Associate Director, Development Operations

African Wildlife Foundation

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Development Operations, provides leadership for AWF’s Data Services and Prospect Research functions and serves as a key systems partner to fundraising teams across the organization. Rooted in deep expertise in data services, CRM systems, analytics, and prospect research, this role strengthens how donor data and insights are generated, governed, and applied to support effective fundraising across all donor segments. In addition, the role brings a strong working understanding of broader development operations functions, such as stewardship, events, and development communications, to help improve alignment, coordination, and intentionality across fundraising support functions, even where those functions sit outside the Design & Data Services Department. Over time, and subject to organizational alignment, the role may support the gradual integration of selected development operations functions into the department. The ideal candidate is a strategic and systems-oriented leader who can translate complex data into actionable insights, improve cross-functional workflows, and lead high-performing teams in a collaborative, matrixed fundraising environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
7–9 years of progressive experience in development operations, advancement services, or nonprofit data management.
Minimum of 3 years of experience managing direct reports and leading multi-functional teams.
Deep expertise in CRM systems, data analytics, and visualization tools.
A strategic thinker and solutions-oriented leader with exceptional interpersonal communication, organizational, and prioritization skills.
Proven ability to act as an integrator who can communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to work in a cross-cultural environment.

Nice To Haves

advanced degree or relevant certifications (e.g., PMP) preferred.

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior integration and coordination point between Data Services, Prospect Research, and AWF’s fundraising departments (including Individual Giving, Institutional Partnerships, and Principal Giving), ensuring that data systems, research outputs, and operational practices are aligned with fundraising priorities and donor engagement strategies.
Enable and continuously improve cross-functional development operations workflows by strengthening how donor data, prospect research, stewardship information, and engagement data flow across teams and systems throughout the donor lifecycle.
Collaborate with senior leadership, including leaders for Fundraising, Finance, and Business Operations, to provide data-informed insights that support planning, prioritization, and long-term fundraising effectiveness, without duplicating line management or departmental ownership.
Oversee and ensure the integrity, security, and cleanliness of the donor database (CRM).
Oversee and ensure the development of robust reporting frameworks and dashboards to track KPIs, donor retention, pipelines, cash flow projections, and campaign progress.
Ensure data products are usable and actionable across fundraising, stewardship, events, finance, and grant management workflows.
Proactively monitor market trends to implement best practices in CRM utilization and automation.
Increase team capacity by actively contributing to complex CRM configuration, reporting design, and data analysis tasks, modeling best practices, and transferring practical skills through hands-on collaboration and coaching.
Oversee and ensure that research efforts align with fundraisers' objectives to maximize out-comes from major and principal gift solicitation cycles.
Support fundraising teams and their leadership in assessing pipeline health to ensure that data-driven lead generation drives an effective portfolio and pipeline strategy.
Ensure donor research and pipeline support are provided to fundraising teams across all do-nor segments (individual, legacy, principal, corporate, foundations, public) and help build/feed pipeline growth, in addition to refining portfolios to maximize return on investments.
Strengthen team capacity by personally contributing to high-value prospect research, portfolio reviews, and pipeline analysis at critical moments, setting quality standards and mentoring staff through real-time, applied work.
Support greater coherence and intentionality across development operations functions by promoting shared standards, clear interfaces, and effective use of donor data across departments.
Provide strategic support to the integration of stewardship, events, and engagement data into AWF’s CRM ecosystem, ensuring that information generated by these functions is captured consistently and can be leveraged for donor strategy, portfolio management, and future engagement. In coordination with the Director of Design & Data Services and fundraising leaders contribute to the evolution of AWF’s development operations model over time.
Develop organizational and team capacity by directly supporting priority development operations initiatives (e.g., stewardship data integration, events workflows, cross-team process design), using hands-on involvement to test, refine, and embed scalable practice.
Directly manage and mentor a diverse team, currently including the Data Services Manager, Prospect Research Manager, and Development Data Analyst.
Foster a culture of service, excellence, professional development, and cross-functional col-laboration.
Conduct regular performance reviews and provide strategic guidance on team and individual work plans.
May assume additional supervisory responsibility subject to organizational alignment and fu-ture resourcing decisions.