Development Director

Sobrato Early Academic La • Milpitas, CA

10d • $0 - $183,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

SEAL is entering an important phase of growth as we advance our strategic plan, expand our reach and influence, and build a more diversified and sustainable revenue model. The Development Director is a senior leader responsible for translating SEAL’s fundraising strategy into disciplined execution and measurable revenue growth. Reporting to the Head Development & External Relations Officer (HDERO), the Director will lead the day-to-day execution of SEAL’s development strategy, helping grow and diversify philanthropic revenue across institutional, individual, corporate and emerging funding opportunities. The Development Director will build and actively manage SEAL’s diversified fundraising pipeline; advance cultivation and stewardship strategies; move new funding opportunities forward; and strengthen the systems, processes, and data needed to support effective fundraising and reliable revenue forecasting. Working closely with the HDERO, President/Executive Director, SEAL Leadership Team, Development team, Finance, Programs, Impact & Learning (I&L), Marketing & Communications, the Director will help build a strong organization-wide culture of philanthropy and position SEAL for long-term growth. The Director will provide strategic and operational leadership across the development function, establishing strong fundraising practices, clear priorities, effective workflows, and accountability for results. During the current phase of SEAL’s organizational development, Development & External Relations staff report directly to the HDERO. This hybrid position is based in California. You will work from home and in the field, with the expectation to travel domestically 30-40% throughout the year.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressively responsible nonprofit fundraising or development experience, including experience leading significant fundraising initiatives or portfolios.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing fundraising strategies that generate measurable revenue growth.
• Experience managing a diversified fundraising portfolio that includes institutional philanthropy and meaningful experience with individual and/or corporate giving.
• Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant philanthropic relationships across institutional, individual, and/or corporate philanthropy, including experience securing significant investments.
• Experience building and actively managing fundraising pipelines, moves-management strategies, and revenue forecasts.
• Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to engage effectively with institutional funders, individual donors, corporate leaders, Board members, executives, and other senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, coordinate the work of others, establish accountability, and advance complex initiatives across teams.
• Strong strategic planning and project management skills, with demonstrated ability to translate strategy into clear priorities, work plans, ownership, timelines, and results.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex programmatic work into compelling philanthropic opportunities.
• Strong analytical skills and demonstrated ability to use fundraising data, CRM systems (Salesforce preferred) , and performance indicators to inform decisions and improve results.
• Experience collaborating effectively across program, research, finance, communications, and executive teams.
• Demonstrated judgment, initiative, accountability, and ability to operate effectively in a growing and evolving organization.
• Deep commitment to SEAL’s mission and improving educational opportunities and outcomes for multilingual learners.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in education, educational equity, philanthropy, or another mission-driven field relevant to SEAL’s work.
• Experience developing corporate partnerships or corporate philanthropy programs.
• Experience engaging and activating nonprofit Boards in fundraising and relationship development.
• Strong knowledge of philanthropic trends and the broader funding landscape.
• Experience helping an organization build or mature its fundraising infrastructure during a period of growth or organizational change.
• Experience supervising, coaching, or developing development professionals.
• Familiarity with project management systems such as Monday.com.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the HDERO to operationalize SEAL’s multi-year fundraising strategy and annual revenue goals.
• Translate fundraising priorities and revenue goals established with the HDERO into annual and quarterly fundraising plans, portfolio targets, activities, and measurable outcomes.
• Build and actively manage a diversified fundraising pipeline across institutional, individual, and corporate philanthropy.
• Identify, qualify, prioritize, and advance prospective funders and donors aligned with SEAL’s strategic priorities and opportunities for impact.
• Develop cultivation and solicitation strategies for priority prospects, including relationship owners, next steps, ask amounts, timelines, and engagement strategies.
• Regularly assess pipeline health, probability, timing, and risk and develop revenue forecasts and recommendations for review with the HDERO and organizational leadership.
• Use philanthropic trends, market intelligence, funder priorities, and development data to identify emerging opportunities and recommend fundraising approaches and opportunities.
• Partner with organizational leaders to develop compelling funding opportunities and cases for support that connect SEAL’s impact and strategic priorities with funder, donor and corporate partner interests.
• Identify and advance opportunities for larger, multi-year philanthropic investments that support SEAL’s long-term sustainability and growth.
• Drive implementation of SEAL’s cultivation and stewardship strategy across the development portfolio, in partnership with the HDERO.
• Manage a portfolio of priority funders, donors, corporate partners, and prospects, building authentic relationships that lead to increased engagement, renewal, and investment.
• Develop differentiated cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies based on funder and donor interests, relationship history, funding cycles, and organizational priorities.
• Ensure priority funders, donors, corporate prospects and prospects have clear relationship strategies, ownership, next actions, and timelines.
• Prepare the HDERO, President/Executive Director, Board members, and other organizational leaders for funder and donor meetings, solicitations, and stewardship opportunities.
• Develop funder and donor briefings, meeting strategies, talking points, recommended asks, and follow-up plans for priority relationships.
