Chief Development Officer (Washington)

The Pulitzer Center is a leading nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to championing the power of stories to drive engagement and impact. Founded in 2006, the Center supports ambitious journalism that investigates the defining challenges shaping communities around the world – from artificial intelligence and global health to climate change, human rights, democracy, and conflict.

Through grants, fellowships, editorial resources, and global reporting networks, the Pulitzer Center supports journalists and newsrooms in pursuing in-depth stories that media systems are increasingly unable to fund at the scale these issues demand. Its work spans more than 80 countries and reaches millions of people annually through partnerships with major international, national, and local news organizations.

What distinguishes the Pulitzer Center is its integrated model of journalism, education, and public engagement. Beyond supporting groundbreaking reporting, the organization builds communities of learning that connect journalists with educators, students, artists, policymakers, and the public through outreach programs, university partnerships, events, and audience engagement initiatives designed to deepen understanding and inspire participation.

Today, the Pulitzer Center is recognized as one of the most innovative and influential nonprofit journalism organizations in the world – advancing reporting that not only informs audiences, but also drives dialogue, accountability, and tangible social impact.

About the role

The Pulitzer Center is at a defining moment in its evolution. Our work is more vital than ever in a world where the business model for journalism is under unprecedented strain, where authoritarian pressure on the press is intensifying, and where the issues we cover – from AI accountability to climate to global conflict – are reshaping the lives of communities everywhere.

Under new executive leadership, the Center is sharpening its strategic positioning, deepening its sector‑level impact, and building the philanthropic relationships needed to sustain and grow our critical work. The Chief Development Officer (CDO) will play a central role in shaping and implementing that future by leading all aspects of the Pulitzer Center's revenue strategy, fundraising operations, and philanthropic growth during this moment of significant organizational momentum.

This role extends beyond traditional fundraising leadership. The CDO will serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO and senior executives, helping position the Pulitzer Center within a rapidly evolving media, democracy, and philanthropic landscape. They will bring a sophisticated understanding of institutional positioning, sector trends, and relationship‑building strategy – translating emerging global issues and organizational priorities into compelling opportunities for partnership, investment, and long‑term impact.

The CDO will oversee all aspects of development strategy and execution, including institutional philanthropy, principal and major gifts, board engagement, donor communications, strategic partnerships, events strategy, grants management, revenue forecasting, and development operations. Ultimately, this role is accountable for growing the Pulitzer Center's philanthropic revenue, the relationships that sustain it, and the organizational capacity to do both at scale. They will lead and continue building a growing development team currently composed of four full‑time professionals, with the expectation of growth as the function scales. The CDO will also serve as a senior external representative of the organization with major funders, peer institutions, and sector leaders.

The ideal candidate is both strategist and builder – someone who can operate at the level of institutional vision while also strengthening the systems, discipline, and culture necessary to execute with rigor, sophistication, and ambition at scale.

Prior journalism experience is not required. We are explicitly open to candidates from adjacent sectors – including human rights, policy, global affairs, conservation, higher education, public health, and research or advocacy organizations – who bring transferable strategic and relationship‑building expertise.

Responsibilities

Strategic and Institutional Leadership

• Develop and lead the Pulitzer Center's overall fundraising and revenue strategy, with clear priorities, growth targets, and a multi‑year roadmap aligned to the organization's long‑term vision and programmatic ambition.
• Bring field‑aware strategic thinking to questions of positioning, sector trends, and philanthropic opportunity – and translate that thinking into concrete cultivation, partnership, and revenue strategies.
• Serve as a strategic advisor and thought partner to the CEO, Board, and senior leadership on organizational sustainability, growth opportunities, and institutional positioning.
• Partner closely with editorial, engagement, and program leadership to ensure fundraising strategy is deeply integrated into organizational priorities and initiative design from the outset.
• Help shape organizational growth strategy by identifying emerging opportunities across journalism, philanthropy, technology, global affairs, education, environment, and civic engagement ecosystems.
• Contribute meaningfully to executive‑level decision‑making beyond the development function, including strategic planning, organizational growth, and cross‑functional leadership initiatives.
• Identify opportunities for cross‑sector collaboration across philanthropy, academia, technology, civil society, and media ecosystems.

Revenue and Partnership Leadership

• Lead institutional philanthropy strategy across foundations, governments, multilateral institutions, and select corporate and philanthropic partnerships, including the cultivation of new transformational funders and the stewardship of existing multi‑year relationships.
• Build, manage, and deepen relationships with the Center's most significant donors and institutional partners, in close collaboration with the CEO and staff leadership.
• Expand the organization's principal and major giving efforts, including strategies for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding high‑capacity donors and developing a more mature planned giving program.
• Explore and develop innovative funding models and strategic partnerships that strengthen the Center's long‑term sustainability and expand mission impact.
• Lead long‑range revenue planning and forecasting, balancing entrepreneurial growth with institutional stability and operational sustainability.
• Oversee the strategy for donor cultivation and stewardship events, including high‑level convenings in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other key markets, positioning these gatherings as opportunities for relationship‑building, thought leadership, and institutional visibility.

Operational Excellence and Infrastructure

• Design and strengthen the operational infrastructure required to support a sophisticated and growing global development function, including pipeline management, moves management, prospect research, grants management, forecasting, and donor stewardship systems.
• Establish clear performance metrics, dashboards, reporting structures, and accountability mechanisms across the development team.
• Oversee a complex portfolio of institutional funding relationships, including multi‑country initiatives, collaborative funding structures, and highly visible strategic partnerships with rigorous reporting requirements.
• Ensure the highest standards of grants management, donor stewardship, and institutional follow‑through across all fundraising activities.
• Evaluate, modernize, and where necessary redesign existing tools, workflows, and operational systems to meet the organization's evolving scale and ambition.
• Build the structures and discipline necessary to translate strategy into measurable revenue outcomes and long‑term institutional sustainability.

Team Leadership and Culture Building

• Lead, mentor, and continue building a development team currently composed of four full‑time professionals, with anticipated growth over time.
• Recruit, onboard, and develop new staff as the function expands.
• Foster a culture of strategic ambition, operational rigor, collaboration, accountability, and executional excellence across the development function.
• Create clear systems for performance management, professional development, and cross‑functional collaboration.
• Assess organizational capacity and recommend future staffing structures, investments, and operational resources needed to support continued growth.

Board and Executive Engagement

• Partner closely with the Board of Directors on fundraising strategy, donor engagement, relationship management, and board development.
• Support and leverage Board members as active participants in cultivation and solicitation efforts.
• Serve as a trusted executive partner to the CEO, helping ensure alignment across institutional priorities, organizational growth, and external engagement strategy.
• Operate with the judgment, diplomacy, and political acuity required to navigate complex stakeholder environments and represent the organization at the highest levels.

External Relations and Institutional Visibility

• Represent the organization at major donor meetings, conferences, convenings, and field‑level discussions with the credibility and executive presence to engage sophisticated institutional stakeholders.
• Help elevate the Pulitzer Center's visibility and influence among major philanthropic leaders, pee]]>