Senior Director of Development

About Room to Grow

At Room to Grow we believe that strong starts in childhood lead to strong outcomes in life and that parents and caregivers are best equipped to nurture their childrens growth and development when they have the support they need to thrive. We partner with families during the critical early years (ages 0-3) through our unique strengths-based program working alongside parents to offer consistent personalized support and resources to meet their childs needs and goals.

Room to Grow is a non-profit organization operating in New York and Boston with a team of 40 passionate and dedicated team members. Check out our website to learn more about us!

Position Summary

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer the Senior Director of Development is the senior day-to-day leader of Room to Grows External Engagement function responsible for ensuring the team systems and workstreams are aligned to support the organizations fundraising visibility and growth goals. Working closely with the CEO this role leads a cross-functional team spanning individual giving institutional and corporate partnerships events development operations and brand and communications and is accountable for strong team management clear priorities and consistent execution across all external engagement efforts.

The Senior Director oversees the implementation of integrated fundraising and communications strategies that drive growth across multiple revenue streams and elevate Room to Grows brand and close partnership with the CEO this role also serves as a key advisor in shaping overarching external engagement strategy helping translate high-level organizational priorities into clear departmental direction while ensuring functional leads are meaningfully engaged in informing and refining strategy within their respective areas. This role is responsible for building the structure accountability and operational discipline needed to support strong fundraising results and sustainable growth.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative and experienced people leader with strong interpersonal communication and relationship-building skills and a track record of leading high-performing teams across multiple functions. They bring demonstrated fundraising and external engagement experience strong operational and coordination skills and the ability to build the structure systems and accountability needed to support effective execution in a growing organization. This is a critical leadership role that will collaborate closely with program finance operations people & culture and the CEO to advance organizational goals.

Position Responsibilities

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Leadership & People Management (35%)

• Provide day-to-day leadership coaching and development for a cross-functional team of six direct reports with overall responsibility for the performance alignment and success of a ten-person External Engagement department (9 FTE 1 PT).
• Cultivate a collaborative and accountable team culture ensuring team members consistently demonstrate Room to Grows values in their work and across all fundraising and communications efforts.
• Set clear performance expectations provide consistent and actionable feedback and conduct regular check-ins and performance reviews to support staff growth and goal attainment.
• Partner with the People & Culture team to support hiring onboarding professional development and performance management practices across the department.
• Represent Room to Grow internally and externally with professionalism passion and a strong grounding in our mission values and impact.

External Engagement Strategy Execution & Oversight (30%)

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO in shaping overarching fundraising brand & communications priorities helping translate organizational goals into clear actionable plans for the External Engagement team across all revenue streams.
• Act as a key bridge between the CEO and External Engagement functional leads (Brand & Communications Events Individual Giving Institutional Giving Partnerships). Ensure frontline insights and function-specific expertise inform broader strategy discussions while maintaining alignment with organizational priorities.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and cross-functional oversight across all External Engagement functions ensuring team efforts are integrated well-coordinated and aligned with organizational goals and department priorities.
• Support functional leads as a thought partner and resource reinforcing best practices and promoting consistent effective execution through planning problem-solving and decision-making.
• Partner with the CEO and other senior leaders on multi-year revenue projections and fundraising goal-setting across all streams.
• Support the Brand & Communications function in advancing communication efforts that strengthen Room to Grows visibility brand and fundraising goals.
• May maintain a limited portfolio of high-priority individual institutional or corporate relationships with a focus on stewarding select partnerships that are strategic to the organizations growth and leadership fundraising efforts.
• In support of a small collaborative team provide flexible leadership and occasional hands-on support across functions as needed to ensure continuity during staff absences transitions or other key organizational moments.
• Partner closely with the Managing Director Boston & Organizational Success to align cross-regional fundraising strategy coordinate on multi-year revenue planning and support Leadership Council management and Board engagement. Ensure fundraising activities in all regions are well-integrated with the broader External Engagement strategy.
• Collaborate with the Manager External Engagement on cross-functional special projects affinity group strategy peer-to-peer fundraising donor pipeline development and team operations.

