Development Manager

Position Summary

ChangeLab Solutions seeks a Development Manager who pairs proven fundraising expertise with creativity and collaborative drive. This person will take initiative to engage and collaborate with colleagues across the organization, identify opportunities in our work and relationships, and turn them into funding prospects and sustained support for our work creating healthier communities for all.

The Development Manager manages and advances a diverse pipeline of philanthropic funding, government grants and contracts, fee-for-service engagements, and other strategic revenue opportunities. In partnership with organizational leaders and colleagues who lead funder, client, and partner relationships, this position identifies and advances opportunities, develops concepts and compelling proposals, and supports relationship cultivation and stewardship. This role also implements and strengthens development systems and applies data and learning insights to improve our efforts.

This is the right role for someone who:

• Brings strong development experience and expertise —with demonstrated success identifying funding opportunities, cultivating relationships, and developing compelling proposals that secure and sustain revenue.
• Enjoys both shaping opportunities and making them happen —connecting ideas, expertise, and funding possibilities, then managing the details and follow-through needed to advance them.
• Engages colleagues as development partners —drawing on their expertise, helping them recognize opportunities, and making it easier for people across the organization to contribute.
• Brings clarity to complex efforts —organizing contributions, decisions, and deadlines so that people understand their roles and shared work maintains momentum.
• Connects data and learning to development opportunities —drawing on insights from ChangeLab’s work and priorities, relationships, and development results to surface possibilities and strengthen how we pursue and sustain funding.

If you enjoy hands-on development work, bringing colleagues together, and using data and learning to uncover possibilities and improve results, we encourage you to apply.

This position reports to the Chief Operations Officer. Candidates whose experience, track record, and demonstrated capabilities align with a more senior level of responsibility may be considered for a Senior Development Manager title and scope. As ChangeLab’s development function evolves, the role may also offer opportunities to help shape strategy, mentor or supervise colleagues, coordinate consultants, and contribute to the team’s future growth.

About ChangeLab Solutions

Our mission is to create healthier communities for all through equitable laws and policies.

ChangeLab Solutions is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that uses the tools of law and policy to advance health equity. We partner with communities across the nation to improve health and opportunity by changing harmful laws, policies, and systems. Our interdisciplinary team works with community organizations, governments, and local institutions to design and implement equitable and practical policy solutions to complex health challenges. For more information on our organization and our work, see

The successful candidate will embody our organization’s core values:

• JUSTICE: We believe that all people have the right to health, justice, dignity, and opportunity. We work to dismantle oppressive and racist systems, laws, and policies and replace them with laws and policies that address the root causes of health inequities.
• LEARNING: We are always learning. We take risks, reflecting on our failures and our successes in order to strengthen our health equity work.
• COLLABORATION: We believe that complex problems are best solved through partnerships across multiple disciplines and sectors that maximize collective resources and align actions to advance health equity.
• COMMUNITY: We learn from those we work with, and we respect lived experience. We acknowledge that our lives, histories, and futures are interconnected, yet not all voices have been equally heard or valued—which is a barrier to health and equity.
• INTEGRITY: Our solutions in service of health and equity are grounded in evidence, legal precedent, and community-led change efforts.

ChangeLab Solutions has a strong commitment to building a staff that is rich with cultural, social, and intellectual diversity. Candidates who can contribute to this goal are encouraged to apply and to identify their strengths and experiences in this area.

Key Responsibilities

Pipeline and Opportunity Development

Coordinate and advance ChangeLab’s development pipeline across philanthropic, government, and earned revenue streams, working with organizational leaders and relationship owners to translate priorities and strategies into action and move promising opportunities toward sustained funding.

• Coordinate the progression of cultivation and stewardship opportunities by ensuring priorities, decisions, contributors, and next steps are clear, aligned, and moving forward.
• Identify, research, and qualify prospective funders, clients, partners, and funding opportunities, prioritizing them based on strategic fit, mission alignment, funding potential, organizational capacity, and relationship considerations.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to shape fundable concepts and service offerings that advance ChangeLab's mission and strategic priorities.
• Partner with strategic owners and relationship leads to develop and implement cultivation, solicitation, renewal, expansion, and stewardship strategies and action plans for priority funder, client, partner, and prospect relationships.
• Equip executives and relationship leads to advance priority relationships and opportunities through briefing materials, meeting preparation, and coordinated follow-through.
• Analyze pipeline health, progress, risks, and opportunities with organizational leadership to inform revenue projections, capacity considerations, and organizational planning; recommend priorities and actions and coordinate implementation of agreed-upon decisions.

