CRM Project Director

Best consideration date for applications: Friday, August 28

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

Reporting to the Executive Director of Advancement Services, the CRM Project Director provides leadership and oversight for the University System of Maryland (USM) Advancement Consortium's Technology Modernization Program, including the implementation of a shared Salesforce CRM platform serving eleven USM institutions. The position is responsible for day-to-day program execution, including project planning, stakeholder engagement, vendor management, solution and data governance, change management, and cross-institutional coordination. Working closely with campus advancement leaders, technical and functional teams, and implementation partners, the Project Director ensures successful delivery of a unified advancement technology platform that supports fundraising and advancement operations while balancing Consortium-wide objectives with institutional needs.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Project Leadership and Implementation Management:

• Directs the day-to-day execution of the Advancement Consortium’s Salesforce CRM implementation across eleven participating institutions, ensuring project activities are delivered in alignment with approved scope, timelines, budget, and quality expectations.
• Develops, maintains, and manages the integrated project plan, implementation roadmap, and project communications strategy in accordance with established governance and PMO standards, while supporting broader program objectives established by the Executive Director.
• Monitors project health, progress, risks, issues, dependencies, and resource utilization; prepares comprehensive status, financial, and performance reports for the Executive Director and governance bodies as requested.
• Leads operational and tactical decision-making to maintain project momentum, resolve implementation challenges, and address delivery risks; elevates strategic, policy, funding, or cross-institutional issues requiring executive sponsorship or governance approval.
• Oversees the day-to-day performance of implementation vendors, consultants, and external partners, including monitoring contractual deliverables, reviewing work products, facilitating issue resolution, and ensuring adherence to project requirements and service expectations.
• Coordinates and fosters collaboration among campus stakeholders, functional leads, technical teams, and implementation partners to support consistent adoption, effective change management, and successful delivery across the Consortium.
• Ensures project activities comply with established governance processes, documentation standards, and reporting requirements, maintaining transparency, accountability, and alignment with Consortium objectives.

Stakeholder Engagement and Change Management:

• Serves as the primary operational liaison among the eleven member institutions, the USM Office of Advancement, implementation partners, and project teams, ensuring effective communication, coordination, and alignment throughout the Consortium.
• Facilitates cross-institutional working groups and decision-making forums to align business processes, reconcile differing priorities, and develop shared solutions that support a unified Salesforce CRM environment.
• Builds and maintains productive relationships with campus advancement leaders, subject matter experts, and key stakeholders, fostering collaboration and consensus on project priorities, policies, and system functionality.
• Manages competing institutional needs and expectations related to shared technology resources, proactively addressing concerns and escalating unresolved conflicts or strategic decisions to the Executive Director as appropriate.
• Leads change management and user adoption efforts across participating institutions, including the development and execution of communication strategies, stakeholder engagement plans, training programs, and readiness initiatives tailored to campus-specific needs.

Program Governance & Resource Management:

• Maintains accountability for the program’s integrated risk and issue management framework, proactively identifying, monitoring, and mitigating risks and escalating significant concerns to the Executive Director and governance bodies as appropriate.
• Monitors and manages project expenditures within approved budget parameters, tracking spending, forecasting financial needs, analyzing variances, and providing timely budget reporting to support program decision-making.
• Coordinates and optimizes resource allocation across participating institutions, implementation partners, project teams, and subject matter experts, identifying resource constraints and recommending solutions to maintain project objectives and timelines.
• Establishes, implements, and continuously improves Project Management Office (PMO) standards, methodologies, tools, reporting structures, and governance processes to support consistent and effective program delivery.
• Coordinates and supports Consortium governance activities, including Steering Group meetings, sponsor briefings, and stakeholder forums; prepares agendas, meeting materials, decision logs, action items, and official records to support informed decision-making and program accountability.

