Associate or Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, School of Data Science

About the Position

The Associate or Assistant Director of Alumni Relations is responsible for co-creating and supporting programming that enriches the relationship between the School of Data Science and its alumni, parents, and friends and increases the degree to which these constituents are informed, involved, and invested in the School and each other.

The ideal candidate is an experienced alumni engagement professional who can co-create and strengthen mutually beneficial, meaningful, relevant, and value-added content, programming, and connections. This position will serve as the primary project manager for the School's alumni engagement and communication strategy and all other efforts that advance participation, volunteerism, affinity and philanthropy among alumni, parents, and friends of SDS.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborating with the Dean's Office, school advancement/development leadership, Career Services, and Marketing and Communications leadership to develop a multi-dimensional Engagement Strategy for Alumni programming, communication & to develop Signature Events such as forums, symposia, speaker series, in-Residence engagements, milestone events, and premier school events, ensuring execution across School departments.
• Managing the implementation of the Engagement Strategy including oversight and enhancements of existing initiatives in addition to the development of new engagement opportunities.
• Ensuring ongoing refinement and attention to long-term Engagement Strategy.
• Managing Engagement related data and metrics.
• Collaborating closely with the School's Events Team to deliver Signature School events.
• Collaborating closely with the School's Marketing and Communications team with cross-SDS input to coordinate branding, marketing, newsletters, event publicity, materials, and assets, and editorial recommendations. Manage the school's alumni LinkedIn group. Help create an alumni story repository featuring a diverse range of alumni academic and career journeys.
• Collaborating with the development/advancement team, faculty, and staff to ensure seamless engagement management and event coordination when enlisting alumni guest lecturers, panelists, and keynote speakers.
• Overseeing the preparation of briefing materials for Dean/leadership and key faculty and staff for relevant alumni events and engagement programming.
• Manage all logistics and communications related to alumni events like reunions or ad hoc regional receptions including invitations, event planning and organization, budget management, vendor engagement and faculty/school coordination and communication.
• Serving as a primary liaison with Signature Event participants responsible for planning, ongoing communications, run-of-show coordination, and on-sight day-of support for key stakeholders.
• Partner with the Career Services team, development and others to coordinate city events and engagement opportunities. Collaborate with the career services team to establish the inaugural Alumni Career Champions network to foster enhanced student mentorship opportunities including a Give60 Campaign (funding + resume reviews).
• Actively refer talent to Career Services for networking events, industry education, resource development, career programming support, experiential learning support, etc.
• Actively refer "treasure" conversations to the Director of Development.
• Establish alumni chapters in cities with high alumni volume and explore the creation of alumni affinity groups.

Minimum Qualifications

For Assistant Director

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. At least three years of related experience.

For Associate Director

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. 4+ years of related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

For Assistant Director

Individual contributor with experience in relationship and program management. Comfort with the development of engagement and outreach strategy and experience with marketing and event management. Has a history of implementing and delivering programs, using specialized knowledge and interpersonal skills normally acquired through advanced education (typically University). Works independently with general to limited supervision. Comfortable building new relationships and managing budgets, and time. Evidence of being a strong collaborator.

For Associate Director

Individual contributor with experience in alumni relations or development. Significant experience creating communication campaigns, establishing engagement strategies, managing large scale events, budget management and partnership management. Strong evidence of operating at a high level with minimal supervision and an ability to collaborate in meaningful and intentional ways. Strong event and project management skills, evidence of the ability to connect work and strategy to the broader mission of the school. An influencer and problem solver with experience overcoming complex problems and establishing new initiatives.

Physical Demands

This is primarily a sedentary job involving extensive use of desktop computing. The job does occasionally require traveling some distance to attend meetings and programs.

Position Details

• This position will remain open until it is filled.
• This is a full-time, salaried position eligible for comprehensive benefits.
• This is an in-person position at the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.
• The initial appointment of this position is for one year; however, may be renewed for an additional year contingent upon funding and satisfactory performance.
• This position will sponsor work visas.

Anticipated Salary

$60-$75K at the Assistant level

$75-$85K at the Associate level

Anticipated Start Date: February 2nd , 2026

Health and Other Benefits (visit Health and Other Benefits for additional information)

• UVA Health Plan: the choice between 3 different health plans
• Vision Coverage
• Dental Plan
• Benefit Savings Plans
• Life Insurance
• Disability Benefits
• Paid Time Off: starting with 22 days of time off per year, 12 or more holidays, 8 weeks parental leave

Education Benefits (visit Education Benefits for additional information)

After six months of employment, full-time and part-time (20+ hours) employees in a benefits-eligible position are offered options of:

• Use of up to $5250 per calendar year towards a for-credit degree program or for-credit certificate program.
• Use of up to $2000 of the total $5250 noted above per calendar year for professional development including job-related training, conferences, and initial certificate exams.

Application Process

Please visit the UVA job board: Careers at UVA Jobs and search for R0079451.

Complete an application online and attach:

Cover letter detailing your interest and relevant experience to this position Resume or CV

Applications that do not contain all required documents will not receive full consideration.

Process for internal UVA applicants: Please apply through your Workday home page. Search "Find Jobs" and then R0079451.

References will be completed via direct reach or third-party process. Please plan to provide at least three references when applying.

A background check is required and will be conducted per university policy prior to the first day of employment.

For questions about the position, please contact Sarah Rogis, Director of Career and Professional Development, at smr3z@virginia.edu.

For questions about the application process, please contact Daniel Strong, HR Senior Recruiter, at das6zb@virginia.edu.

For more information about UVA and the Charlottesville community, please see www.virginia.edu/life/charlottesville and https://embarkcva.com/.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Click here to read more about UVA's commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity employment.