Managing Director, Prospect Management & Research

Teach For America • Bentonville, AR

1d • $90,000 - $144,800 • Remote

About The Position

We are looking for a candidate who is excited to shape how prospect strategy, research, and portfolio management drive fundraising outcomes across a complex, national organization. This role sits at the center of fundraising effectiveness, helping teams focus on the right donors at the right time with clear, data-informed strategy. The ideal candidate will be passionate about translating information into action and will bring strong judgment, curiosity, and a consultative approach to partnership with frontline fundraisers. You will work closely with fundraising leaders to turn data and research into clear recommendations - guiding prioritization, strengthening portfolio discipline, and elevating how insights inform decision-making across the organization. The goal of this role is to ensure that research and prospect management consistently lead to focused portfolios, stronger pipelines, and more effective fundraising action.

Requirements

• 7+ years of related experience in prospect development, fundraising intelligence, prospect and donor research, prospect management, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated ability to translate data and research into clear strategy and recommendations
• Experience working in complex, matrixed, or geographically distributed organizations
• Strong strategic thinking and judgment, with the ability to prioritize and make decisions in ambiguous situations
• Experience influencing stakeholders and building strong, trust-based relationships
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and drive work forward without perfect information
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and ability to incorporate multiple perspectives into decision-making

Nice To Haves

• Experience in higher education, healthcare philanthropy, or other large-scale fundraising environments
• Experience leading or significantly shaping prospect management or portfolio strategy practices
• Familiarity with CRM systems (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics) and prospect research tools
• Experience leveraging data or AI tools to enhance analysis and workflow efficiency
• Prior people management experience

Responsibilities

• Set the vision and lead the Prospect Management and Research functions (30%)
• Define and drive a clear vision for prospect strategy, research, and portfolio management that strengthens fundraising outcomes
• Manage and coach a team of three, building a culture of strategic thinking, proactive partnership, and continuous improvement
• Align team priorities, workflows, and service model to organizational fundraising goals
• Serve as a strategic thought partner, advocate, and champion for the Prospect Management and Research functions across FundOps and Development leadership
• Lead and evolve prospect management practices (25%)
• Strengthen portfolio strategy across the organization, including portfolio sizing, prioritization, and clear distinctions between portfolio and pipeline
• Define and codify prospect management policies and frameworks (e.g., entry, sunsetting, disqualification, engagement expectations) that drive consistency and focus
• Establish a clear moves management approach grounded in data and current-state analysis, helping teams understand how and when prospects should progress or sunset
• Design and support portfolio reviews that focus on decision-making and prioritization, not just data cleanup
• Apply and reinforce prospect assignment and management policies with consistency
• Drive prospect analysis and prioritization at scale (20%)
• Identify patterns across portfolios (e.g., capacity gaps, stalled prospects, upgrade opportunities) and translate these into strategic insights
• Guide the development of analysis and outputs that help fundraisers prioritize the highest-value opportunities across pipelines
• Ensure the team’s work connects individual research requests to broader portfolio and organizational strategy
• Build and scale a consultative partnership model with frontline fundraising teams (15%)
• Coach and enable the team to serve as strategic thought partners to fundraisers, moving beyond transactional research support
• Establish norms and expectations for how the team engages with stakeholders, including asking strategic questions and tailoring insights to fundraising goals
• Ensure team outputs synthesize research into clear, decision-ready insights that help fundraisers interpret information and determine how to act
• Establish systems and norms that ensure prospect insights are consistently captured, connected, and reused, enabling cumulative learning and reducing duplication across teams
• Build strong, trusted relationships with fundraising leaders to reinforce the team’s role as a strategic partner and advisor
• Leverage technology and AI to enhance insight and efficiency (10%)
• Identify and implement ways to use technology and AI to accelerate analysis and surface insights
• Help establish best practices for effective and responsible use of emerging tools
• Shift team focus from manual research toward higher-value synthesis and strategy
• Continuously assess current databases and new products in the prospect development space to maximize effectiveness and efficiencies

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.
• New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role.
• Teach For America is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

What This Job Offers

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