Senior Director of Development

Who we Are: 

Conservation X Labs (CXL) seeks to solve the world’s greatest conservation problems by supporting innovative solutions that address the underlying drivers of extinction. We create solutions to prevent the extinction crisis through developing new technology in our labs, leading innovation competitions, and empowering talented innovators across disciplines to create transformative products that serve people and our planet.

Who you Are: 

• You have a track record of raising millions of dollars for mission driven international organizations, enjoy connecting funding to a mission you deeply believe in, and are motivated by, and have a long list of potential high net worth, philanthropic, and corporate contacts.
• You are a fearless ambassador, and enjoy pitching breakthrough, innovative ideas and representing the organization in front of a diversity of philanthropic, corporate, and government funders.
• You have experience with, are well connected to, and enjoy working with, high net-worth individuals and family offices.
• You are a persuasive and fast writer and have deep analytical and strategic capabilities.
• You have a solid understanding of how to use data analytics to drive decision-making, optimize fundraising campaigns, and enhance donor engagement, including experience with Client Relationship Management Software (CRMS).
• You are grounded in financial and accounting principles.
• You are known for your creativity and sense of design, and have experience  working closely with marketing and communication teams to create compelling, well designed, fit-for-purpose materials. 
• You are self-motivated with a strong work ethic and ability to work with considerable independence within the context of a team environment and network of relationships on a global scale.
• You have experience in writing and submitting proposals for U.S. government agencies and have an understanding of government grant systems.
• You are a team utility player, and enjoy working as part of and sometimes leading teams. 
• You’re personally and professionally ambitious and want to spend the next part of your career taking on a big challenge and unlocking the funding to significantly impact the extinction crisis.
• You know the ingredients that go into creating a successful fundraising operation - whether that’s building a CRM system, managing CEO and Board relationships, or understanding fundraising regulations.
• You are brilliant, forward-leaning, detail-oriented,  creative, team-oriented, self-motivated, ethical, and nice.

How you will Support CXL:

Development Strategy

• Develop and execute an effective long- and short-term fundraising strategy, working closely with the CEO, President, and COO. 
• Create and lead a coordinated program of fundraising and engagement activities designed to increase the number and level of major and/or principal gift donors; set direction and approach in partnership with CXL leadership and program teams.
• Identify fundraising opportunities (grant opportunities, prizes, new connections) and capitalize on them to secure new funding.
• Coordinate philanthropic fundraising with other CXL business development efforts.
• Work with teams to lead and draft compelling, high-quality proposals and applications. 
• Coordinate with our Director of Impact to ensure our programs are adaptively managed with strong monitoring and evaluation systems in place at the proposal stage to understand where we are effective and how to adjust.
• Act as a thought leader on CXL’s development strategy, working closely with leadership and across teams to ensure the strategy aligns with each teams’ goals. 
• Be bold in opening doors for long-term funding relationships with philanthropists, corporations, high net-worth individuals, family offices, and government agencies. 

Relationship Management: 

• Manage a portfolio of existing donors and take steps to grow these to become a longer-term income stream. 
• Provide excellent donor care such as regularly interacting with donors in person and remotely, writing thank you letters and reports, and responding to queries
• Ensure the proper stewardship and recognition of donors in portfolio through our media and products such as our Annual Report.
• Cultivate relationships with new donors to inspire financial contributions. 
• Perform research into grant opportunities and oversees continuous research, development and up-to-date knowledge on prospects and works with other areas to coordinate contacts.
• Oversee compliance with grant and contract management guidelines for tracking and maintenance of contact and progress reporting, including drafting high-quality reports to donors.
• Ensure that the CXL CEO, President, and COO, and team leads, are prepared and equipped with necessary details and information to successfully close fundraising opportunities.

Communications:

• Coordinate fundraising campaigns and events, including potential international trips, thought leadership dinners, High Level Philanthropic Working Groups, and Board meetings.
• In partnership with the comms and marketing team, develop powerful and persuasive fundraising collateral, including for use in direct funder engagement and indirect opportunities including Newsletters, Annual Reports, digital campaigns, and events (virtual and in-person). 
• Work closely with the comms and marketing team to conduct the deep research that helps CXL be in the right conferences, present in the right rooms, meeting great people, in order to create and maintain meaningful and fruitful relationships. 

