Director of Relationship Management

The Director of Relationship Management is a senior professional within Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) responsible for the strategic stewardship of the Chancellor's external relationships. The role focuses on the Chancellor's full network — donors, prospects, foundation leaders, peer institution leaders, government officials, corporate partners, alumni, and the broader circle of figures the Chancellor engages — and ensures these relationships are managed with intentionality, coordination, and discretion. The Director also serves as the Chancellor's on-the-ground coordinator at high-visibility events, managing his engagement priorities and time in the room. **Position Summary:** The **Director of Relationship Management** is a senior professional within Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) responsible for the strategic stewardship of the Chancellor's external relationships. The role focuses on the Chancellor's full network — donors, prospects, foundation leaders, peer institution leaders, government officials, corporate partners, alumni, and the broader circle of figures the Chancellor engages — and ensures these relationships are managed with intentionality, coordination, and discretion. The Director also serves as the Chancellor's on-the-ground coordinator at high-visibility events, managing his engagement priorities and time in the room. As Vanderbilt expands its national footprint and the Chancellor's profile continues to grow, the Director of Relationship Management is a new role designed to strengthen the deliberate, coordinated stewardship of the Chancellor's relationships in service of both DAR's mission and the institution's broader strategic priorities. **About the Work Unit:** Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) advances Vanderbilt University's mission by engaging alumni, donors, and partners to build meaningful relationships and secure philanthropic support. DAR supports the university's strategic goals through fundraising, stewardship, and alumni engagement. The division operates in a dynamic, data-driven environment that demands strong collaboration, operational excellence, and continuous innovation to achieve evolving institutional objectives. You can visit our website for more information: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/dar/ **Key Functions and Expected Performance:** - Maintains a comprehensive, strategic view of the Chancellor's external relationship portfolio, including donors, prospects, foundation leaders, peer institution leaders, government officials, corporate partners, alumni, and other significant external figures. - Identifies priorities, surfaces relationships that are going cold, and recommends where the Chancellor's attention will have the most impact. - Partners closely with the Office of the Chancellor to ensure the Chancellor's relationships are stewarded with intentionality across internal and external dimensions, with the Director of Relationship Management leading external strategy and the Executive Director leading internal coordination. - Coordinates across DAR, Government Relations, Communications, the Office of the Provost, and other units to prevent duplicated, conflicting, or poorly timed outreach to individuals in the Chancellor's network. - Serves as a central reference point for understanding what the institution is asking of, or communicating to, key external stakeholders. - Contributes substantive relationship intelligence to the Chancellor's daily briefings, ensuring the Chancellor enters every interaction with the relevant history, context, and strategic framing of the relationships involved. - Participates in the standing meetings with the Office of the Chancellor staff on upcoming external interactions, the relationship implications of his engagements, and the strategic priorities of his network. - Coordinates with the responsible Vice Chancellor offices, unit leaders, and prospect managers to identify priority attendees across constituent groups and to develop a targ…