Development Lead - Prospect Research & New Business Development

Rocky Mountain Institute•New York, NY

5d•$76,030 - $93,707•Remote

About The Position

The Development Lead – Prospect Research and New Business Development leads funder research, prospect development, active pipeline management, and research operations across fundraising verticals, including individuals, foundations, corporate philanthropy, corporate fee-for-service engagement partners, and the public sector. This experienced lead and senior individual-contributor role will assess RMI’s current state, strengthen standards, and help mature the prospect development function. It supports unrestricted and general operating revenue growth by improving how prospects are identified, prioritized, tracked, and advanced; how prospect data is captured and surfaced in Salesforce or related data warehouse and reporting environments; and how AI, automation, and prospect intelligence are used responsibly to support fundraising decisions. The role is part of RMI’s Development & Strategic Engagement team and reports to the Director of New Initiatives & Partnerships (Strategic Services). It can be based anywhere in the continental United States. RMI is remote-ready, with offices available for meetings or focused work. Occasional travel is expected for in-person meetings, retreats, and learning experiences; travel costs are covered. The company provides essential IT equipment, a one-time home technology payment, and a monthly work-from-home/commuter allowance. The salary range is $76,030–$93,707, with an annual bonus target of 5% and eligibility for merit-based increases. RMI states that new hires typically start toward the lower end of the range, depending on experience and alignment with the role’s scope.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
At least 5 years of dedicated experience in prospect research, prospect development, fundraising operations, donor services, advancement services, or a related nonprofit development function.
Familiarity with the Apra Body of Knowledge, Apra-informed ethical research standards, and current prospect development practices.
Experience identifying and qualifying prospects across fundraising verticals, including individuals/HNWIs, family offices, family foundations, donor-advised fund holders, institutional foundations, corporate philanthropy or fee-for-service partners, and public-sector funders.
Experience with prospect research tools and methods, including DonorSearch, WealthX, Foundation Directory/Foundation Center, Relationship Science, Salesforce, screenings, relationship mapping, public records, due diligence, and moves-management support.
Strong data fluency, including Salesforce reports and dashboards, segmentation, data mining, database overlays, data hygiene, pipeline reporting, and the ability to partner on Salesforce or data warehouse improvements.
Experience using or evaluating AI-enabled research tools, workflow automation, data enrichment tools, or vendor systems to improve research speed, accuracy, and decision-making.
Demonstrated analytical, project management, writing, collaboration, and stakeholder-management skills.
Sound judgment with sensitive information; disciplined prioritization; due diligence and judgment; and the ability to build shared ownership of next steps across a matrixed team.
Current, independent authorization to work in the United States without present or future employment visa sponsorship from RMI.

Nice To Haves

Apra membership, training, or equivalent professional development.
Individual giving experience, particularly individual/HNWI research.
Experience in the environmental, climate, or clean energy sector, or an adjacent mission-driven sector.

Responsibilities

Lead and evolve prospect research and prospect development across the revenue portfolio, maintaining centralized prospect lists and pipelines that incorporate inputs from new business development, Program teams, Development staff, events, executive engagement opportunities, and changes in the funding landscape.
Identify, evaluate, and recommend U.S. and global prospects across revenue streams, emphasizing action-ready opportunities with clear capacity, inclination, access, timing, and strategic fit for unrestricted, flexible, general operating, or priority program support.
Apply Apra-informed practices in capacity, inclination, affinity, and readiness analysis; relationship mapping; ethical research; due diligence; reputational judgment; and privacy-conscious documentation.
Own cross-vertical new business development workstreams, including research delivery, reporting, meeting facilitation, accountability tracking, process improvements, and concise prospect briefings with clear next steps.
Manage program-specific and cross-program prospect pipelines, tracking opportunity status, prospect movement, owner accountability, next steps, and follow-up actions.
Conduct pipeline analysis, reporting, and financial pipeline reviews to identify funding gaps, high-potential opportunities, prospects ready for outreach, and actions needed to advance prospects.
Partner with Relationship Managers and program colleagues to prioritize prospects, identify engagement gaps, support follow-up, and elevate recurring or unresolved barriers to Development leadership when needed.
Translate prospect and pipeline data into recommendations for allocating relationship-building time and senior leadership attention, distinguishing useful intelligence from action-ready opportunities.
Steward high-quality prospect and pipeline data in Salesforce, including relationship data, ratings, attribute coding, opportunities, tasks, moves management, prospect status, and next steps.
Partner with Development Operations and data and technology colleagues to improve the prospect research data model in Salesforce or related data warehouse and reporting environments, including fields, tagging, data standards, dashboards, and data-quality checks.
Develop standardized capacity, inclination, affinity, and readiness rating practices; evaluate research resources, datasets, AI applications, automation tools, data enrichment services, and vendor relationships.
Use AI and automation responsibly to reduce duplicative manual work, improve prospect discovery and reporting speed, and support prioritization while maintaining human judgment, documentation quality, privacy safeguards, and ethical review.
Identify, streamline, document, and improve internal processes for research requests, qualification, outreach handoffs, data flow, reporting, and knowledge management.
Promote knowledge-sharing and consistent adoption of prospect research and new business development processes, making tools and workflows practical and tied to fundraising decisions.
Train Development, Strategic Engagement, and Program colleagues on prospect research tools, data practices, and effective partnership with Development; guide staff, contractors, interns, or vendors on repeatable research or data tasks as needed.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
403(b) retirement match with immediate vesting.
Group life, AD&D, and short- and long-term disability coverage.
Optional voluntary life, AD&D, and accident plans.
Health savings or flexible spending accounts.
Fertility and hormonal health support.
Mental health and wellness support.
Comprehensive leaves of absence, including generous parental leave.
Generous paid time off and sick leave.
Paid sabbatical leave.
Regional holidays with at least one extended break in each geography.
Work-from-home and home technology allowances; the description also specifies a one-time home technology payment and monthly work-from-home/commuter allowance.
Learning and development opportunities, including LinkedIn Learning and an annual individual professional development budget.
Potential for bonuses and merit increases.
Discount marketplace, including gym memberships and pet insurance.
Hybrid/remote work options.
Team retreats and geographic meetups.
Rewards and recognition programs.
Travel costs covered for occasional in-person meetings.