Institutional Advancement Associate Director - Foundation Relations

Overview

Position Information

Hiring Department
:
Institutional Advancement

Reports To
:
Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations

Work Modality
:
Hybrid work arrangement with an onsite requirement of 16 hours per week. Institutional Advancement is seeking a candidate within a commutable distance from campus (75 miles or less).

Posting End Date
:
Applications will be accepted through 11:59 PM CDT on 2/25/2026.

Hours
: 40 hours per week, standard Monday–Friday 8:00am–5:00pm

FLSA status
:
Exempt

Earliest Start Date
:
As soon as possible.

Salary
: $70,000 annually

Reporting to the Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations (CFR), you will serve as a philanthropic partner to the campus, focusing on grants funded through private foundations, including corporate and family foundations. In this role, you will represent university-wide priorities and work to support the greatest needs of the institution in service of advancing UTEP’s mission. You will manage a diverse portfolio of major gift ($25,000+) prospects and donors, both regionally and nationally.

You will manage UTEP’s foundation relations portfolio across the full grant lifecycle, identifying, cultivating, and stewarding relationships with foundation partners aligned with institutional priorities. This includes developing competitive proposals, coordinating internal stakeholders, and ensuring timely and accurate post-award reporting. The Associate Director plays a critical role in securing sustainable, mission-aligned foundation support for academic programs, research initiatives, student success, and community engagement.

This position is highly collaborative and outward-facing. You will work closely with academic leaders, research experts, development officers, and the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP) to craft compelling proposals and build strong relationships with external funding partners. By aligning faculty expertise and institutional priorities with foundation interests, you will help elevate UTEP through strategic philanthropic investment.

You will lead proposal development and grant writing efforts, including identifying appropriate faculty, staff, and external partners for specific funding opportunities. You will guide projects from concept development through submission, award management, and ongoing reporting requirements, establishing clear timelines, coordinating required approvals, and maintaining a project management system to track submissions, outcomes, annual and interim reports, and next steps.

Maintaining accurate and detailed records is essential to success in this role. You will document donor and prospect interactions, contact reports, and key notes within the CRM system (Raiser’s Edge NXT), ensuring information is current and actionable. This work supports effective relationship management, informed decision-making, and coordinated engagement strategies across the advancement team.

In partnership with the Director of CFR, you will recommend and help implement policies, procedures, and best practices related to foundation grant submissions. You will manage proposal traffic to avoid conflicts, reduce donor fatigue, and maximize competitiveness, while promoting a strategic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary approach to foundation engagement across campus.

By supporting multi-unit and cross-disciplinary proposals when appropriate, you will help position UTEP for larger, more complex foundation awards and long-term philanthropic partnerships that advance institutional priorities.

While no two days will be the same, you can expect to spend your time identifying and strategizing philanthropic investment opportunities while building impactful, long-term relationships with internal and external partners. As part of a centralized Institutional Advancement division, you will be supported not only by your AVP and immediate team, but also by colleagues across prospect research, stewardship, alumni engagement, and communications.

UTEP’s Office of Corporate and Foundations Relations (CFR) serves UTEP by holistically engaging with corporations and foundations to generate new…