Associate Director, Planned Giving

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) - United States•New York, NY

4h•Hybrid

About The Position

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international organization that provides medical care to people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, disasters, and social exclusion in more than 70 countries. MSF USA is one of 24 sections supporting the global movement, primarily through staff recruitment, fundraising, advocacy, and communications. The Associate Director, Planned Giving is a frontline fundraising leader and people manager, reporting to the Director of Planned Giving. This role provides day-to-day strategic leadership and coaching for the Planned Gift Officer team, while actively managing a select portfolio of complex or high-priority donor relationships. The position aims to strengthen portfolio discipline, prospecting consistency, donor experience, and overall performance, ensuring strong results and thoughtful pipeline development. It is a highly cross-functional role, partnering with various internal teams and external vendors to streamline donor journeys and expand complex giving opportunities, fostering clarity, confidence, and shared accountability within the Planned Giving team and across the organization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and significant professional fundraising experience, including planned giving/legacy giving, leadership giving, major gifts, or closely related work.
Demonstrated experience managing and coaching frontline fundraisers, including performance management, forecasting, and accountability.
Proven ability to build trusted donor relationships and close gifts, including navigating sensitive conversations related to values, family, and long-term goals.
Working knowledge of charitable giving vehicles and the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and confidently to donors.
Strong collaboration skills and experience improving systems or processes in partnership with cross-functional teams.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially including donor-facing communications.
High discretion with confidential information and a clear commitment to MSF’s mission and values, including diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with external vendors or consultants and navigating internal stakeholders.
Comfort using fundraising databases and performance data to inform strategy and manage portfolios.
Professional credentials in philanthropy or gift planning, such as CAP® (Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy), CSPG (Certified Specialist in Planned Giving), or a comparable credential, or a demonstrated commitment to pursuing advanced training in Planned giving.

Responsibilities

Pursue strategic opportunities in coherence with MSF USA´s strategy, that create long-term value for the movement by identifying and developing new audience segments or donors for its mission.
Build trust and loyalty with potential and existing donors, updating them on activities and building long-term relationships with key donors and donor segments.
Take responsibility for designing, developing, and delivering the donor engagement strategy.
Secure reliable, sustainable and efficient resources in alignment with MSF USA commitments.
Drive awareness and consideration through brand positioning based on the brand strategy and implement brand plans.
Deploy and champion the latest technological systems and capabilities that push the boundaries of what Development can produce for its donors.
Identify, communicate, and lead the function's strategy and action plan within a business area or department, explaining its ties to MSF’s mission, vision, and values.
Inspire and motivate others to drive commitment and achieve extraordinary results.
Use the organization's formal development framework to identify the team's individual development needs and plan/implement actions, including continuing professional development.
Provide informal training or coaching to others throughout the organization in own area of expertise to enable improved performance and personal potential.
Manage and develop important donor relationships with guidance from senior colleagues and/or manage an account team delivering day-to-day support.
Spot potential improvements in existing business practices and bring forward innovative solutions, developing and delivering these projects within the organization's change management program.
Develop tactical plans for optimizing resources and assets being managed within a given area or department.
Directly supervise the Planned Gift Officer team, providing strategic direction, coaching, and accountability related to portfolio management, prospecting, and donor experience.
Oversee project-based work by vendors or consultants supporting planned gift prospecting, stewardship, or gift-planning initiatives, in coordination with the program lead.