Solution & Data Governance:

• Establishes and maintains shared-instance design principles and governance standards that balance the benefits of a unified Salesforce platform with legitimate institution-specific business requirements, ensuring consistency and preventing unnecessary configuration complexity.
• Leads the Consortium’s data governance function, overseeing data ownership, security and access models, data quality standards, master data management, and cross-institutional deduplication efforts; escalates policy-related decisions and issues requiring executive or governance approval.
• Oversees release management, configuration governance, and change control processes for the shared Salesforce environment, ensuring system modifications are evaluated, approved, documented, and implemented in accordance with established standards.
• Ensures the Salesforce solution remains aligned with approved business requirements and strategic objectives by partnering with institutional stakeholders, functional and technical subject matter experts, and implementation partners to translate business needs into effective system configurations and processes.
• Coordinates user acceptance testing, training validation, and deployment readiness activities, ensuring solutions are fully tested, users are prepared for adoption, and implementation outcomes meet the operational needs of participating institutions.

ANNUAL SALARY:

$165,000-$195,000

Requirements

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Required Education Level/Certifications:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Additional qualifying experience may substitute for education on a year-for-year basis for up to four (4) years.

Required Experience:

• Seven (7) years of progressively responsible project and/or program management experience, including leadership of at least one enterprise CRM or major system implementation.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-stakeholder programs and building consensus across organizational or institutional boundaries.
• Demonstrated experience with change management, stakeholder engagement, and executive communication.

Required Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Working knowledge of Salesforce CRM and enterprise data governance principles.
• Knowledge of Advancement and fundraising technology platforms, including Salesforce Education Cloud, Nonprofit Cloud, or comparable CRM solutions.
• Skill in project and program management, including project planning, schedule management, budget oversight, risk mitigation, dependency management, and performance reporting.
• Skill in change management, stakeholder engagement, user adoption, and training strategies supporting large-scale technology implementations.
• Ability to build consensus, facilitate decision-making, and foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders with competing priorities.
• Ability to establish and maintain data governance standards, including data ownership, security and access controls, data quality, master data management, and configuration governance.
• Ability to translate complex technical and business information into clear recommendations, reports, and presentations for executive leaders and governance bodies.
• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and meeting management skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with executive, functional, and technical audiences.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment, diplomacy, and political awareness when managing cross-institutional relationships, resolving conflicts, and navigating organizational dynamics.
• Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality and stewardship of sensitive donor, alumni, institutional, and program data.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Preferred Education Level/Certifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Management, Project Management, or a related field.
• Professional certification in project or program management (e.g., PMP, PgMP).
• Change management certification (e.g., Prosci) or comparable change leadership credential.
• Salesforce certifications (e.g., Administrator, Business Analyst, Advanced Administrator, Education Cloud Consultant, Nonprofit Cloud Consultant, or comparable credentials).

Preferred Experience:

• Experience within higher education, philanthropy, fundraising, advancement services, or nonprofit organizations.
• Experience leading technology initiatives within a consortium, shared-services, multi-campus, or similarly decentralized environment.
• Experience implementing or administering Salesforce solutions in an Advancement, fundraising, higher education, or nonprofit setting.
• Experience establishing, supporting, or operating within a Salesforce Center of Excellence (CoE) or similar governance framework.
• Experience managing large-scale enterprise technology implementations involving multiple stakeholder groups and external vendors.

Preferred Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Knowledge of advancement and fundraising operations, including donor engagement, prospect management, campaign management, and stewardship practices.
• Knowledge of Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Education Cloud, or related Salesforce ecosystem products.
• Knowledge of CRM governance, shared-instance administration, and enterprise data management principles.
• Skill in facilitating cross-functional and cross-institutional decision-making within complex organizational environments.

Benefits

• Paid Leave: 22 days of annual leave, 15 days of sick & safe leave, 16-17 holidays, 3 personal leave days, 12 weeks paid family medical leave.
• Health Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with flexible spending accounts.
• Retirement Plans: Mandatory and supplemental options with major providers like Fidelity and TIAA.
• Life Insurance: Optional term life and AD&D benefits through MetLife.
• Tuition Benefits: Tuition remission for employees and their families.
• Training & Development: Free professional development conferences and unlimited LinkedIn Learning access.
• Credit Union Access: Membership eligibility for SECU, Maryland’s largest credit union.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Free counseling, legal, financial, and work-life support services.

Click to learn more.