Development Director
Start Date: Immediate
Role Type: Full-time
Title: Development Director
Reports to: Catherine Townes
Location/Travel: Flexible; willingness to travel approximately 1-2 times a quarter
Who We Are
Transcend is a national nonprofit that helps communities reimagine and redesign schools so every young person can thrive in a rapidly changing world. Across the country, communities are recognizing that classrooms built for the industrial age aren’t preparing learners for what’s next. Instead, schools must be designed for continuous evolution: relevant, resilient, and ready for the future. For more than a decade, Transcend has partnered with school and system leaders to build the capacity for bold, lasting change—change led by the people who live it every day. We’ve worked with nearly 500 schools and 200 districts serving over 225,000 students in 35 states. Together, we’ve seen what’s possible when communities lead redesign with proven methods, insight, and support. From that work, we develop and share tools, research, and models that help schools everywhere make the leap to extraordinary learning—for every child, in every community.
For more information, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.
Team Overview
The SPOT Team works to unlock the resources, relationships, and strategic opportunities that fuel Transcend’s mission. The team sits at the intersection of Partnerships, Development, and Revenue Strategy in order to ensure that the right funding, partners, and long-term bets come together in service of extraordinary learning for all.
This work is about more than raising revenue. It is about shaping a coherent, integrated strategy across our revenue functions so that earned, philanthropic, and federal funding efforts reinforce one another and so that our strategy function actively informs where and how we play.
The Opportunity
The Development Director is a strategic fundraising leader who owns relationships with major funders and serves as the primary architect of fundraising strategy for assigned portfolio areas. This role requires deep expertise in translating complex programmatic work into compelling philanthropic opportunities, building and stewarding senior funder relationships, and serving as a trusted internal partner to portfolio Managing Partners and senior leadership. The Development Partner operates at the intersection of strategy, relationship management, and content development—setting direction for fundraising efforts while ensuring high-quality execution and strong cross-functional collaboration.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Fundraising Leadership
- Hold primary responsibility for fundraising strategy across 2–3 assigned portfolio areas (e.g., literacy, math, Career-Connected Learning, etc).
- Translate portfolio strategy into clear, compelling funder strategies that align philanthropic goals with organizational priorities.
- Synthesize signals from funders, the education field, and internal stakeholders into strategic bets.
- Proactively identify and pursue new funding opportunities aligned with organizational strategy and portfolio needs.
- Coordinate with other team members to maximize funding impact.
- Monitor funder websites and announcement channels (ie newsletter) for relevant updates, deadlines, and opportunities.
Funder Relationship Management
- Own senior funder relationships within assigned portfolios.
- Build a deep understanding of funder priorities, decision-making processes, and organizational culture to inform engagement strategy.
- Manage the full lifecycle of funder engagement: cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal.
- Lead most external funder meetings - providing strategic updates, cultivating relationships, and positioning new opportunities.
- Navigate complex funder dynamics and serve as the primary point of contact for senior program officers and foundation leadership.
Internal Partnership & Collaboration
- Act as a trusted thought partner to senior leaders and portfolio heads — the teams leading direct, on-the-ground engagement with school partners.
- Align with team leadership, org leadership, and portfolio leadership on funding priorities, opportunity packaging, and strategic tradeoffs.
- Facilitate effective communication and collaboration between Development, program teams, and Finance to ensure alignment on budgets and deliverables.
- Brief internal stakeholders on funder context, preferences, and sensitivities to inform decision-making, program strategy, and communications.
Content Development & Quality Control
- Co-create, create, and at times, provide feedback on a range of development of written materials for funding opportunities, including (but not limited to) concept notes, proposals, reports, and meeting prep, and make sure they are compelling, accurate, aligned with funder priorities, and reflect organizational tone and messaging.
- Set direction and provide substantive content guidance to team members for proposals, concept notes, reports, and funder materials.
- Translate complex programmatic information and portfolio updates into accessible, persuasive narratives for diverse funder audiences.