Proposals and Awards

Shepherd the development of high-quality proposals and related materials, bringing together ChangeLab’s expertise and contributions to produce compelling, responsive, and timely submissions and support successful ongoing funder and client relationships.

• Facilitate the development of proposals, concept papers, letters of inquiry, scopes of work, renewals, and other development materials from start to finish, including establishing clear proposal plans, roles, decision points, and timelines; coordinating cross-team contributions and input; and contributing directly to strategy, framing, writing, editing, and submission as appropriate.
• Ensure funding submissions are compelling, aligned with organizational strategy and capacity, and responsive to funder or client priorities and requirements.
• Coordinate the development of funder and client reports, bringing together cross-team contributions into clear, compelling, and timely deliverables that support stewardship, accountability, and future funding opportunities. Support effective handoffs of awarded opportunities, ensuring continuity in funder and client relationships.

Development Operations and Learning

Lead and continuously improve the systems, processes, data, and learning practices that support effective development operations, informed decision-making, and organization-wide participation in revenue generation and stewardship.

• Analyze and synthesize data on development activities and results, along with relevant data from across the organization, to assess fundraising performance and outcomes, identify trends and promising opportunities, and recommend adjustments to development priorities, strategies, and activities; share findings to inform decision-making and learning.
• Manage the day-to-day use of development systems, processes, and practices; recommend improvements to workflows, tools, standards, and resources; and implement agreed-upon changes that promote clarity, consistency, and accountability.
• Work with colleagues responsible for CRM administration and routine data maintenance to ensure development records provide accurate, useful, and current information about prospects, opportunities, awards, relationships, and key activities.
• Help colleagues understand and consistently apply ChangeLab’s development processes and practices within the organization’s broader approach to relationship management.
• Coordinate and delegate development support activities to staff and consultants as appropriate, maintaining clear responsibilities, expectations, and follow-through.

Other duties as assigned.

Required Education, Experience, and Skills

• At least five years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit fundraising, business development, or a related field.
• Bachelor's degree in business, communications, nonprofit management, public policy, public health, or a related field, or comparable work experience.
• Demonstrated success advancing development opportunities from prospecting and cultivation through proposals, stewardship, reporting, and renewal.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience writing grants and proposals and developing compelling concepts, reports, and other materials for funders, clients, and organizational leaders.
• Strong analytical skills and sound judgment, with experience identifying patterns and trends, assessing and prioritizing opportunities based on strategic fit, organizational goals, and potential impact, and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
• Experience translating organizational priorities, client or funder interests, and subject-matter expertise into compelling funding, partnership, or business development opportunities.
• Experience working with executives and high-profile external stakeholders and building and stewarding strong working relationships with funders, clients, and partners.
• Exceptional project management and organizational skills, with the ability to coordinate multiple priorities, deadlines, and workstreams simultaneously.
• Experience collaborating across teams and bringing together diverse perspectives, expertise, priorities, and information to move work forward.
• Experience using CRM systems, development databases, reporting tools, and related technologies to manage relationships, opportunities, and development activities; Salesforce experience preferred.

Required Personal Attributes

• A collaborative approach that builds trust and credibility, welcomes diverse perspectives, and moves work forward through influence and coordination, even without formal supervisory authority.
• Initiative and resourcefulness in turning ideas into practical action and creating clarity amid ambiguity, with attention to organizational priorities and implementation details.
• Flexibility and adaptability, with the ability to prioritize, manage competing demands, and navigate changing organizational needs, priorities, and opportunities.
• Demonstrated ownership, persistence, and follow-through, ensuring commitments are completed and opportunities continue moving forward.
• Cultural humility and a deep commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Commitment to ChangeLab Solutions' mission, values, and long-term sustainability.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to communicate via phone, email, and video conference.
• Ability to work at a computer for extended periods of time.
• Ability to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area two to four times per year if located outside the area.
• Ability to lift and carry 10–20 pounds and manage luggage during travel.

Work Location and Expectations

This position is open to applicants throughout the United States and can be performed remotely. ChangeLab Solutions is a virtual-first workplace with a small office in Oakland, CA. All applicants should be comfortable working from home with virtual connection programs and practices. Bay Area staff have the option to work from home or in the office, and staff beyond the Bay Area work remotely.

Bay Area staff and staff outside the Bay Area are expected to travel to the Oakland office periodically for meetings and in-person engagement. ChangeLab covers travel costs for staff outside the Bay Area.