• Identify opportunities to deepen existing relationships and grow philanthropic investment over time.
• Partner with Marketing & Communications to develop funder- and donor-facing communications, impact stories, cases for support, and stewardship materials.
• Help design and execute strategic cultivation and stewardship opportunities, including briefings, gatherings, convenings, and other engagement activities.
• Build strong, trusted relationships with philanthropic partners and serve as an effective external representative of SEAL on development and fundraising priorities.
• Provide strategic oversight of SEAL’s institutional giving portfolio, working closely with the Senior Grants Manager, who manages the grants lifecycle, proposal development, reporting, and grant compliance.
• Identify and advance opportunities to grow and diversify SEAL’s institutional funding base, including larger, multi-year investments.
• Partner with the Senior Grants Manager and organizational leaders to shape funding strategies and position SEAL competitively for institutional opportunities.
• Advance and execute SEAL’s individual giving strategy, including identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major donor prospects.
• Support the HDERO in activating Board members as philanthropic ambassadors, connectors, cultivators, and stewards.
• Develop prospect research, briefings, relationship strategies, talking points, and follow-up plans that enable Board and executive leaders to effectively advance priority relationships.
• Execute and grow SEAL’s corporate philanthropy strategy, identifying companies and corporate leaders whose interests align with SEAL’s mission and strategic priorities.
• Develop opportunities for corporate engagement that extend beyond transactional sponsorships and support long-term relationships and investment.
• Explore emerging philanthropic partnerships and funding models that support SEAL’s strategic growth and expanding reach.
• Ensure institutional, individual, and corporate fundraising strategies operate as an integrated portfolio rather than as separate fundraising activities.
• Establish and maintain disciplined development systems and operating practices that support effective fundraising execution and organizational decision-making.
• Own the integrity and day-to-day management of SEAL’s development pipeline and forecasting processes, ensuring leadership has timely and reliable information about expected philanthropic revenue, opportunities, risks, and next actions.
• Ensure Salesforce serves as a reliable source of record for funders, donors, corporate partners, prospects, opportunities, relationship activity, pipeline stage, and revenue forecasting.
• Establish and maintain clear standards for pipeline management, moves management, portfolio stages, data quality, stewardship tracking, and development reporting.
• Lead regular pipeline and portfolio reviews to assess progress, identify opportunities and risks, and determine next actions.
• Develop and maintain fundraising dashboards and performance indicators that provide the HDERO and organizational leadership with visibility into fundraising performance, forecasted revenue, pipeline health, retention and renewal, and progress toward goals.
• Partner with Finance to reconcile fundraising data, monitor restricted and unrestricted philanthropic revenue, and strengthen revenue forecasting.
• Partner with the Development Coordinator to ensure accurate and timely funder, donor, corporate partner, prospect, opportunity, and relationship data.
• Lead implementation and continuous improvement of development workflows, standard operating procedures, portfolio management practices, and team operating rhythms.
• Use fundraising data and performance indicators to evaluate strategies, identify gaps, and recommend adjustments.
• Ensure development work is appropriately planned, documented, assigned, and tracked through SEAL’s project management systems.
• Promote consistent adoption of Salesforce and development operating practices across the Development team and with cross-functional partners involved in fundraising activities.
• Provide day-to-day functional leadership and coordination across SEAL’s development priorities, establishing clear work plans, responsibilities, timelines, and accountability.
• Partner with the HDERO to establish an effective operating cadence for development, including pipeline reviews, portfolio strategy, work planning, and progress reporting.
• Serve as a senior resource and thought partner to Development team members, helping remove barriers, strengthen execution, and advance fundraising priorities.
• Foster a collaborative working environment that balances strategic thinking, strong relationship management, disciplined execution, and accountability for results.
• Under the strategic direction of the HDERO, coordinate cross-functional development initiatives.
• Partner across departments, and executive leadership to identify and develop compelling philanthropic opportunities.
• Establish clear cross-functional roles, deliverables, and timelines for proposals, reports, funder and donor engagement, events, and other fundraising priorities.
• Establish clear cross-functional workflows for funder requests requiring programmatic information, organizational data, research, evidence, or financial information, ensuring needs, ownership, timelines, and contributions are identified early and aligned with each team’s expertise.
• Partner with Impact & Learning (I&L) to appropriately incorporate SEAL impact data, research, evidence, and analysis into funder-facing materials, while maintaining Development’s accountability for managing and completing the funder deliverable.
• Anticipate cross-functional dependencies, information needs, and capacity constraints early; identify requests requiring significant new research, analysis, data collection or other staff capacity; surface risks and competing priorities for leadership alignment when needed.
• Strengthen communication and coordination between Development and other organizational functions.
• Help build organization-wide understanding of fundraising priorities and cultivate a shared culture of philanthropy.
• Provide HDERO with regular visibility into development priorities, progress, risks, capacity, and opportunities requiring leadership decisions or intervention.
• Building and developing relationships with SEAL stakeholders
• Supporting the onboarding and development of new team members

Benefits

• 100% coverage for employee medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D, long and short-term disability benefits.
• 50% coverage for dependent(s) for medical, dental and vision benefits.
• Up to 6% 401(k) matching.
• Medical/Dependent Care FSA.
• Self-Care Program
• Professional Development
• Telecommuting Ergonomics Program.
• 20 days of PTO/year.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed