Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Principal Gifts, the Principal Gifts Officer is a senior development officer assigned to the highest-level prospects for Virginia Tech. The individual will serve as a visible front-line fundraiser and manage a portfolio of 15 to 35 principal gifts prospects. This position focuses on strategy development as well as staff support, planning, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives for individuals assigned to the prospect pool. The Principal Gifts Officer's primary emphasis is identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding high-level prospects who have the capacity to make transformative gifts of $5 million or greater to the University. The Principal Gifts Officer will work closely with the Senior Vice President for Advancement, the Associate Vice President for Principal Gifts, the President, Dean, and with other key academic leaders to set short and long-term donor centric strategies and develop initiatives to advance each prospect's meaningful connection to the college and university, setting the stage for solicitation in accordance with university priorities. The Principal Gifts Officer must champion the strategic engagement, creativity, and poise required to inspire and mobilize the aspirations of internal partners and prospective donors alike and exemplify the sophisticated stewardship essential to maintaining and expanding donor relationships.

This position must have the ability to:
- Effectively strategize and engage various groups and constituents.
- Think strategically and to shape messaging in order to move individuals and institutions across the spectrum of prospect development, culminating in significant and potentially game changing solicitations appropriate to organizational priorities and donors interests.
- Penetrate the most elite philanthropic networks seamlessly, and with aplomb.
- Understand and distill complex academic and scientific topics and projects for development audiences.
- Extract and analyze data to make effective, efficient decisions about donor strategy and process.
- Travel nationally and sometimes internationally for the purpose of conducting field research, cultivation, and solicitation of prospects.
- Travel utilizing standard, commercial and/or personal modes of transportation.
- Work nights and weekends and participate in college or university programs when possible.