- Ensure consistency and excellence across all written funder communications.
- Assemble basic slide decks from templates for funder presentations.
Pipeline Management & Operations
- Ensure high-quality pipeline hygiene and accurate revenue forecasting for assigned portfolios (in partnership with team operations / admin support).
- Maintain up-to-date information in Salesforce/CRM on funder contacts, opportunities, next steps, and cultivation status (in partnership with team operations / admin support).
- Track progress toward revenue goals and proactively adjust strategy to address gaps or capitalize on opportunities.
- Participate in Development team planning and forecasting processes, providing realistic projections based on relationship status and external conditions.
- Prospect research when needed
Examples of some of the work you might undertake can be found here.
Who You Are
Required Experience & Skills
- Experience in nonprofit fundraising, with significant experience leading institutional giving
- Demonstrated success in building and stewarding relationships with foundation program officers and trustees, with a track record of securing 6- and 7-figure gifts
- Strong strategic thinking skills with the ability to translate complex programmatic work into compelling philanthropic opportunities
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to craft and refine persuasive narratives for diverse audiences
- Experience managing multiple priorities, building cultivation plans, and working cross-functionally with program and leadership teams
- Proven ability to meet or exceed ambitious revenue goals through strategic relationship management
- Deep familiarity with fundraising operations including pipeline management, proposal development, and funder reporting
- Comfort with data, forecasting, and using CRM systems (Salesforce and Notion experience strongly preferred)
- Navigating ambiguity, complexity, shifting priorities
- Comfort with being proactive, advocating for clarity, and operating with both autonomy and agency
- Demonstrated executive presence with the ability to communicate complex or sensitive information clearly and confidently to senior leadership, boards, and cross-functional stakeholders, building trust and credibility at all levels of the organization
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in education philanthropy or K-12 education reform
- Experience managing or mentoring junior fundraising staff
Application & Hiring Process
We review applications on a rolling basis and are committed to a thoughtful and people-centered hiring experience that helps candidates feel what it’s like to work at Transcend. Here’s what you can expect if you are selected to move forward:
- Initial interview with the team via Zoom to learn more about your interest and experiences. A note on compensation: during your initial interview with the team, we will confirm your location and accompanying salary range. *More on how we determine this is below.
- Try-on activity to engage in a role-aligned exercise. This helps us get a sense of how you approach the work and gives you a feel for what the role might be like.
- Interview with the hiring manager, where we’d debrief the try-on task and engage in some scenarios you are likely to encounter in the role.
- Interview with the team, where you will meet with a small group of Transcend teammates with whom you would most likely collaborate in the role.
- Final interview with our Chief Products Officer.
- Reference checks to learn more about your superpowers and working style.
Salary
As a national team, we apply a cost-of-labor adjustment by adjusting salaries into 3 geographical bands (geo-band) in order to offer competitive compensation for all employees across the US. These geo-bands help us tailor compensation appropriately based on the specific location of each teammate. Below are the three salary geo-bands for this role, and we will confirm the individual range for your location during this initial interview, if you move forward in the process.
- Geo Comp 1: Currently Includes: NYC metro area, CA Bay Area, Boston City, LA City, Washington, D.C, Seattle $156,000 - $186,000
- Geo Comp 2: Currently includes locations such as: San Diego; New Haven, CT; Ventura, CA $148,200 - $176,700
- Geo Comp 3: Currently Includes: Most other US locations $140,400 - $167,400
A Few Nuts & Bolts
We are an experienced team focused on extraordinary learning for all. We welcome candidates who are passionate about ensuring that all students thrive. We are also committed to providing our colleagues with a competitive benefits package and offer medical, dental, and vision coverage options, org-wide holidays, paid time off, paid parental leave, professional development opportunities, and fully remote work. We take pride in our collaborative environment, exceptional team, and shared commitment to principled, impactful work.
We look forward to learning more about you!