Job Title
Location
Reports to
Salary
Development Officer (Communications and Alumnae Relations)
Murray Edwards College, New Hall, Cambridge, CB3 0DF
Development Manager
£22,272 - £26,568 (subject to experience and the outcome of a Pay and Grading Review)
Murray Edwards College is distinguished by the warmth of its welcome, the energy and success of its students and alumnae, and the creativity inherent in its architecture, art collection and gardens.
The College was founded as New Hall in 1954 to bring more women of outstanding potential to
Cambridge, and it remains committed to providing a thriving academic community in which women from all backgrounds are mentored and inspired by remarkable scholars.
The College began with no founder and no endowment, with 16 students in a borrowed building. The founding committee selected the temporary name “New Hall” in the absence of a donor to bestow a name on the new College. In 2008 the College announced its renaming as
Murray Edwards College, following a generous endowment donation of £30 million from alumna
Ros Edwards and her husband, Steve. The new name also recognises the vision of the
College’s first President, Dame Rosemary Murray.
Over the last 55 years the student body has grown to some 360 undergraduates and approximately 95 graduate students, and the College now has about 4,600 alumnae. The
Fellowship, which is comprised of both women and men, has increased to over 50, the majority of whom are teaching Fellows in a wide range of disciplines.
The central part of the College is made up of a complex of Grade II* listed buildings designed by the architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the 1960s. To set off this rather stark architecture, the College has been fortunate to build the New Hall Art Collection from the gifts and loans of many eminent contemporary women artists and patrons. This is now the most significant collection of its kind in Europe. This, and the College’s beautiful and informal gardens, helps to create an inspirational living and working environment for the community.

Prominent alumnae include Dame Barbara Stocking, Director of Oxfam; Oscar-winning actress
Tilda Swinton; Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, renowned astrophysicist and discoverer of pulsars; TV presenter Claudia Winkleman and BBC News anchor Mishal Husain. Alumnae hold senior positions in the Financial Services Authority, McKinsey & Co, HM Treasury, Great
Ormond Street Hospital, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Ofcom, the United Nations, Goldman
Sachs and Deloitte.
The College has a thriving alumnae relations programme with a host of successful events, two printed publications, an active alumnae committee, a network of year and regional reps and a growing programme of internships and careers mentoring. We are now entering a period of strategic review, in consultation with the alumnae committee, to ensure that the programme meets the needs of alumnae and generates benefits to all parts of the College community.
Further information can be found on the College’s website: www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk
.
The Development Officer will be a member of the Development Office team and work closely with the Development Manager to develop alumnae relations and external communications programmes which support the College's mission, aims and objectives. The goals are:

To increase the feeling of community and connection bet ween the College’s alumnae, students, Fellows, staff and other external contacts.

To encourage people to support the College in a variety of financial and non-financial ways.

To increase awareness of the College in the wider public and communicate its mission, aims and objectives.
Working within the Development Office to encourage the active participation of all parts of the
College community, to develop and implement the College’s alumnae relations programme, and to communicate the Coll ege’s mission to the wider community.
Responsibilities include:

To play a key role in the development and delivery of a programme aimed at alumnae, parents and friends of the College, encouraging them to contribute to the College community in a variety of ways, including offering internships and careers advice to students, attending College events, donating to the College, and sitting on the New Hall
Society Committee.
- To plan and organise a programme of events, both in Cambridge and elsewhere
- To manage the alumnae profiles, Love from Home and birthday card schemes, and newhall.net (an online careers mentoring resource for alumnae and students)
- To manage and enhance the year and regional representative schemes and recruit new volunteers to these schemes
- To maintain, update and publicise the internships scheme and liaise with alumnae for new offers of internships
- To recruit and support other alumnae and student volunteers with respect to alumnae relations activities

To refine the alumnae relations strategy proactively and continuously, to ensure that it meets the needs of the College and alumnae, and is an efficient use of resources


To communicate the mission of the College to the entire College community through news stories and other articles on the website and in print.
- To project manage the design, production and mailing of alumnae relations publications, including the New Hall Society Review (produced annually) and the Dolphin (our twice-annual magazine). Liaising with external designers to produce these communications
- To produce and send the College’s new e-newsletter (approx. 6 times a year), and update and maintain the College’s social networking pages
- To research, write and publish news stories about students, Fellows, alumnae and the College
- To update and maintain the Alumnae, Events and News sections of the College website
- To manage the Christmas card mailing to alumnae, including writing the annual letter from the President and selecting an image for the Christmas card

To develop and implement a strategy to improve relations between current students and the Development Office, including planning alumnae-based Gateway Programme events for students
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Other responsibilities:
- To update the Raiser’s Edge database with current alumnae details to ensure we hold up to date information
- To regularly communicate with the Cambridge University Development Office to ensure appropriate data transfer between the College and the University
- To carry out gift processing, including generating thank you letters and communicating with the Accounts Department regarding incoming gifts
- To promptly respond to alumnae queries by telephone, e-mail and in person
- To take minutes for New Hall Society Committee meetings and to assist and guide the New Hall Society Committee in planning and organising alumnae relations activities
- To support the Development Manager in writing applications for trusts, foundations and companies
- To support the work of other members of the Development Office as necessary
(especially during peak periods such as telephone and mail campaigns)
Knowledge and experience

Educated to at least first degree level

Preferably experience in alumni relations, marketing communications or event management

IT skills, with experience of databa ses (the College uses Raiser’s Edge), word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail and social networking, or a willingness to learn
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Organisational skills, with experience of juggling different tasks according to the priorities at hand
Personal skills
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Good written and verbal communication skills
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Sound organisational and administrative abilities
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Good team-work and presentation skills
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Discretion and ability to handle confidential information
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Good communicator who enjoys networking in academic, business and social settings

Flexibility to deal with a heavy workload and work to tight deadlines, often unsupervised

Attention to detail

Energy, flair, adaptability and a willingness to learn

Normal hours of work are 35 hours per week. Staff are entitled to free lunches on days at work when College kitchens are open, parking during working hours and use of College sports facilities. A final salary occupational pension scheme is available. There will be a need occasionally to travel and attend evening and weekend events and meetings. Overtime will not normally be paid but time in lieu may be taken. There are 25 days holiday per year in addition to
Public Holidays.
To apply please send a completed application form and a covering letter which outlines your suitability and experience to Kate Love, Interim Development Manager, Murray Edwards
College, New Hall, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DF, or via email to cnl28@cam.ac.uk.
The deadline for applications is 5pm, 1 st November 2010.
Interviews will be held on 11 th November 2010.