Associate Director, Development

Job Title: Associate Director, Development (Regional Portfolio)

Team: External Affairs

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL) 

Employment Type: Full-time

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs Report.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring an Associate Director, Development (Regional Portfolio) who will drive the strategy for how the national team supports regions in their development goals, and be a key strategic partner and project manager to Braven’s regional teams. As a member of the External Affairs Development Team, you will be a key leader in helping the organization raise approximately $100 million over the next three years. You will also own the creation and standardization of systems and processes that enable the development team to manage the full donor pipeline with clarity, including driving the project management of our grant writing process to ensure it is streamlined, repeatable, and efficient while setting the strategy and creating the collateral necessary to achieve fundraising goals.

This role is on the External Affairs team and reports directly to the Senior Director, Development.

What You’ll Do

You will own the strategy and execution of supporting Braven’s regional teams to meet their annual fundraising goals. This role includes the following responsibilities:

Regional Fundraising Strategy & Execution (65%)

• Drive and own the strategy for regional fundraising over the next three years to raise ~$20M in philanthropic gifts annually. This includes creating cross-cutting strategies, defining required best practices, and leading annual planning processes. You'll partner with regional teams to develop and activate their annual revenue strategy.
• Deeply understand the regional donor ecosystem, the funding landscape, and serve as a strategic thought partner to the regional Executive Directors and External Affairs Directors.
• Strategize with regional teams on how to engage donors through the Moves Management stages and project-manage the execution of next steps.
• Partner with the Executive Director and External Affairs Directors to identify, vet, and cultivate new prospects in the region.
• Track regional revenue progress to goal and the overall weighted pipeline. 
• In collaboration with the External Affairs Directors, you will project manage the implementation of quarterly action plans, adjusting as needed to ensure we are on track to achieve fundraising goals.
• Review grant applications and report drafts, providing critical feedback to regional teams and the grant writing team to ensure the timely submission of high-quality narratives and data.
• Attend weekly regional meetings to provide strategic guidance and ensure regions have the support they need to align with national fundraising goals.

Regional Development Operations & Donor Stewardship (30%)

• Lead the creation of strong, standardized systems for donor stewardship to ensure regional teams are sharing the most compelling and up-to-date story with regional funders.
• Collaborate with Senior Director of Development and central teams (Data, Finance, Product, Systems) to ensure regional External Affairs Directors have timely and relevant inputs for grants and other donor communications. 
• Craft and standardize annual regional donor narratives, aligned to Braven’s strategic direction and the strategic direction of each region.
• In collaboration with the Communications and Marketing Team, develop high-quality, standardized collateral, including funder decks, regional grants, and reports, for regional teams.
• Maintain efficient and effective systems by keeping activities, campaigns, opportunities, and account information up to date in Salesforce and other platforms, ensuring your portfolio of regional teams is on track to achieve their fundraising goals.
• Implement stewardship strategies and processes to acknowledge donations in a timely and thoughtful manner. 

Strategic External Stakeholder Management (5%)

• This role is primarily internal-facing but will require you to act as a leader in external relationships, potentially engaging directly with funders and donors to build and maintain key partnerships.
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s or equivalent degree
• 3 years of work experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Thrives in ambiguity and finds joy in collaborating deeply with diverse teams in a rapidly growing organization.
• Demonstrated experience in leading complex projects with stakeholders from various teams (e.g., program, finance, data) that resulted in significant outcomes.
• Strong analytical skills; ability to research and synthesize complex data (outcomes, donor data) into a compelling story.
• Expertise in Salesforce or other CRM platforms like iWave, including a track record of building and managing effective systems.
• Highly motivated, self-directed, results-oriented, data-driven, and curious.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to craft compelling narratives and strategic documents.
• Highly-developed attention to detail and a strong customer-service orientation.
• Learns quickly and manages large volumes of feedback on a regular basis.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL) at least 3 days per week
• Ability to travel 4-8 times annually out of state for regional team events
• Non-traditional hours (e.g. evenings or weekends) occasionally to meet grant/fundraising deadlines

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Compensation and Benefits

Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.

New hires can expect a starting salary at the beginning of the range to allow room for growth with performance and so that Braven maintains internal equity. The salary ranges, by geographic market, for this role are set forth  $76,000-$94,900. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity. 

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) and work remotely 2 days per week.  Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of Chicago, IL. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.