Manager, Development Operations

Position Manager, Development Operations

Status Full-time

Department Development

Location Hybrid, 3 Days/week in Norwalk, CT

About SeriousFun

Founded by Paul Newman, SeriousFun Children’s Network is a global community of 30 independently run camps and programs across five continents. Together, these camps provide transformative experiences — always free of charge — for children with serious illnesses and their families, reaching more than 150,000 individuals annually.

Each camp and program is locally led and tailored to its community, while connected through the global Network for shared learning, support, and standards of excellence.

The SeriousFun Support Center, based in East Norwalk, CT, is a team of 33 staff who provide services that ensure program and operational excellence, create awareness, and support the continued growth of the Network worldwide.

We are committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion by valuing the experiences and voices of all who carry out our mission.

To continue this mission, we are seeking a talented development operations professional to join our Support Center team.

About the Role:

The Manager, Development Operations leads the strategy, governance, and optimization of SeriousFun’s fundraising systems and operational infrastructure to enable strong stewardship, data-informed decision-making, and sustainable revenue growth. This role ensures the integrity, scalability, and effective use of donor data and development platforms, while partnering closely with Development, Finance, and Operations teams to continuously strengthen fundraising performance.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, this position evolves with the needs of the organization and may expand in scope to include broader operational strategy, revenue optimization initiatives, and team leadership as capacity grows.

Areas of Ownership

Please keep in mind that percentages reflect relative priority, not exact time allocation.

• • Development Systems & Data Governance (45%)
  • Gift Processing & Donor Stewardship Operations (25%)
  • Revenue Operations & Fundraising Enablement (15%)
  • Operational Strategy & Continuous Improvement (15%)

Key Responsibilities

This role is responsible for the following core areas of ownership and impact; additional duties may evolve based on organizational needs.

Development Systems & Data Governance

• • Lead the strategy, governance, and optimization of fundraising platforms and development systems (Donor Perfect is our system of choice) to ensure data accuracy, standardization, and long-term scalability.
  • Establish and maintain data governance practices, business rules, and system documentation to protect the integrity of constituent information.
  • Enable Development team members to fully leverage CRM functionality for prospecting, opportunity management, and performance tracking.
  • Evaluate fundraising technologies annually and recommend enhancements or system improvements aligned with organizational growth.

Gift Processing & Donor Stewardship Operations

• • Oversee end-to-end gift processing to ensure timely, accurate entry of all contributions and compliance with internal controls and service standards.
  • Ensure acknowledgements are accurate, timely (within three business days), and aligned with best-in-class stewardship practices.
  • Maintain and enhance acknowledgement templates and processes to support strong donor engagement and retention.
  • Monitor revenue intake workflows and partner with Finance to ensure accurate system integration and reconciliation.

Revenue Operations & Fundraising Enablement

• Design and deliver reporting dashboards, performance metrics, and data insights that enable strategic fundraising decisions and revenue forecasting.
• Analyze donor and revenue trends to identify opportunities for growth, retention, and campaign optimization.
• Translate complex data into clear recommendations that inform annual planning, campaign strategy, and leadership decision-making.
• Support the Development team in building a culture of data-informed performance management.

Operational Strategy & Continuous Improvement

• Identify and lead initiatives that strengthen development infrastructure, improve efficiency, and enhance cross-functional alignment.
• Partner with the Chief Development Officer in annual development planning, goal setting, and operational prioritization.
• Collaborate with Operations and external IT partners to resolve system issues and implement enhancements.
• Maintain and evolve the Development Operations Manual to reflect best practices and organizational needs.

Perform other responsibilities as needed to support the development team and organization.

What Success Looks Like

Contributions are properly and fully processed, and donors are acknowledged in a timely manner.

Key Competencies

• Job-Specific Skills, Knowledge and Ability: Demonstrating the application of job-specific technical skills, general knowledge, and/or abilities to add value.
• Authority and Accountability: Providing direction of processes, projects, programs, and people. Delegating responsibilities and decisions appropriately. Being accountable for results.
• Critical Thinking and Decision Making: Making decisions and solving problems involving varied levels of complexity, ambiguity, and risk.
• Planning and Organizing: Defining tasks and milestones to achieve objectives and ensuring the optimal use of resources to meet those objectives.
• Interpersonal Skills: Building and maintaining productive work relationships, collaborating with others to achieve common goals, listening and communicating in a way that is inclusive, respectful and supportive of others.
• Adaptability: Adjusting one’s own behavior to work efficiently and effectively in light of new information, changing situations, and/or different environments.
• Leadership: Setting a positive example, encouraging and supporting collaboration and teamwork, exhibiting humility, helping others achieve success, being honest and trustworthy.

Qualifications:

Minimum

• Education: Bachelor's Degree (e.g. BA, BS) or equivalent
• Years of Relevant Work Experience: 3-5 years
• Proven skills in:
  • Microsoft Office suite
• CRM management experience with Donor Perfect, Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce or equivalent
• Strong administrative, organizational and problem-solving skills

Preferred:

• Experience in working in NGO’s or other non-profit organizations, particularly those with federated/networked structures.
• Proven skills in:
  • Developing presentation materials
  • Customer service / stakeholder management
• Ability to manage multiple projects with experience using Asana or equivalent project management software
• Experience in working in NGOs or other non-profit organizations, particularly those with federated/networked structures.

Culture, Benefits and Pay

• At SeriousFun, we pride ourselves on being a fun, respectful, and collaborative workplace where staff are supported both professionally and personally.
• Work–life balance: Respect for your non-working time (EST), with limited evening/weekend contact.
• Time off: including vacation, holidays, and volunteer opportunities at SeriousFun camps.
• Professional development: Ongoing opportunities for growth and learning.
• Leave benefits: Paid time off for family, medical, and civic service needs.
• Retirement: Company-sponsored 403(b) plan after one year of service.
• Workspace: New office in East Norwalk with free onsite amenities; steps from the train station.

Salary Range: $60,000–$70,000, based on qualifications and experience.

As part of our commitment to equity and fair pay practices, offers are not negotiated. Our transparent pay bands ensure consistency and fairness for employees of all identities and backgrounds.

• Please read more Support Center here to get a sense of what’s important to us.