require a leader with both fundraising depth and organizational range: an accomplished fundraiser personally comfortable cultivating soliciting and closing gifts at the million-dollar level and above; a strategist capable of establishing priorities within an innovative and entrepreneurial institution; a builder who can create a stronger more sustainable Advancement enterprise and develop the people within it; and a hands-on action-oriented executive who can translate strategy into action. Higher education experience may be valuable but Carlow is equally interested in accomplished nonprofit and mission-driven fundraising leaders who know how to inspire significant investment around purpose and impact.
At Carlow the work feels consequential because it is consequential. Its results are visible in the opportunities created for students families professionals organizations and communities. This role offers the opportunity to do more than raise money or complete a campaign. The next Vice President will have unusual agency to build something enduring: an Advancement enterprise capable of expanding the resources available to Carlow and through Carlow extending the Universitys impact well into its second century.
To view the full Position Prospectus please copy and paste the following URL into a new tab: is partnering with Carlow University in this national search. For inquiries nominations applications and confidential conversations please contact:
Lisa J. Marks Founder & CEO
Leyla Kayi Senior Search Consultant
413.335.6936
This position is open until filled but only applications received by Thursday October 1 2026 can be assured full consideration. Applications should include a detailed letter of interest and a current curriculum vitae/resume.
Carlow University employees commit themselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct. They commit to act with integrity treat others with respect and dignity carefully steward the Universitys resources avoid conflicts of interest or commitment maintain confidentiality and to comply with legal and professional obligations.
Carlow University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We strive for a campus that reflects our urban setting and is inclusive of underrepresented groups to enhance our University community.
Required Experience:
Exec
About Company
Carlow University, a Catholic institution in Pittsburgh, PA, offers 90+ undergraduate and graduate programs with online and accelerated options. Inquire today.
