[KARUIZAWA] Head of Advancement

HEAD OF ADVANCEMENT

The Head of Advancement (HoA) provides strategic vision, innovative leadership,
and clear direction for all development, marketing, communications, public
relations and alumni relations programs. The HoA oversees the budgets for all the
advancement teams. The HoA is an enthusiastic, thoughtful, organized
professional who leads by example and empowers the members of the various
advancement teams. This is an important, wide-ranging position at UWC ISAK
Japan. The lists below cover different but related fields. It is not expected that the
successful applicant will necessarily have hands-on experience in all, but should
be conversant with the range, and able to lead and manage effectively.
Reporting to the Head of School and serving as a member of the School
Leadership team, the HoA leads all aspects of the advancement teams and
resources. This includes UWC ISAK Japan’s work in communications and
community engagement, philanthropy, outreach, and alumni relations. All this
grows the visibility and brand recognition of UWC ISAK Japan within Japan, and
outside its borders in both the regional and global contexts. The HoA will also work
closely with the UWC ISK Japan Admission Team.
 

The HoA possesses strong leadership and people-management skills as well as a
keen understanding of best practices in fundraising (preferably in a school setting),
marketing (digital and non-digital), and communications, with a proven ability to
meet objectives backed by a record of accomplishment. The HoA is a professional
of the highest integrity and seeks to bring out the best in the members of the team.
The HoA possesses excellent communication skills and is an open, achievement-
oriented professional. They have a collegial, team-building style with a track record
of motivating staff to keep them engaged, energized, and focused on results. The
HoA creates a professional work environment that rewards individual and collective
success while building confidence in the individual team members.
The HoA must be a very fine role model in all respects, particularly in the
demonstration of character in a residential setting.

Roles and Responsibilities

Key Areas of Responsibility
 

 Strategic Development and Major Responsibilities
The HoA will work with the Advancement Team and the ‘Short Course’ Team:
● To develop and implement the School’s mission, vision, aims, and
objectives – this is the ‘big picture’ purpose of the position. Specifically, this
entails the following:
 

TEAM MANAGEMENT
● To set clear direction and priorities for a team of around 7 or 8 fellow
professionals and lead with enthusiasm, warmth, and expertise;
● To promote excellence through well-defined and measurable goals and
inspire and motivate staff by fostering a work environment that rewards new
ideas and risk taking;
● To partner with and guide where needed the President of the Board’s and
the Head of School’s engagement with donors, ensuring that they are well
briefed and that their time spent on this is highly productive;
● To be an ambassador for the Advancement Office to the community
promoting understanding of the work of the office and working to engage
the whole of the UWC ISAK community and extended family in its activities
as and when appropriate;
● To assist the Director of Short Courses in strengthening the impact of UWC
ISAK Japan through short courses and programs for students who do not
attend the School full-time.
 

FUNDRAISING
● To launch systematic initiatives to identify and cultivate the next generation
of donors to UWC ISAK Japan while maintaining and strengthening ties to
existing donors, who are predominantly Japanese;
● To help seek out with determination new philanthropic opportunities, and
create a strong and consistent message about UWC ISAK Japan to its
constituencies;
● To assess the fundraising potential and serve as architect and builder of a
strategic, cohesive, and systematic fundraising program to broaden and
strengthen development and volunteer/donor/alumni/parent relations
activities;
 

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
● To work closely with the marketing and communications team and to
oversee its work of promoting the school with sensitivity, humility, and pride,
in both English and Japanese;
● To closely monitor the numerical targets for digital marketing including but
not limited to social media reach, website PVs, and registrations of
interested applicants for admission;
● To oversee the creating of publications for external and internal
communication in both languages;
 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, ESPECIALLY ALUMNI
● To help grow the development and alumni relations office including annual,
major, principal, and planned giving programs;
● To foster alumni and donor relations, advancement services, stewardship,
event, and prospect research;
 

PUBLIC RELATIONS
● To help develop and manage a comprehensive media relations policy and
practice in Japan and abroad.
 

SHORT COURSES, SUCH AS SUMMER AND WINTER PROGRAMS
● With the Director of Short Courses, to extend the number and the nature of
experiences and impact;
● To research the possibility of online experiences related to short course
growth.
 

LEADERSHIP
● The HoA will be a core member of the School Leadership Team,
representing the interests of the general advancement of UWC ISAK
Japan;
● The HoA will be a role model in leading skills for students.
 

SAFEGUARDING
The HoA must adhere to and ensure compliance with the School’s Safeguarding
and Child Protection Policy at all times. If, in the course of carrying out the duties of
the post, the HoA becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety or
welfare of children in the School, they must report those concerns to the Head of
School or to the DSL or to one of the DDSLs immediately.
 

OTHER DUTIES
Other duties may be assigned from time to time by the Head of School or the
President of the Board, in conjunction with the Head of School.

Qualifications (all desirable, but all not essential)

●  Must be bilingual in Japanese and English, with a Bachelor’s degree in a field
broadly related to this type of work, such as education – advanced degree
preferred;
●  Minimum of 8 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and 5 or 6 years of
experience managing a team, covering many of the areas described above;
●  Must possess a personal and professional confidence and have a sense of
warmth and empathy toward others;
●  Experience setting and implementing a strategic development plan for soliciting,
securing, and stewarding major and principal gifts, and demonstrated success in
portfolio management, prospect qualification, analytics, and research;
●  Proven leadership, managerial, and supervisory skills with a commitment to
teamwork and with an ability to motivate direct reports, colleagues, donors, and
volunteers,lead by example and attract and retain outstanding talent;
●  Superior communications and strategic skills, and a strong grasp of industry
best practices in Marketing, Communications, and PR;
●  Skilled in using performance metrics to drive both individual and team success
in all aspects of Advancement;
●  Must be able to travel regularly and work flexible hours, when needed, including
weekends and evenings;
●  Must have a demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively, make
data-informed decisions, work well under pressure, and manage details of several
concurrent projects.