Chief Development Officer

The Chief Development Officer plans, organizes, staffs, and directs an integrated cross-function portfolio of fundraising, marketing/communications and volunteer engagement activities designed to deepen community investment and advance the sustainability and expansion of Food Lifeline’s mission to end hunger in Western Washington.

Essential Functions/Major Responsibilities:

Leadership and Strategy:

• Serve as a key member of the executive team as part of the collaborative group that drives and shapes the mission, culture, and operation of Food Lifeline overall; while advising senior leadership on philanthropic, volunteerism, and marketing and communications issues.
• Ensure strategic alignment and integration across fundraising, marketing/communications, and volunteer engagement functions so that community engagement, storytelling, and philanthropy reinforce and amplify one another.
• Direct the development department’s strategic plan and ensure the creation of cohesive, cross-functional annual plans that align fundraising growth, brand evolution, and volunteer engagement with Food Lifeline’s broader organizational strategy.
• Promote a culture of philanthropy to drive social justice, demonstrating a commitment to using equity as a process and an outcome for the Development team’s work while fostering a culture of engagement that values volunteers and community members as essential partners in advancing Food Lifeline’s mission.
• Recruit, motivate and lead a high-performance team in alignment with Food Lifeline’s core values and desired culture. Manage the workflow of assigned staff, manage performance and make fair and equitable staffing decisions.
• Encourage and empower staff development and other employee professional growth opportunities.
• Support the President and CEO and overall organization working to ensure we maintain strong strategic communication with the board.

Fund Development:

• Responsible for the oversight, planning and implementation of a comprehensive fund development program and strategy that secures significant financial resources from foundations, corporations, and individuals to support Food Lifeline’s mission.
• Work with senior staff to establish fundraising goals and accountability for these goals.
• Oversee the implementation and expansion of a digital engagement strategy that moves individuals through an integrated ladder of awareness, action, advocacy, and giving.
• Drive all major gifts functions, which may include planned giving, principal gifts, donor prospecting and research, and special multi-year fundraising campaigns.
• Responsible for moving a select group of prospects. Focus on long-range strategic priorities, advance the goals, and communicate a broad vision to others. Understand and comply with all gift-related policies and procedures and ensures ethical compliance
• In partnership with the CEO and key Board members, develop and define roles for board in fundraising for Food Lifeline. Provide staff leadership for Board fundraising efforts
• Ensure we have proactive, effective, and strategic communications with the board as necessary.
• Partner closely with Marketing and Communications and Volunteer Engagement leadership to ensure that donor cultivation, storytelling, and community experiences are coordinated and mutually reinforcing.

Marketing and Communications:

• Responsible for the oversight, planning, and implementation of a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy that advances revenue goals while strengthening Food Lifeline’s public voice, credibility, and leadership in addressing hunger and its root causes.
• Oversee marketing efforts; steward, grow, and evolve Food Lifeline’s brand to deepen community investment in our mission.
• Ensure inclusive and empowering messaging that centers the dignity of people experiencing hunger.
• Ensure alignment between brand strategy, fundraising priorities, volunteer engagement efforts, and organizational messaging to create a unified and compelling community narrative.
• Ensure we provide clear messaging and talking points for the President and CEO and Board.

Volunteer Engagement

• Oversee strategies designed to deepen engagement of volunteers as ambassadors, advocates, and partners in advancing Food Lifeline’s mission.
• Oversee the development of a scalable volunteer engagement infrastructure and volunteer-leadership pipeline capable of meeting Food Lifeline’s operational needs while deepening community connection and long-term engagement.
• Ensure volunteer strategy is aligned with operational requirements, community partnerships, and philanthropic goals.
• Ensure we have adequate volunteer recruitment to meet the business needs of Food Lifeline.
• Foster an environment where volunteers feel graciously engaged, deeply informed about our mission, and are meaningfully contributing to the roles that inspire them.
• Faster an environment that focuses on safety standards for our community volunteers.

Job Scope:

This position:

• Has a wide diversity of work situations and high level of work complexity.
• Develops practices that govern work of self and others at all levels of the organization.
• Performs work independently with minimal supervision.
• Decisions are made within broad interpretation of applicable laws, guidelines, policies, and parameters.

Supervisory Responsibility:

This position directly manages three senior leaders including the Director of Marketing and Communications, Director of Volunteer Engagement, Director of Fund Development, and is responsible for fostering strong cross-functional collaboration between Development and other organizational departments to ensure alignment and shared accountability.

Interpersonal Contacts:

Contacts are mainly internal and are frequently confidential and sensitive in nature.

• Internal 60% • External 40%
• In person 60% • Telephone 10% • E-mail 30%

Specific Job Skills:

• Ability to create, articulate, and implement strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to lead integrated, multi-disciplinary teams and align fundraising, communications, and engagement strategies in service of shared organizational goals.
• Ability to balance revenue growth with mission integrity and values-based storytelling.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, including engaging and effective presentation and public speaking skills and the ability to move audiences from one point of view to another along a defined education/communication arc.
• Knowledge of the nature and dimensions of philanthropy, ethics, motivations for giving, research and cultivation practices, standard fundraising techniques including face-to-face solicitation, proposal writing, special events, telephone solicitation, and direct mail.
• Experience serving as the member of a non-profit executive team and ability to manage contributing staff with high levels of experience in a way that promotes collaboration and teamwork across disciplines.
• Experience in working with board volunteers and an understanding of best practices
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication and diplomacy skills.
• Strong organizational and analytical skills with the ability to plan, follow through and complete complex projects.
• Ability to adapt to changing needs and drive change across the organization.
• Ability to handle sensitive information and maintain confidentiality.

Education and/or Experience:

• Minimum 10 years demonstrated experience and ability and confidence to identify, cultivate and close large gifts from individuals, corporations and/or foundations. Demonstrated experience with base fundraising activities such as direct mail and digital fundraising. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a broad and diverse range of stakeholders to build new and expand existing donor pipelines to meet multi-million dollar fundraising goals.
• Proven success in asking for and closing significant major gifts of $1M or more and building and maintaining long-term relationships with fundraising constituents such as major donors, foundations and corporations.
• Experience leading and integrating communications and engagement functions in support of organizational growth required.
• CFRE certification preferred.
• Personal lived experience of systemic hunger and/or its root causes preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary Range: $185,000–$225,000 annually

Full benefits package includes:

• Employer-paid medical coverage for employees and children
• Dental and vision insurance
• Employer-paid basic life, long- and short-term disability
• Employer match for 403(b) retirement plans
• Generous paid time off, including parental leave

Paid sabbatical after 5 years

Position Details

• Full-time, hybrid role requiring three days per week in the office
• Candidates must be willing and able to live and work in the Seattle area