Managing Director, Business Development, National Corporate Partnerships

Teach For America • CA - California, CA

2d • $90,000 - $139,300 • Remote

About The Position

We are looking for a Managing Director, Business Development to lead Teach For America's pursuit of new national corporate partnerships and to build the next generation of corporate partnerships that fund Teach For America's mission. In this role, you will set the vision, strategy, and pipeline that fuel our corporate business development engine, and you will personally lead the cultivation and closing of six- and seven-figure new corporate partnerships that advance TFA's mission.
The ideal candidate will be energized by the blank-page work of business development. You find where TFA's mission intersects a company's priorities, design partnership models that don't yet exist, and build the case that moves a prospect from cold to closed. You are at ease with senior corporate leaders, from C-suite executives to heads of CSR and corporate foundations, and you translate those relationships into meaningful, mission-aligned investments. You bring a sharp strategic mind, deep fluency in the corporate philanthropy landscape, and a proven track record of closing new business at scale. You will be equally comfortable in the boardroom and in the weeds of a prospect pipeline. You bring curiosity and openness to how emerging technologies — particularly AI — can accelerate your work, and you approach these tools with fluency, critical thinking, and a strong ethical grounding.
The goal is to secure new, high-value corporate partnerships that expand TFA's national revenue base and deepen our long-term financial sustainability. For the current fiscal year, the team charge will be between $3M-$5M in new money.

Requirements

• Ability to build and manage a high-performing corporate business development function, from strategy through execution.
• Expertise in the corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and/or corporate partnerships landscape.
• Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to identify, prioritize, and pursue high-value opportunities.
• Proficient in senior-level relationship management, including engaging with C-suite executives and corporate foundation leaders.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including proposal writing, executive briefings, and pitch delivery.
• Rigorous project and pipeline management skills, with the ability to move complex opportunities through long sales cycles.
• Strong people management skills and ability to develop direct reports.
• Deep commitment to TFA's mission, values, and commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness.
• Bachelor's degree required.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office; experience with Salesforce required.
• Curiosity and openness to emerging technologies — including AI tools — with the fluency, critical thinking, and ethical grounding to explore, evaluate, and responsibly apply them in daily work.

Nice To Haves

• At least 7 years of fundraising experience, business development, or strategic partnerships experience with a strong track record of closing six- and seven-figure gifts or deals.
• Prior management experience, including managing to ambitious revenue goals.
• Experience in the education sector or in mission-driven nonprofit fundraising.
• Experience navigating complex, national organizations with matrixed local and central teams.
• CFRE (Certified Fund-Raising Executive) certification, MBA, or other advanced degree preferred.
• Travel up to 3–4x per quarter for internal and external meetings.
• Occasional evening and weekend work required to support high-stakes cultivation and solicitation activities.
• Best-in-class client service orientation and follow-through.
• Ability to be entrepreneurial and flexible in a fast-paced, results-oriented culture.
• Strong ability to influence others toward outcomes without direct authority.
• Positive, can-do approach and ability to bring hopefulness and optimism to the team.
• Prior experience integrating AI tools into fundraising, sales, communications, research, or knowledge management workflows.

Responsibilities

• Set the annual and multi-year strategy for new corporate revenue, including national goals, target sectors, and priority prospect lists.
• Build and maintain the business development team's infrastructure, KPIs, and workflow management processes.
• Develop annual priorities and tactics that grow TFA's corporate revenue base and align to organizational fundraising goals.
• Lead the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and closing of new national corporate partners, with a focus on six- and seven-figure opportunities.
• Serve as primary strategist and central relationship manager for prospective corporate partners across the pipeline.
• Serve as the primary external representative of TFA to prospective corporate funders, including C-suite leaders, corporate foundation executives, and heads of CSR/ESG functions.
• Manage a personal portfolio of high-priority prospects, ensuring rigorous move management from qualification through close.
• Oversee the transition of newly closed partners to the Account Management sub-team to ensure a best-in-class donor experience.
• Forge and foster deep partnerships with regional fundraising teams and national colleagues to build mutually beneficial pursuit strategies that reflect national and regional priorities.
• Leverage TFA's network of national and regional board members, senior leaders, and program teams to open doors and advance prospects.
• Contribute to enterprise-wide development mindsets and donor-centered strategies across TFA.
• Lead complex, cross-functional project management to move prospects through the pipeline and deliver on partnership commitments.
• Explore, develop, and responsibly apply AI tools to strengthen prospect research, pipeline management, proposal development, and internal workflows — modeling curious, ethical, and critically-minded use of emerging technology for the sub-team and the broader NCPT.
• Manage and develop your direct report (for our current fiscal year this will likely mean managing one Director on the Business Development sub-team) toward their annual new-revenue goals.
• Onboard, coach, and empower direct reports to grow as professional fundraisers and to meet their pipeline and revenue targets.
• Build an equitable and inclusive sub-team culture within Business Development that reflects TFA's core values.
• Support the professional growth and long-term trajectory of direct reports.
• Contribute to a collective culture of excellence, teamwork, Core Values leadership, and commitment to DEI on the NCPT, National Development Team, and across the organization.
• Participate in special projects (e.g., economic model sprints, cross-team initiatives such as the Lead Now Fund).
• Step into leadership and facilitation opportunities at the Development team and organization level.
• Speak with respect and courage when necessary to improve processes, culture, and mindsets aligned to TFA's Foundations and Core Values.

Benefits

• The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost-of-labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the minimum and the salary range, depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director