The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) is the leading national association that advances the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U member institutions include accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size.
AAC&U seeks a highly organized, analytical, and systems-focused Database Operations Administrator to strengthen and modernize the data operations that drive AAC&U’s membership, engagement, and advancement strategies. This full-time position serves as the central steward of AAC&U’s CRM and related data systems, ensuring that the Office of Membership and Advancement (OMA) can function efficiently, strategically, and with a high degree of data integrity. The Database Operations Administrator reports to the Strategic Advisor for Membership and Advancement.
Major Duties and Responsibilities
Provide primary oversight for administration and management, optimization, and daily operations of AAC&U’s CRM and associated databases, ensuring system reliability, data accuracy, and a seamless user experience.
Lead the modernization, clean-up, and long-term stabilization of legacy data systems, including mapping, deduplication, and rationalization of historical membership and advancement records.
Ensure the integration and synchronization of data across platforms including finance, email marketing, event registration, and advancement systems, reducing redundancies and improving cross-departmental reporting.
Develop and maintain dashboards, data visualizations, and custom reports that provide actionable insights for membership recruitment, renewal tracking, engagement campaigns, and revenue forecasting.
Develop, document, and implement data governance and data-quality protocols that ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance across all membership and advancement operations. Serve as the primary trainer for AAC&U staff on CRM functionality, data-entry standards, reporting tools, and workflow processes, fostering a culture of data literacy and operational consistency.
Coordinate periodic data audits to eliminate duplicate records, validate institution-level contact structures, and update personnel and leadership changes across AAC&U’s membership.
Partners with OMA leadership to ensure data systems support strategic engagement campaigns, sponsorship tracking, member benefit utilization, and donor pipelines.
Serve as the technical liaison to vendors and internal technical staff, identifying system enhancements, troubleshooting issues, and implementing improvements to enhance data flow and automation.
Provide ongoing analysis of system performance, recommending process improvements that increase efficiency and enhance the accuracy of revenue tracking and member engagement metrics. Perform PCI compliance.
Develop and enforce CRM policies, procedures, SOPs, and user guides.
Supervise database staff member.
Perform related duties, system projects, and special assignments as required.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree required; coursework or certification in information systems, data management, analytics, or related fields preferred.
3-5 years of experience managing a CRM or complex data environment, preferably in an association, nonprofit organization, or higher education setting.
Demonstrated experience with Nimble, is required.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
Proficiency with Excel and Microsoft Office.
Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to translate business needs into technical solutions.
Ability to train non-technical staff on database processes with clarity, patience, and a commitment to elevating organizational data literacy.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated proficiency in database management, data cleaning, and automation workflows; experience improving or modernizing legacy systems strongly preferred.
Familiarity with Higher Logic (or similar email platform), Nimble (or similar registration system), Blue Pay, and CMS integrations.
Experience developing dashboards or analytic reporting using CRM tools, business intelligence platforms, or data visualization software.
Strong understanding of data governance, audit processes, and best practices in data quality assurance.
Please submit a resume, cover letter describing relevant work and educational experience, and salary requirementsto AAC&U, Box OMA, 1818 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, or to employment@aacu.org. Review of applications will begin on January 9, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled.
AAC&U’s headquarters is in Washington, DC. Preferable, hybrid position. A reasonable rate of compensation for this position is between $90,000 – $105,000. AAC&U has exceptional benefits.
AAC&U believes that a broadly diverse staff is critical to achieving excellence as a national higher education association. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. We are fully committed to equal employment opportunity and compliance with the full range of fair employment practices and nondiscrimination laws.
