Project Associate Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

External Relations at the University of Virginia (UVA) is seeking a highly qualified candidate to fill the role of Project Associate (Community Hospitals). The University of Virginia has a strong and reputable advancement community, boasting effective, results-oriented, and resourceful professionals. Our community comprises a robust central advancement organization, 12 University schools, and more than 25 University-related programs. We offer a wide variety of career opportunities, as well as an outstanding environment for professional growth and development.
Position Summary
The Project Associate (Community Hospitals) for UVA Health Development will focus on expanding and enhancing the fundraising goals of UVA Health in the Northern Piedmont and Northern Virginia markets. UVA Health owns and operates three community hospitals, UVA Health Prince William Medical Center, UVA Health Haymarket Medical Center, and UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center, and several clinics including UVA Health Cancer Center Gainesville. Reporting to the Executive Director, UVA Community Health Foundation and working closely with stakeholders, the Project Associate has a unique opportunity to further build out and develop this regional fundraising program by elevating a culture of philanthropy and prioritizing the acceleration of the major gift operations.
The Project Associate will provide support, coordination, and a local presence to the community hospitals team; serve as primary liaison to the UVA Community Health Foundation Board, and UVA Health Development partners. This role will provide ongoing reports on fundraising efforts broadly to UVAHD leadership; and staff the needs of the community hospitals team. They will also help engage donors, alumni, friends, grateful patients, volunteers, and families in support of UVA Health priorities.
The Project Associate will ensure that our outreach to grateful patient prospects and donors is prioritized, coordinated, and fully compliant with patient privacy law. They will further support our outreach to community members, alumni, and other interested stakeholders. They will support our programs to engage volunteers and clinician partners in philanthropy, track campaign fundraising and performance metrics, coordinate with other UVA Health Development, UVA External Relations, and UVA Community Health colleagues, and manage special projects. This position will support and speed up the work of the community hospitals team by identifying efficiencies, streamlining processes, and providing recommendations to the Executive Director to enhance fundraising. They will serve as the lead contact for UVA Community Health Community Engagement, UVA Community Health External Affairs, and the UVA External Relations Prospect Management and Research team.
Responsibilities
In partnership with Community Hospitals team:

• Support unit-wide effort to improve processes, build efficiencies, and improve communication and collaboration.
• Strategic planning for development travel, fundraising initiatives, and special projects.
• Direct communication with donors, providers, development colleagues, and leadership in support of team's fundraising efforts.
• Work to develop and disseminate best practices to facilitate the process of building relationships between fundraisers and donors/prospects.
• Facilitate and manage complex donor site visits.
• Work with gift officers to assist in prioritizing the prospect pool, developing prospecting strategies, managing individual fundraiser portfolio performance and proposal pipeline.
• Assist gift officers with building initial portfolios of prospects.
• Provide initial qualification through prospect research, and prioritize outreach to patients and donors based on research performed.
• Develop new strategies for identifying prospects from donor databases and other sources to support fundraising goals and objectives.
• Manage accurate and efficient tracking of proposals and contact reports in databases, including ensuring all entries are up-to-date and reflected in reporting.
• Participate in the overall strategic planning for fundraising by developing and executing strategies for the fundraising manager.
• Lead or support the planning, developing, and execution of events and donor engagement opportunities in collaboration with donor relations and development officers.
• Liaise with donor relations team on gift agreements, gift accounting, and stewardship in partnership with development officers.
• Serve as liaison with communications team to maintain and prioritize patient stories, proposal development.
• Serve as expert user, coach, and advocate for key development tools (e.g., Advancement CRM, Tableau); synthesize data and analyses into useful formats.
• Contribute observations, ideas, hypotheses and solutions as actionable insights.
• Serve as the conduit between UVA Health Development, UVA Community Health Community Engagement, and UVA Community Health External Affairs teams.
• Provide back-up support when needed or coverage to the community hospitals philanthropy team.

In partnership with the Executive Director:

• Draft written communications to donors, providers, board and leadership.
• Analyze data and make recommendations to enhance team performance.
• Manage reporting to leadership on the team's performance at large with use of Tableau.
• Play a key role in both campaign planning and execution and expanding the scope and impact of our community and grateful patient fundraising programs.
• Lead preparation and execution of Board communications, meetings and related activities.
• Provide frontline travel support including filing reimbursements, reconciling travel and expense card statements for the team.
• Employ advanced analytical techniques to fully utilize available data to support the fundraising goals and objectives of UVA Health Development to internal and external constituencies.
• Manage special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• 2+ years of relevant experience required. Additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships and navigate complex interpersonal dynamics.
• Strong communication skills and ability to articulate mission and priorities.
• Proven ability to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics with high emotional intelligence and professionalism.
• Proficiency using CRM databases.
• Ability to use a database to maintain and review records and produce reports such as donor data, prospect contacts, solicitations, and proposals.
• Strong self-motivation and proactive problem-solving skills
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as a member of a team.
• Ability to hold oneself accountable to goals and metrics.
• Valid driver's license.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience staffing leaders and volunteers in a complex, matrixed organization.
• Track record of demonstrating a high degree of initiative, flexibility and will have the skills to shape and be shaped by an evolving fundraising initiative.
• Experience in collaborating on strategic fundraising plans with ambitious targets and delivering results.
• Success within collaborative fundraising models.
• Robust understanding of the principles of philanthropy, higher education, alumni relations, and relationship management.
• Proven experience facilitating relationships with academic medical faculty and comparable organizational leaders.

Physical Demands
This is primarily a sedentary job involving extensive use of desktop computers. The job does occasionally require traveling some distance to attend meetings, and programs.
Salary Range

• The anticipated hiring range is $55K - $60K annually, commensurate with education and experience.

Position Type & Work Location

• This is an exempt-level, benefited position. Learn more about UVA benefits .
• This is a restricted position, which is dependent on funding and is contingent upon funding availability.
• UVA External Relations offers a flexible and hybrid workplace. All team members must have access to and maintain a secure home office environment with high-speed internet service and work collaboratively with others using a variety of technologies and tools.
• This hybrid position can be worked remotely, although the incumbent will be expected to physically work from the Foundation's office located at UVA Health Haymarket Medical Center on a regular, negotiated basis and will need to reside in the Northern Piedmont or Northern Virginia region and within driving distance of the Medical Center.

About UVA and the Community
To learn more about UVA and in the Charlottesville area, visit UVA Life and Embark CVA .
Application Timeline
Application review will begin after July 13, 2026.
Additional Requirements

• Background checks will be conducted on all new hires prior to employment.

• This position will not consider candidates who require immigration sponsorship now or in the future.

How to Apply
Please apply online , by searching for requisition number R0084812.
Internal applicants may search and apply for jobs on the UVA Internal Careers website .
Complete an application with the following documents:

• Resume

• Cover Letter

Upload all materials into the resume submission field. You can submit multiple documents into this one field or combine them into one PDF. Applications without all required documents will not receive full consideration.
Reference Check Process
Reference checks will be completed by UVA's third-party partner, SkillSurvey, during the final phase of the interview. Five references will be requested, with at least three responses required.
Contact

• For additional information about the position, please contact Ann Walker, Associate Director for Staff Success, at awp6h@virginia.edu .

• For questions about the application process, please contact Jon Freeman, HR Recruitment Specialist, at jf2sw@virginia.edu .

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UVA's commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity employment .