Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations

Who We Are and What We Do

Save The Bay’s mission is to protect and restore the Bay for people and wildlife. We are the only regional organization that integrates political advocacy, wetland restoration, and education to shape a healthy and resilient region. We are a team of passionate, creative, strategic, and collaborative people dedicated to the urgent work of building Bay Area resilience and hope in the face of the escalating impacts of climate change.

Over two decades, Save The Bay has become a Bay Area leader in the science and practice of habitat restoration, focused on tidal marsh transition zone habitat at landscape-scale for recovery of endangered species, and for ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. We enlist thousands of volunteers annually to restore the shoreline and educate Bay Area students to be the next generation of Bay stewards through hands-on experiential education and online learning.

Position Summary

Save The Bay’s Director of Foundation & Corporate Relations is a senior fundraising professional accountable for the organization’s institutional revenue strategy and execution, spanning both foundation and corporate giving. The Director holds primary ownership of foundation fundraising execution and directs staff implementation of corporate partnerships in a growing portfolio.

This is a growth-oriented role with an exciting opportunity to build Save The Bay’s combined foundation and corporate giving toward $2M in annual revenue. This position supervises the Corporate Partnerships Manager and reports to the Chief Advancement Officer.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Foundation & Corporate Grants

• Develop and manage a diversified portfolio of foundation grant funders, cultivating relationships and stewarding existing partnerships to meet and exceed annual revenue goals
• Provide strategic oversight and direction of the corporate grants portfolio
• Identify, research, and pursue new grant funding opportunities to advance Save The Bay’s strategic priorities and program areas; enlist key program staff in grant development and solicitation, as needed.
• Write and submit high-quality foundation grant proposals, letters of inquiry, reports, and correspondence; review and provide strategic guidance on corporate grant submissions prepared by the Corporate Partnerships Manager.
• Ensure timely and accurate fulfillment of all grant reporting requirements, submission deadlines, and acknowledgement obligations.

Corporate Partnerships & Sponsorships

• Set the strategic direction for Save The Bay’s corporate philanthropic partnerships, including sponsorships, cause marketing, and matching gift initiatives
• Serve as the senior relationship lead for top-tier corporate partners and open doors that the Corporate Partnerships Manager will cultivate and develop.
• Identify strategic opportunities to grow corporate matching gift and workplace giving revenue.
• Set pipeline priorities for prospective corporate partners, engaging directly with top targets while directing the Corporate Partnerships Manager's day-to-day outreach and relationship development.
• Provide strategic oversight of the corporate volunteer program managed day-to-day by the Corporate Partnerships Manager, ensuring alignment with organizational capacity, restoration priorities, and corporate partnership goals; engage directly with key corporate partners in the field as needed.
• Supervise, mentor, and support the Corporate Partnerships Manager.

Strategy, Reporting & Collaboration

• Partner with the Chief Advancement Officer to set and refine institutional giving strategy, revenue targets, and portfolio priorities.
• Work across departments including programs and communications to gather the information and stories needed to build compelling cases for support.
• Coordinate with finance to ensure accurate tracking, reporting, and reconciliation of grant and corporate funding.
• Ensure data integrity and consistent tracking across the full institutional portfolio; direct the Corporate Partnerships Manager’s maintenance of corporate records and oversee accuracy of foundation records.
• Contribute to budget projections and ongoing revenue tracking for the institutional giving portfolio.
• Engage board members and organizational leadership in cultivation and stewardship efforts.
• Monitor and evaluate institutional fundraising performance, reporting regularly to the Chief Advancement Officer.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Experience

• 7+ years of experience in foundation and corporate fundraising, with fluency across corporate volunteer engagement, sponsorships, and cause marketing.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute institutional fundraising strategy, including setting revenue goals, building prospect pipelines, and growing a portfolio over time.
• Proven track record building new institutional relationships and exceeding revenue goals, not just maintaining existing portfolios.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to craft compelling proposals, reports, sponsorship pitches, and funder presentations tailored to diverse audiences.
• A natural relationship-builder who is outgoing, proactive, and comfortable representing the organization externally; a collaborative leader who sees a team member's complementary expertise as a strength and fosters a supportive, non-competitive dynamic.
• Experience managing and mentoring direct reports.
• Proficiency with CRM systems; Salesforce experience preferred.
• Enthusiasm for Save The Bay’s mission and a collegial, entrepreneurial approach to the work.
• Must reside in California/Bay Area; ability to travel within the Bay Area for corporate partner engagement.
• Must present evidence of clean driving record, proof of auto insurance, valid California’s driver’s license.
• Clean background check.

