Chief Advancement Officer

Overview Mission:Leadership is honored to partner with Water Mission in the search for a mission-driven, visionary, and spiritually grounded leader to serve as Chief Advancement Officer . Water Mission exists to bring safe, clean water to people in developing countries, refugee camps, and disaster areas—transforming lives while sharing the hope of God’s love. This is a calling for a leader who can connect mission to movement—someone who can inspire generosity, deepen relationships, and help scale impact around the world. This role requires a visionary strategist to develop and implement a global fundraising framework built on the principles of biblical stewardship, which fuels fund development. Water Mission views fund development as a spiritual act, inviting people to participate in God’s work and build relationships rooted in biblical generosity, gratitude, and faithful stewardship. The CAO will lead the Partnerships and Communication (P&C) division, which operates with an annual budget of approximately $7 million. In the coming year, this role will kick off a comprehensive fundraising campaign, fueling Water Mission’s expansion from $35M to >$100M within the next 5-10 years. Ideal Candidate The ideal candidate will continue to build on the strengths of the prior leader, an Executive VP of Partnerships & Communications, who recommended the creation of the CAO role. This includes being process-driven, growth-oriented, and focused on staff development. The CAO must also be able to confidently delegate, communicate with clarity, collaborate, and foster cross-divisional connections. Key criteria, in priority order, that will distinguish the ideal candidate among the community of those who fulfill the job description are someone who has: Taken an existing vision and led marketing and strategy to acquire new business to multiply an organization’s revenue at a similar growth rate as desired for this role. This individual will have the energy to achieve this growth again, and brings a breadth of background including strategy, sales, marketing acquisition, with major gifts experience a plus. Demonstrated rigor in senior and executive leadership, at the VP level or higher, leading complex departments of similar size (65 people) and budget ($35M). The ideal candidate would bring 15 or so years of progressive responsibility in leadership. Gathered CEO/COO vision and C-suite decisions and integrated well with their own team, managing capacity and learning to say no when success in the past involved saying yes to what partners wanted. In addition, someone who has communicated overarching vision that engages partners amidst a culture that operates more tactically and with a narrow program scope (focused on WASH). Relational fund development experience and/or a successful track record of building high-capacity, high-revenue partnerships or business development opportunities, particularly where relationship-building and understanding the partner were essential. Learn more HERE. If you’re a Kingdom-minded leader with a passion for global impact and a heart for Christ-centered leadership, we’d love to connect! #J-18808-Ljbffr