A successful first year in this role will look like:

• Secure multi-million dollar, multi-year funding that continues Conservation X Labs’ growth pathway.
• Established Relationships: Develop strong, trust-based relationships with key major donors and prospects, resulting in increased engagement and support.
• Proposal Success: Draft and secure funding through compelling, well-researched proposals tailored to the interests and philanthropic goals of major donors.
• Strategic Data-Driven Excellence:  Develop efficacious strategies based on effective data systems; Maintain accurate and up-to-date donor records in CRM, ensuring data integrity and actionable insights for the team.

SALARY RANGE & BENEFITS

The Senior Director of Development will be a full-time position starting as soon as possible. Responsibilities are expected to be performed out of our office in Washington DC. The Senior Director of Development will receive a competitive base salary of $135,000 to $150,000 annually, based on experience and qualifications. In addition to this base pay, the Director of Development is eligible for a bonus structure tied to organizational performance metrics on top of the salary. These performance-based incentives are linked to specific fundraising metrics that will be agreed upon at the beginning of each fiscal year, and reviewed every quarter.   Benefits include retirement, health, dental, vision, as well as liberal vacation, health, family, and telework policies.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Please submit your resume with a cover letter that explains why you fit what we are looking for. Relevant examples from your work history are very welcome. Click HERE to apply.

Please note: the interview procedure may also involve a scenario-based performance test for finalists as part of the recruitment process, for which you will be compensated.

ABOUT CONSERVATION X LABS AND OUR CULTURE

Conservation X Labs applies technology, entrepreneurship, and open innovation to source, develop, and scale critical solutions to the underlying drivers of human-induced extinction, whether in conservation or other fields. Conservation X Labs takes an approach to conservation that is technology- and innovation-focused, market- and scale-driven, and interdisciplinary. We believe this approach – one that addresses the underlying drivers of extinction rather than its symptoms, and one that takes a revolutionary over evolutionary approach – is the future of conservation, what we call Conservation 3.0. We source, develop, and scale new solutions through open innovation, directed engineering and technology development, product acceleration, and building the diverse community of solvers that will transform the field. Conservation X Labs operates as both a 501c3 non-profit organization and a related B-corporation. 

We are seeking to build an organization of problem solvers, who are personable and highly motivated, hungry and enthusiastic, and are passionate about conservation and our mission.  We want people who want to disrupt conservation in order to radically improve it. We are looking for those who have dared mighty things by trying a path that others have not chosen. We are looking for those who have failed but have learned from failure and risk. We are looking for those who like to experiment, to make things, to hack things, to test things, and to break things (particularly dogmatic approaches to conservation or technology). Finally, we are looking for kind, hardworking people who will enthusiastically devote their intellectual and creative energy to advance our mission, enjoy working on a team, are deeply entrepreneurial and self-motivated, and are driven by their passion.

CXL is committed to creating and cultivating a diverse workforce and inclusive environment where every employee and contractor has the right to work in surroundings that are free from all forms of unlawful or intentional discrimination. It is our policy to hire, promote, transfer, terminate, and make all employment related decisions without regard to race, creed, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex, gender, or sexual orientation.  To learn more about our programs and mission, please visit our website: www.conservationxlabs.com.

QUALIFICATIONS 

Required:

• 7+ years professional fundraising experience in the areas of foundation relations, high-net worth individuals, government, and corporations as well as proposal writing. 
• Proven track record of securing and managing multiple 6-7 figure grants, gifts, and other funding from philanthropic, government, corporate, and HNW donors.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, leadership abilities, and the ability to interact effectively with CXL team members, partners, board members, prospects, donors, and partners representing a rich mix of talent, disciplines, cultures, and perspectives.
• Ability to understand, interpret, and synthesize complex technological and scientific programmatic information and to communicate effectively and persuasively to funders.
• Knowledge of fundraising techniques including proposal development, prospect identification, program planning, fund solicitation, database management, analytics tools, donor tracking, and social networking and marketing tools .
• Experience managing multi-million dollar  funders and demonstrated ability to formulate complex strategic programs. 
• Experience in using data analytics to drive decision-making, optimize fundraising campaigns, and enhance donor engagement, including experience with Client Relationship Management Software (CRMS), analytical tools, and research.

Preferred:

• Experience with environment, science, health, and technology funders  
• International experience, including work with multilateral and bilateral institutions.
• Experience with impact investors, blended capital.