Director, Leadership Relations

About the Opportunity

The Director, Leadership Relations leads the design, activation, and scaling of Northeastern’s global volunteer and engagement ecosystem. Reporting to the AVP of Leadership Relations, this role is centered on building and growing the Global Ambassador model — identifying, recruiting, and activating volunteers across every stage of their lifecycle and every generation of their relationship with the University. This is a relationship-forward, strategy-intensive role for an experienced builder who thrives in complex, global environments and who brings both the vision to design new engagement models and the operational discipline to bring them to life.

Preferred Qualifications

• 7–10 years of experience in alumni relations, advancement, volunteer management, or a related field, with demonstrated success managing complex programs across global constituencies.
• Proven experience building and scaling volunteer networks, affinity communities, or leadership programs within a higher education, nonprofit, or comparable institutional environment.
• Experience leading or co-leading large-scale campaigns or events with international reach, including digital and in-person engagement strategies.
• Strong relationship management skills with the ability to engage, influence, and steward senior-level volunteers, donors, and institutional partners.
• Experience developing mentoring programs, generational engagement strategies, or leadership development curricula that connect diverse stakeholder cohorts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate complex programming into compelling narratives for volunteer, donor, and institutional audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent programs, priorities, and cross-functional partnerships with minimal supervision.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred. Experience working across international markets or with MENAT, LatAm, Asia-Pacific, or European alumni communities is a strong plus.

Global Ambassador Model & Network Activation

• Build and lead the full Global Ambassador lifecycle — including recruitment, nomination, onboarding, toolkit development, and ongoing activation — in partnership with LRT’s signature affinity networks, ensuring ambassadors are engaged, equipped, and connected to Northeastern’s broader leadership community.
• Scale the Global Ambassador model by identifying and activating volunteers from existing LRT networks as well as new volunteer pipelines, creating a robust and diverse cohort that extends the University’s global reach.
• Oversee application, nomination, and onboarding cycles across LRT’s affinity networks, ensuring process consistency, quality, and a seamless volunteer experience across all Leadership Relations Team programs.
• Identify pipeline potential among Global Ambassadors and LRT affinity volunteers to support the long-term growth of the volunteer ecosystem, flagging prospects for expanded university roles and philanthropic engagement.
• Partner with the broader Leadership Relations team and internal university partners to develop ambassador toolkits, communications, and resources that equip volunteers to represent Northeastern effectively in their regions and networks.

Volunteer Pathway Design & Intergenerational Programming

• Design and implement structured engagement pathways for alumni, students, parents, and emerging leaders to engage as volunteers with the University — tailoring opportunities to align with individual interests, industries, geographies, and career stages.
• Develop and execute a generational engagement strategy that considers the distinct needs, motivations, and expectations of students, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers — translating those insights into programming and volunteer experiences that foster deep, long-term relationships with the University. Examples include executive leadership roundtables for mid-career professionals, mentoring initiatives that bridge generations, and student-facing engagement models.
• Oversee the creation of leadership development programming that deepens the engagement of active volunteers and prepares them for expanded roles within Northeastern’s leadership community, including skill-building opportunities and philanthropic leadership development.
• Manage structured mentoring initiatives that bring alumni, students, faculty, and staff together, fostering intergenerational knowledge sharing and professional growth.

Affinity Network Strategy & Operations

• Serve as the LRT network strategist for Global Giving Day, designing peer-to-peer engagement approaches, volunteer-led challenges, and network activation strategies in partnership with the Annual Giving team and the LRT campaigns and marketing team member.
• Manage and grow LRT’s affinity volunteer networks through identification, recruitment, training, and ongoing cultivation of network members; develop a comprehensive annual engagement plan that includes signature network convenings and activations.
• Identify and cultivate shared network affinity groups, connecting faculty, staff, alumni, students, and parents to targeted volunteer opportunities that align with the University’s priorities and broaden its global reach.
• Ensure operational consistency and quality across all network programs, maintaining clear processes for volunteer management, engagement tracking, and program reporting.

Position Type

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Compensation Grade/Pay Type:

Expected Hiring Range:

With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.