Senior Director of Advancement

Washington University in St. Louis seeks a an experienced, strategic, and aspirational senior director of advancement for the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center. This individual will support fundraising efforts for one of the most distinguished medical schools in the country, with highly developed research, teaching, and clinical care. 

Reporting directly to the executive director of advancement for the Siteman Cancer Center, the senior director of advancement will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive fundraising strategy for securing philanthropic support from a portfolio of 65 to 75 major gift prospects. This leader’s personal fundraising will focus on blood cancers, including lymphoma, as well as gynecological oncology, and the Department of OB/GYN. The senior director will proactively work with prominent and renowned faculty to identify new prospects, complete prospect cultivation calls, and communicate with and visit prospects and donors who are capable of making gifts of $100,000 or more. 

WUSM has prospered over the past century, distinguished as a first-tier medical school, and ranked for over a generation among a handful of leading medical schools in the United States. As an essential part of a renowned university, and the partner of an equally successful healthcare system, WUSM has flourished in every dimension. It has a profound commitment to the three traditional missions — research, teaching, and care — and has increasingly embraced community engagement as a fourth. Its partnerships, clinical care, endowment, and philanthropy have created an unusually generous net for investment in its missions.

Established in 1999, the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine has risen rapidly to become one of the nation’s leaders in cancer research and patient care. Among the 71 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S., Siteman is one of only a handful to have achieved the highest evaluation awarded by the federal institute: exceptional. Siteman has received this top rating for two consecutive review cycles.  This distinction places Siteman among the very top cancer centers in the nation and reflects the center’s excellence in clinical services and cancer research, as well as its impact on innovative cancer treatments.

The 38-person medical advancement team, includes the grateful patient, medical corporate and foundation relations, and WUSM teams; in total, this group raises an average of $170 million annually, which represents approximately one half of the funds raised by Washington University’s advancement division. Focusing on the blood cancer area, including supporting one of the top five largest bone marrow transplant clinics in the nation, the senior director will be partnering with these divisions to coordinate fundraising strategies and maintain a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors. Establishing strong and effective working relationships with the vice chancellor, dean, director of the cancer center, faculty, and advancement colleagues will be key to this role.

The successful candidate will have at least seven years of successful fundraising experience in a complex organization (preferably in academic medicine and/or clinical and basic research); strong verbal and written communications; a track record of success securing significant major gifts; the desire and wherewithal to build bridges and strong collaborative relationships with all members of an operation across a university and a diverse body of donors and constituents; and the exceptional interpersonal skills required to effectively engage key leaders and other members of the university community in the fundraising process. Essential qualifications include the expertise and ability to identify, cultivate, solicit, and secure major gift commitments at a level of $100,000 or more. 

Jack Gorman is leading this search with Jon Derek Croteau and Ryan Cheung.  


Washington University in St. Louis is committed to providing equal opportunity to all qualified individuals in its employment and personnel practices.

The university practices affirmative action by taking assertive steps to recruit, hire, and promote minorities, females, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.