Fundraising Performance (20%)

• Lead a department accountable for the fundraising and brand activities that sustain Room to Grows approximately $6M annual operating budget with revenue generated across individual giving institutional and corporate partnerships events and peer-to-peer initiatives. Specific multi-year revenue targets and growth goals will be set in partnership with the CEO and Board.
• Establish and maintain team-wide KPIs and systems for tracking reporting and optimizing performance across all revenue streams.
• Provide regular performance updates to the CEO and Board of Directors translating fundraising data into clear insights and recommendations.
• Hold team leads accountable for performance against revenue goals providing guidance and course correction to ensure strong execution across all External Engagement functions.

Operations & Infrastructure (15%)

• Oversee fundraising operations systems and workflows to support strong execution donor stewardship data integrity and cross-functional coordination.
• Develop and manage the External Engagement expense budget allocating resources effectively across functions and initiatives.
• Ensure data-driven decision-making and high standards of donor data integrity across the teams use of Salesforce and related systems.
• Identify and address systemic gaps in External Engagement infrastructure processes and coordination to support long-term sustainability and scale.

Qualifications and Experience

• A passion for the mission vision and core values of Room to Grow.
• 7 years of progressive experience in fundraising external relations nonprofit advancement or a related field with demonstrated success in a senior management or leadership role.
• Proven track record leading and developing high-performing teams including managing multiple direct reports across distinct functional areas.
• Strong people management skills including setting clear expectations providing coaching and feedback fostering accountability and building a collaborative values-driven team culture.
• Demonstrated breadth of fundraising and external engagement experience across multiple functions such as individual giving institutional fundraising development operations corporate partnerships communications and related functions with the ability to coach and support team members across multiple workstreams.
• Strong operational and project management skills; able to manage multiple priorities across teams and maintain clear alignment follow-through and accountability.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and relationship-building skills with the ability to engage effectively with staff senior leaders Board members donors and external partners.
• Experience using fundraising data and performance metrics to monitor progress inform decision-making and drive accountability.
• Experience managing fundraising operations systems including Salesforce or similar CRM platforms.
• Experience in a small or growing nonprofit environment with comfort operating in a highly collaborative and hands-on setting.
• Experience working closely with a CEO and/or Board of Directors on fundraising and communications planning reporting and relationship management.
• Familiarity with the New York City and/or Boston philanthropic landscape preferred.

Additional Requirements:

• Local travel within your home market (NYC or Boston); occasional travel to the alternate office approximately 4x/year.
• Flexible work schedule including some evenings and weekends for events.
• Candidates must be based in New York NY or Boston MA; this is a hybrid role requiring at least 2 days/week in our South Bronx NY or Roxbury MA office.

Compensation and Benefits

Room to Grow offers a collaborative work environment support with scheduling and client communications competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package including:

• 8 weeks of paid time off per year (holidays vacation sick time personal/self-care time)
• Medical Dental and Vision Insurance Health FSA Dependent Care FSA
• 403(b) retirement savings with matching program
• Wellness reimbursement up to $250 per year
• So much more!

Salary and benefits will be competitive for our field and commensurate with experience. Room to Grow is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds.

Reasonable Accommodations

We are committed to an inclusive interview experience including providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. We encourage you to share any required accommodations with who will treat your requests as confidentially as possible.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion

We view differences between individuals (e.g. race gender age cultural heritage physical ability education beliefs and lifestyle) as an asset. We celebrate what makes us unique and strive to create an inclusive environment for all. We are focused on fostering a culture of empowerment in an effort to better understand and serve the multifaceted cultures and identities of all of those within the Room to Grow community. At Room to Grow our DEI efforts focus on uplifting the experiences and perspectives of underrepresented groups and doing the work that draws out the best in all of us.

To Apply

Submit your application via Room to Grows career portal.

Required Experience:

Exec