Assistant Manager, Major Gifts & Institutional Philanthropy

About the Museum
The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to presenting Himalayan art. Founded in 2004, the Rubin serves people internationally through exhibitions, participatory experiences, a dynamic digital platform, and partnerships. Inspired and informed by Himalayan art, the Rubin invites people to contemplate the human experience and deepen connections with the world around them in order to expand awareness, enhance well-being, and cultivate compassion. The Rubin advances scholarship through a series of educational initiatives, grants, collection sharing, and the stewardship of a collection of nearly 4,000 Himalayan art objects spanning 1,500 years of history—providing unprecedented access and resources to scholars, artists, and students across the globe.

Summary Description
As the Rubin has transformed into a new global museum model with projects in New York City, nationally, and internationally, this is a key position to assist in advancing the Museum’s pioneering efforts to deepen, broaden, and increase support from major donors (giving $5,000 and above) and with institutional funders—foundations, corporations, government (local, state, federal).

The Assistant Manager, Major Gifts & Institutional Philanthropy is part of a six-person development team that includes major gifts, institutional philanthropy, and annual fund and development operations.

The Assistant Manager, Major Gifts & Institutional Philanthropy will manage fundraising, strategic initiatives, and general administrative support for the major donor and institutional philanthropy efforts (both of which are the Rubin’s fundraising priorities). The position additionally includes the management of the overall strategic support for the Rubin Trustees’ stewardship, and board and committee meetings.

The Assistant Manager works collaboratively with the Director of Development to manage two (2) Committees: Development & Marketing and Nominating & Governance and serves as a liaison between Development and all other departments museum wide.

This is a full-time non-exempt and hybrid eligible position with a core workweek schedule of Mondays through Fridays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with some flexibility required as needed.

The incumbent reports to the Director of Development and works closely with the Institutional Philanthropy team and across departments.

Responsibilities
Major Gifts
Manages overall administrative support to the Director of Development and major gift efforts which includes:
• Scheduling meetings, following up with meeting requests, and responding to verbal and written inquiries from donors and other constituents.
• Contributes to strategizing and executing the major donor and institutional philanthropy multiyear initiatives and annual campaigns.
• Preps meeting briefs and assists in managing the major donor portfolio
• Plays a key role in online and in person cultivation events in collaboration with Development Operations.
• Prepares donor outreach materials and related correspondence and
announcements.
• Manages all major donor related tasks.

Major Gifts/Institutional Philanthropy:
• Participates and assists in preparing agendas for cross-department strategy meetings.
• Drives prospect research for primarily major donors and prepares donor profiles for existing donors, prospects, and select institutional prospects.
• Maintains major donor and prospect information in Salesforce and tracks actions, preps pledges, and writes acknowledgments for Trustees and major donors.
• Maintains organization of electronic files for Major Gifts.
• Manages images, press, and other supplements from exhibitions, programs, openings, and select events that are suitable for major donors/institutional proposals and stewardship, and for select applications and reports to foundation, corporate, and government institutions.
• Manages crediting and logo acknowledgements for donor walls, website, emails, flyers, and press releases.
• Updates the annual passwords and permissions for government application (city, state, federal) submission portals.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.

Board Committee Management:
• Manages Committee meetings with the Director of Development for the
Marketing & Development Committee and the Nominating & Governance
Committee of the Board of Trustees.
• This includes preparing agendas, recording/writing minutes, and preparing and organizing supporting documents for Committee meetings.
• Serves as the liaison on behalf of the Director of Development with members of the Board of Trustees, select donors, and other stakeholders.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Qualifications
● Bachelor’s degree is required.
● Three (3) or more years of experience working in development (individual giving and grant writing), marketing, history, journalism, communications, and/or related areas—major donor giving and working with Board members a plus.
● Excellent fundraising writing, storytelling, and communication skills.
● Must be detail-oriented, manage time, and work in a fast-paced and supportive environment, in addition to managing up.
● Must have a keen interest in major gifts, institutional fundraising, and all areas of development.
● Must have excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
● Ability to work across departments and teams in a collaborative environment required.
● Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Slack, Asana, and Google suite products required.
● Experience with Salesforce or other databases preferred
● Appreciation for the Rubin Museum’s mission, and familiarity, interest, and/or experience with Himalayan arts and cultures is a plus.
● A self-starter and team player with a “can do” attitude.

Salary: $53K–$55K commensurate with experience.

The Rubin offers a generous and competitive compensation and benefits package. This includes the Rubin’s Work from Home (WFH) Policy, which allows employees to work offsite four (4) days per week based on their job responsibilities. All hybrid eligible employees are required to work onsite every Wednesday, the designated onsite workday.

Effective September 1, 2025, the WFH policy requires all employees to work onsite two (2) mandatory days per week.

Application Instructions

Please provide the following as part of your application:
● Complete resume.
● A cover letter addressing both your interest in the Rubin Museum and your qualifications for this position.

Application
● Please indicate Position Title in the subject line of the email and in the cover letter.
● Applications in electronic format preferred and accepted at jobs@rubinmuseum.org.
● Mail application to: Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, 140 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011. Attention: Head of Human Resources Dept.

The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art is an equal opportunity employer and considers all candidates for employment regardless of race, color, sex, age, national origin, creed, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.

Candidates must be legally eligible to work in the US without visa sponsorship by the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art.