---
title: 'Senior Development Manager at UATX'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-development-manager-uatx-austin-18nkbvf2ha79'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Senior Development Manager at UATX

- **Company:** UATX
- **Location:** Austin, TX
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-01
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/uaustin/c2ebeae3-70dc-45ec-a7e5-646adabee8da

## Job description

Job Summary The Senior Development Manager advances one of the most ambitious fundraising efforts in higher education to support a new university in Austin, Texas. You will cultivate and manage a portfolio of mission-aligned current and prospective donors, executing sophisticated moves management strategies to secure 5-plus-figure gifts. This role is ideal for a dynamic fundraiser who thrives on building relationships, advancing major gift opportunities, is an adept collaborator, and wants to shape a growing institution at a pivotal moment. A candidate should demonstrably pursue excellence in their work and possess a desire to build a best-in-class fundraising program and portfolio at the nation’s most innovative new university.

## Responsibilities

Implement major gift methodology to build a portfolio of major donor supporters and prospects both in a regional strategy and within the state of Texas, setting fundraising strategies for each, and executing on each. This will require frequent donor meetings via phone, Zoom, and face to face, with frequent travel. Conduct 120+ visits a year, 25-40 solicitations per year (50% of those >$50k), and close $1-2.5M per year consistently outside of transformational gifts. Also perform prospect research, portfolio management and stewardship as appropriate to maintain a steady and well-tended portfolio. Match donor interests with institutional priorities to pursue unrestricted funding for UATX to continue to deliver our model of no tuition, no government funding and merit-based admissions. Plan and execute donor events (dinners and receptions) in key cities and with key constituency groups. Work with other UATX team members to coordinate UATX programs, donor messaging materials, online fundraising, and more. Other duties as assigned.

## Qualifications

Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and closing major gifts in higher education, nonprofit, startup, or mission-driven environments. Exceptional intellectual and social curiosity, with the ability to engage thoughtfully across disciplines, ideas, and perspectives. Strong interpersonal agility and emotional intelligence; able to adapt communication style, tone, and approach to a wide range of donors, trustees, founders, faculty, and prospects. Skilled relationship builder who asks insightful questions, listens deeply, and uncovers donor motivations and philanthropic interests. Strategic and confident fundraiser who can move prospects toward solicitation with clarity, transparency, and persistence. Proven ability to synthesize complex institutional priorities and communicate them in compelling, accessible language for external audiences. High level of comfort engaging sophisticated, entrepreneurial, and intellectually independent donors. Experience using data, research, and analytics to prioritize prospects, manage portfolios, and drive fundraising outcomes. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including donor correspondence, proposals, briefing materials, and presentations. Ability to collaborate effectively across leadership, academic, and development teams while maintaining strong independent execution. Commitment to the mission and vision of University of Austin and enthusiasm for advancing innovative higher education.

## About UATX

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: The University of Austin (UATX) is a private, donor-funded, tuition-free four-year college that combines a Great Books core curriculum with rigorous training in mathematics, sciences, and artificial intelligence.
- **Entity Type**: Private (non-profit, donor-funded)
- **Headquarters**: Austin, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Not publicly listed (leadership includes President Carlos Carvalho, Provost David Ruth, and Interim Dean of STEM Clinton Staley)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Higher Education
- Target customers: Undergraduate students (B2C) selected on merit alone, as well as high school and college students via summer programs
- Mission or purpose: "Forming the leaders and builders a free country depends on" by reviving fearless inquiry and open discourse

## Products & Services
- **[Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies]**: Four-year undergraduate degree with a core curriculum centered on the Western tradition, small seminars (~15 students), and quantitative training including mathematics, data science, and AI. Tuition-free for all admitted students.
- **[Polaris Projects]**: Capstone experiences where students launch a company, intern for a public official, pursue original research, or build alongside industry leaders.
- **[Summer Fellowship]**: A one-week, credit-bearing residential program for rising high school juniors and seniors; includes building an LLM from scratch, studying Lincoln and Douglass, and debating founding principles. Cost: $2,500 (full scholarships available).
- **[Weekend Programs]**: Free, short-term on-campus events offering small seminars, talks with faculty/guests, and a taste of UATX life.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not applicable (non-profit)
- **Key Metric**: Tuition-free model; entirely donor-funded; no government funding. First freshman class entered Fall 2024.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly disclosed. Supported by donors (names not listed).
- **Growth Signals**: Rapidly expanding faculty (nearly 30 full-time professors as of late 2024). Hiring for multiple professor positions and administrative roles. New campus operations in Austin and Bastrop, Texas.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Tuition-free**: All students pay no tuition, funded entirely by donors, eliminating student debt.
- **Merit-based admissions**: No essays, no legacy preferences – only SAT, ACT, or CLT scores.
- **Small class sizes**: Seminars of ~15 students with heavy reading and high standards.
- **Unique curriculum**: Great Books core combined with quantitative training in AI and data science.
- **Intellectual independence**: Strong commitment to open inquiry, civil discourse, and academic freedom; no government funding.

## Strategic Focus
- **Faculty expansion**: Hiring professors across STEM, history, and other liberal arts disciplines to support growing student body.
- **Program development**: Building the Center for Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (CSTEM) and expanding the undergraduate concentration in quantitative fields.
- **Campus growth**: Establishing a permanent campus in Austin (current operations at temporary locations).
- **Brand building**: Attracting high-achieving students through the free-tuition model and distinctive intellectual mission.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven environment**: Opportunity to help shape a new university dedicated to open inquiry and rigorous education.
- **On-site roles**: Positions are based in Austin, TX (and Bastrop, TX for some roles). Remote/hybrid policy not specified; likely on-site.
- **Small, collaborative community**: Close interaction with faculty and leadership; ability to influence curriculum and culture.
- **Faculty benefits**: Long-term stability (though no tenure), full-time teaching load of six quarter-length courses per year, and support for research.
- **Diverse openings**: Roles range from professors and academic leadership to accounting and innovation partnerships.

## Sources
1. [uaustin.org](https://uaustin.org/)
2. [jobs.lever.co/uaustin](https://jobs.lever.co/uaustin)
3. [uaustin.org/our-people](https://uaustin.org/our-people/)
4. [jobs.lever.co/uaustin (Professor of CS)](https://jobs.lever.co/uaustin/2c923907-2611-47da-bef1-5bcf30d8963f)
5. [indeed.com](https://www.indeed.com/cmp/The-University-of-Austin-(uatx))

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