Position Logistics

Location: Our work is performed mostly remotely with periodic in-person staff and team meetings in our office based in Oakland, CA, and our various restoration sites around the San Francisco Bay Area. Employees must reside in California / Bay Area.

Compensation and Benefits

This is a regular, full-time, exempt position. Starting wage for this position is $116,701and is not subject to negotiation. We provide annual cost-of-living increase each January 1, and additional 3 percent increases at service mileposts of 3 years in the position, 5 years, 10 years and subsequent 5-year intervals. To maintain internal pay equity, we do not utilize individual merit increases. We offer an excellent benefit package including medical, dental, vision, acupuncture/chiropractic, and life insurance; 12 paid vacation days per year to start, 13-14 paid holidays and 12 days of sick leave per calendar year; 403(b) retirement plan; stipend for working remotely and funds for home office workstation equipment and furniture.

How To Apply

This position is open until filled. To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to jobs@savesfbay.org. Please include the position title — Director of Foundation & Corporate Relations — in the subject line. In the body of the email, please share where you found this job listing.

Hiring Timeline (This is our ideal timeline, but it may be subject to changes):

• The priority deadline for applications is August 21
• We will review resumes and conduct interviews in September
• Finalists will be invited to submit three references
• We would like to make an offer to a candidate by mid-October and have the candidate start November 1.

COVID-19 Policy: All new hires must be fully vaccinated prior to their start of employment unless they are pre-qualified by HR for exemption.

Work Environment: We welcome people of all cultural backgrounds, gender expression and sexual orientation to apply and thrive with our growing team. Save The Bay is an equal opportunity employer that strives to recruit a diverse workforce and provide an equitable, and inclusive workplace for all.

DEI Statement: Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, Save The Bay will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.

Our Leadership Philosophy: At Save the Bay, we take a person-centered approach to leadership. As leaders, we strive to embody our organizational core values and create a work environment that fosters belonging, authenticity, accountability, and care.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) – Progress and Commitment

Save The Bay has been reckoning with our positionality within a predominantly white-led environmental movement, evolving our workplace practices and our program approaches. Most of our DEI efforts began and continue to be fueled by employee leaders, who have informed and continue to influence our internal practices and investments, mission-driven programs and community partnerships. Staff and board input helped create our organizational core values that guide Save The Bay’s leadership philosophy and operations and our Strategic Plan.

We are working to build more respectful and inclusive working environments and have updated our hiring practices to advance inclusiveness and reduce bias. We have implemented new compensation practices to support greater transparency, equity and competitiveness, and established a Living Wage floor. We adopted a new performance management system designed to provide structured, supportive, and regular opportunities for conversation and feedback between supervisors and their direct reports. We have taken steps to expand investment in professional development for all staff, tailored to individual needs with supervisor support.

Our programming embraces community-driven efforts that seek to reduce the impacts of climate change in our region, and we work to expand funding and support for frontline communities on the Bay shoreline. We offer affinity-based volunteer programs led by staff who share those identities and are designed to invite a broad range of participants to share in the work of habitat restoration. We strive to be accountable and effective allies with indigenous peoples and environmental justice advocates.

We continue to commit time and resources to advance DEI efforts and work toward more equitable outcomes. We seek candidates who will help us advance this work, understanding that it demands compassion, resilience, patience, and endurance, along with a willingness to learn and grow alongside others.

We offer an excellent benefit package including medical, dental, vision, acupuncture/chiropractic, and life insurance; 12 paid vacation days per year to start, 13-14 paid holidays and 12 days of sick leave per calendar year; 403(b) retirement plan; stipend for working remotely and funds for home office workstation equipment and furniture.

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to craft compelling proposals, reports, sponsorship pitches, and funder presentations tailored to diverse audiences.