Chief Development and Communications Officer

Who We Are:

Seva is a global nonprofit eye care organization that transforms lives and strengthens communities by restoring sight and preventing blindness. We train local eye care providers and develop self-sustaining eye programs around the world. Together we provide critical eye care to underserved communities, especially women, children, and indigenous peoples. Seva has helped more than 4 million blind people regain their sight in more than 20 countries.

Role:

Reporting directly to the CEO/Executive Director and serving as a member of the executive leadership team, the CDCO will develop and lead an integrated development, marketing, and communications strategy that positions Seva for long-term growth and impact. The role will build the case for investing not only in annual programmatic needs, but also in the organizational capacity, talent, infrastructure, systems, and strategic capabilities that allows Seva to multiply its impact over time.

The ideal candidate is a strategic partner with executional discipline. They also have an ability to see around corners, build a compelling narrative and fundraising strategy, cultivate long-term relationships, and create the systems and operations required to execute at an executive level.

Key Responsibilities:

Development Strategy

• • Develop and lead an integrated, multi-year development strategy aligned with Seva’s strategic direction and next chapter of impact.
  • Develop a diversified fundraising portfolio encompassing major gifts, individual philanthropy, institutional funders, foundations, corporate and strategic partnerships, campaigns, and other sources of long-term capital.
  • Establish fundraising goals, strategies, priorities, metrics, and accountability mechanisms that balance near-term revenue generation with long-term market development.
  • Design and manage a rigorous pipeline and capitalization campaign, including case development, prospect identification, relationship mapping, cultivation strategy, leadership engagement, and campaign infrastructure.
  • Partner closely with the CEO/Executive Director, executive leadership and board to structure gift levels, campaign phasing (quiet and public phases), and board/leadership engagement in solicitation.

Fundraising Infrastructure & Organizational Capacity

• • Assess and strengthen the infrastructure required to support a more sophisticated and ambitious development function.
  • Build scalable systems for prospect research, list development, portfolio management, pipeline tracking, donor intelligence, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
  • Establish clear fundraising operating rhythms, dashboards, metrics, and accountability practices.
  • Identify the staffing and external resources required to support the organization's fundraising ambitions and recommend investments accordingly.
  • Develop clear roles and expectations for the CEO/Executive Director, Board, executive team, and other organizational leaders to take fundraising and external relationship development to the next level as this function expands.
  • Build the internal capacity required to have strong proactive, strategic relationship development across fundraising channels.

Improve systems and partnerships with external consultants, grant writers, communications professionals, and other specialized resources.

Major Gifts & Market Development

• • Build and manage a major-gift and principal-gift pipeline, with particular attention to developing relationships with high-net-worth individuals and other significant philanthropic investors.
  • Expand Seva’s external network and prospect universe through strategic list development, relationship mapping, research, introductions, events, thought leadership, and other market-building activities.
  • Cultivate and steward high-value relationships and serve as a senior external representative of Seva.
  • Support the CEO/Executive Director, Board, and other organizational leaders with information, guidance and skill-building coaching to serve effectively as fundraisers and relationship-builders.‍
  • Oversee advertising strategy and campaign execution; including digital marketing and audience growth across web, email, social and search
  • Ensure measurement and analytics to evaluate communications and marketing performance; and briefly include brand/reputation management, including crisis communications.

Funder-Facing Strategic Communications, Marketing & Storytelling

• • Oversee the day-to-day work of the team, providing direction, coaching, and mentorship to support a high-performing, collaborative culture.
  • Elevate funder-facing communications to a sustained communications effort purpose-built to reach high-net-worth individuals and institutional/philanthropic investors.
  • Develop and execute a communications plan targeting key funder audiences, defining the channels, touchpoints, and cadence needed to build visibility and trust over time.
  • Shape organizational storytelling and messaging that supports the enterprise capital narrative, ensuring consistency across donor communications, campaign materials, website, and public-facing channels
  • Identify opportunities to increase Seva’s visibility, credibility and influence across relevant philanthropic and entrepreneurial ecosystems through public relations, social media, and thought leadership that strengthens and amplifies the organization’s investment case.
  • Partner with leadership to identify stories, data, evidence, and community outcomes that demonstrate Seva’s distinctive value and potential.
  • Ensure communications and storytelling consistently reinforce fundraising, relationship-building, and long-term market-development objectives.

‍Grants Strategy & Management

• • Strengthen Seva’s institutional fundraising portfolio aligned with Seva’s Fund's long-term priorities.
  • Provide direction and oversight to third-party grant writing and grants management partners.
  • Ensure grant opportunities, proposals, and reporting reinforce the broader enterprise-capital narrative rather than functioning as isolated funding transactions.
  • Strengthen grant pipelines, calendars, reporting systems, and prospect intelligence to increase internal efficiency and reduce requests from finance and programmatic teams.
  • Ensure institutional communications consistently articulate Seva Fund's broader strategic value and long-term impact.

‍Executive Leadership & Organizational Support

• • Serve as a strategic thought partner and trusted advisor to the CEO/Executive Director and executive leadership team.
  • Bring an enterprise-wide perspective to decisions about organizational growth, investment, capacity, positioning, and external relationships.
  • Work collaboratively with leadership and internal teams to build shared understanding, alignment and support.
  • Lead and develop staff and external partners responsible for development, communications, and related functions.
  • Foster a culture of strategic ownership, collaboration, accountability, and disciplined execution.

Skills & Experience:

• • 10+ years of progressive experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, and/or communications, with demonstrated executive-level leadership.
  • Demonstrated success building and executing capital campaigns or enterprise-level fundraising strategies, including closing principal- and major-gift-level investments.
  • Strong strategic thinker who can operate with significant autonomy while building infrastructure and systems from the ground up.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft and deliver a strategic narrative for diverse and sophisticated funder audiences.
  • Experience with donor management/CRM platforms and building or upgrading fundraising infrastructure
  • Demonstrated ability to lead and develop a team, including communications, marketing and/or development staff
  • Ability to move fluidly between strategy and execution in a resource-constrained, entrepreneurial environment while building toward enterprise scale
  • Developing an organization's philanthropic market or building a donor pipeline from the ground up.
  • Experience working with Boards and executive leaders to increase fundraising engagement and effectiveness.

Seva’s Values:

• Compassion in Action – We do not observe suffering, we address it.
• Selfless Service – Service is its own reward.
• Respect – We believe in the fundamental dignity and value of every person.
• Equity – We serve the underserved to ensure all people have access to quality care.
• Fun – We never take ourselves too seriously. When you stop laughing,
• you’ve stopped living.

Competitive benefits package including; medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, and paid time off