Director, Constituent Operations

Jane Goodall Institute•Washington, DC

11d•$110,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global conservation organization founded in 1977 that advances Dr. Jane Goodall’s legacy in 30 offices around the world. The Jane Goodall Institute continues Jane’s vision of inspiring hope and transforming it into action through science driven, technology enabled programs focused on wildlife research and rehabilitation, community-led conservation, and youth engagement. Through the youth program Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, now active in 75 countries around the world and counting, JGI is creating a movement of compassionate people who uphold its mission to create a better world for people, other animals, and our shared environment. Position Summary The Jane Goodall Institute USA seeks a Director of Constituent Operations to lead strategic oversight of JGI’s constituent data ecosystem: the systems, technology, and practices that manage information for donors, members, partners, consumers, and other audiences. Reporting to the VP of Development Marketing and Operations, the Director leads database strategy and modernization, safeguards the quality and confidentiality of constituent data, oversees core development operations functions including gift processing, prospect research, and pipeline/moves management, drives analytics and reporting to enable data-driven decision-making across the organization, and manages a growing constituent operations team. This is a director-level role responsible for translating organizational fundraising and engagement goals into scalable systems architecture, sound data governance, and measurable cost and process efficiencies. The Director partners closely with the VP and cross-functional stakeholders to set technology and data strategy for how JGI understands and engages every constituent, and is accountable for vendor relationships, budget stewardship, and the performance of a direct-report team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree preferred.
10+ years as a revenue or constituent operations professional with progressive responsibility.
Strong proficiency with Salesforce ecosystem (administration, configuration, and architecture) with level of competency and technical depth to govern solutions and vendors;
Prior experience managing or mentoring staff, or clear readiness to step into a people-management role.
Absolute discretion and personal integrity in maintaining a high standard of confidentiality and sensitivity with constituent information.
Experience negotiating and managing vendor relationships and contracts.
Demonstrated success leading major systems migration, redesign, or modernization initiative with measurable cost or efficiency impact.
Familiarity with prospect research practices and moves management/pipeline methodology; experience overseeing gift processing, caging, or cashiering operations a plus.
Proficiency with fundraising and engagement applications such as Salesforce, Engaging Networks, Stripe, PayPal, iWave, Salesforce Maps, etc. Salesforce certification(s) and professional experience with Engaging Networks are a plus
Advanced and accurate word processing and spreadsheet capabilities (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel).
Strong strategic and analytical capacity, with the ability to translate systems and data insight into organizational recommendations for senior leadership.
Successful experience building relationships and driving alignment across multiple diverse teams and all levels of staff.
Committed to driving activity that achieves or exceeds individual and team goals.
Highly organized and capable of prioritizing and managing multiple concurrent projects and stakeholders.
Energetic, self-directed, and detail-oriented, with sound judgment operating in a fast-paced, growing development operation.

Nice To Haves

Commitment to Jane and the Institute’s fundamental belief that every individual has a role to play and is empowered to contribute in an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming professional community.
Experience with conservation, environmental, or other mission-driven nonprofit organizations preferred.

Responsibilities

Set the strategy and standards for constituent data quality across the organization, including duplicate management, record hygiene, NCOA/ECOA processing, and periodic audits.
Establish policies and timelines for data lifecycle management, including standards for engagement scoring and the treatment of non-engaged contacts.
Maintain operational continuity and best in class standards for critical constituent and gift-processing functions, including documented procedures, cross-training, appropriate coverage during staffing or vendor transitions, as well as clean monthly reconciliation in partnership with Finance.
Oversee reconciliation and quality of output from JGI’s outsourced caging and cashiering vendor, ensuring batches balance, exceptions are resolved promptly, and deposits reconcile cleanly to bank and general ledger records.
In partnership with the Specialist of Research and Prospect Management, oversee infrastructure for pipeline and moves management, ensuring gift officer activity, stage progression, and forecasted revenue are tracked accurately and visible to leadership.
Oversee additional fundraising-specific operational functions as assigned (e.g., gift acknowledgment processing, tribute and memorial gift handling), ensuring consistent standards and data integrity across the donor revenue lifecycle.
Lead proactive identification and correction of systemic data or revenue risks (e.g., misaligned recurring gifts, un-synced transactions, broken pipeline or prospect research data) before they impact reporting or donor experience.
Lead business strategy, governance, and technical direction for JGI’s constituent data ecosystem, serving as the senior functional authority for Salesforce and its connected applications in partnership with JGI’s IT team within established enterprise technology and security standards.
Lead major systems initiatives such as platform migrations, architecture redesigns, and legacy system replacements, from business case through implementation, ensuring right-sized licensing and minimal technical debt.
Set data and technology strategy, policies, and long-range roadmaps by evaluating organizational priorities, emerging risk, and industry trends, and translating them into systems that scale with JGI’s growth.
Lead vendor strategy and management across the constituent systems portfolio, holding vendors accountable to cost, performance, and data-integrity standards.
Establish and maintain documented protocols, role-based access controls, and training programs to ensure consistent, secure, best-in-class use of constituent systems organization-wide.
Monitor system functionality, usability, and uptime; lead resolution of complex technical issues in partnership with system users and external partners.
Identify and deliver cost-containment opportunities across the technology stack, bringing a business case and measurable ROI to leadership for major decisions.
Create and manage a suite of standing constituent reports and dashboards, and produce ad hoc analyses as needed, serving as the analytics partner to the VP in producing executive- and board-level reports.
Set list management and data pull policies to ensure accuracy, documentation, and timely delivery across internal teams and external partners.
Champion a culture of data-informed decision-making across JGI through strong user engagement, training, and accessible reporting.
Partner with cross-functional teams on data structure and reporting needs where they intersect with constituent and development systems.
Build, lead, and develop the Constituent Operations team, currently comprising one direct report, with responsibility for assessing and recommending future team capacity and structure in partnership with the VP as organizational needs evolve.
Plan future team structure and hiring in partnership with the VP to match organizational growth and systems complexity.
Model and reinforce a collaborative, accountable team culture, and represent the Constituent Operations function in cross-departmental planning and leadership discussions.