Senior Director of Development

Senior Director of Development

At Room to Grow, we believe that strong starts in childhood lead to strong outcomes in life, and that parents and caregivers are best equipped to nurture their children's growth and development when they have the support they need to thrive. We partner with families during the critical early years (ages 0-3) through our unique, strengths-based program, working alongside parents to offer consistent, personalized support and resources to meet their child's needs and goals.

Room to Grow is a non-profit organization operating in New York and Boston with a team of 40+ passionate and dedicated team members. Check out our website to learn more about us!

Position Summary

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Senior Director of Development is the senior day-to-day leader of Room to Grow's External Engagement function, responsible for ensuring the team, systems, and workstreams are aligned to support the organization's fundraising, visibility, and growth goals. Working closely with the CEO, this role leads a cross-functional team spanning individual giving, institutional and corporate partnerships, events, development operations, and brand and communications, and is accountable for strong team management, clear priorities, and consistent execution across all external engagement efforts.

The Senior Director oversees the implementation of integrated fundraising and communications strategies that drive growth across multiple revenue streams and elevate Room to Grow's brand and visibility. In close partnership with the CEO, this role also serves as a key advisor in shaping overarching external engagement strategy, helping translate high-level organizational priorities into clear departmental direction while ensuring functional leads are meaningfully engaged in informing and refining strategy within their respective areas. This role is responsible for building the structure, accountability, and operational discipline needed to support strong fundraising results and sustainable growth.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative and experienced people leader with strong interpersonal, communication, and relationship-building skills, and a track record of leading high-performing teams across multiple functions. They bring demonstrated fundraising and external engagement experience, strong operational and coordination skills, and the ability to build the structure, systems, and accountability needed to support effective execution in a growing organization. This is a critical leadership role that will collaborate closely with program, finance, operations, people & culture, and the CEO to advance organizational goals.

Position Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and development for a cross-functional team of six direct reports, with overall responsibility for the performance, alignment, and success of a ten-person External Engagement department (9 FTE + 1 PT).
• Cultivate a collaborative and accountable team culture, ensuring team members consistently demonstrate Room to Grow's values in their work and across all fundraising and communications efforts.
• Set clear performance expectations, provide consistent and actionable feedback, and conduct regular check-ins and performance reviews to support staff growth and goal attainment.
• Partner with the People & Culture team to support hiring, onboarding, professional development, and performance management practices across the department.
• Represent Room to Grow internally and externally with professionalism, passion, and a strong grounding in our mission, values, and impact.

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO in shaping overarching fundraising, brand & communications priorities, helping translate organizational goals into clear, actionable plans for the External Engagement team across all revenue streams.
• Act as a key bridge between the CEO and External Engagement functional leads (Brand & Communications, Events, Individual Giving, Institutional Giving, Partnerships). Ensure frontline insights and function-specific expertise inform broader strategy discussions while maintaining alignment with organizational priorities.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and cross-functional oversight across all External Engagement functions, ensuring team efforts are integrated, well-coordinated, and aligned with organizational goals and department priorities.
• Support functional leads as a thought partner and resource, reinforcing best practices and promoting consistent, effective execution through planning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Partner with the CEO and other senior leaders on multi-year revenue projections and fundraising goal-setting across all streams.
• Support the Brand & Communications function in advancing communication efforts that strengthen Room to Grow's visibility, brand, and fundraising goals.
• May maintain a limited portfolio of high-priority individual, institutional, or corporate relationships, with a focus on stewarding select partnerships that are strategic to the organization's growth and leadership fundraising efforts.
• In support of a small, collaborative team, provide flexible leadership and occasional hands-on support across functions as needed to ensure continuity during staff absences, transitions, or other key organizational moments.
• Partner closely with the Managing Director, Boston & Organizational Success to align cross-regional fundraising strategy, coordinate on multi-year revenue planning, and support Leadership Council management and Board engagement. Ensure fundraising activities in all regions are well-integrated with the broader External Engagement strategy.
• Collaborate with the Manager, External Engagement on cross-functional special projects, affinity group strategy, peer-to-peer fundraising, donor pipeline development, and team operations.

Fundraising Performance

• Lead a department accountable for the fundraising and brand activities that sustain Room to Grow's approximately $6M annual operating budget, with revenue generated across individual giving, institutional and corporate partnerships, events, and peer-to-peer initiatives. Specific multi-year revenue targets and growth goals will be set in partnership with the CEO and Board.
• Establish and maintain team-wide KPIs and systems for tracking, reporting, and optimizing performance across all revenue streams.
• Provide regular performance updates to the CEO and Board of Directors, translating fundraising data into clear insights and recommendations.
• Hold team leads accountable for performance against revenue goals, providing guidance and course correction to ensure strong execution across all External Engagement functions.

Operations & Infrastructure

• Oversee fundraising operations, systems, and workflows to support strong execution, donor stewardship, data integrity, and cross-functional coordination.
• Develop and manage the External Engagement expense budget, allocating resources effectively across functions and initiatives.
• Ensure data-driven decision-making and high standards of donor data integrity across the team's use of Salesforce and related systems.
• Identify and address systemic gaps in External Engagement infrastructure, processes, and coordination to support long-term sustainability and scale.

Qualifications and Experience

• A passion for the mission, vision, and core values of Room to Grow.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in fundraising, external relations, nonprofit advancement, or a related field, with demonstrated success in a senior management or leadership role.
• Proven track record leading and developing high-performing teams, including managing multiple direct reports across distinct functional areas.
• Strong people management skills, including setting clear expectations, providing coaching and feedback, fostering accountability, and building a collaborative, values-driven team culture.
• Demonstrated breadth of fundraising and external engagement experience across multiple functions such as individual giving, institutional fundraising, development operations, corporate partnerships, communications, and related functions, with the ability to coach and support team members across multiple workstreams.
• Strong operational and project management skills; able to manage multiple priorities across teams and maintain clear alignment, follow-through, and accountability.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage effectively with staff, senior leaders, Board members, donors, and external partners.
• Experience using fundraising data and performance metrics to monitor progress, inform decision-making, and drive accountability.
• Experience managing fundraising operations systems, including Salesforce or similar CRM platforms.
• Experience in a small or growing nonprofit environment, with comfort operating in a highly collaborative and hands-on setting.
• Experience working closely with a CEO and/or Board of Directors on fundraising and communications planning, reporting, and relationship management.
• Familiarity with the New York City and/or Boston philanthropic landscape preferred.

Additional Requirements:

• Local travel within your home market (NYC or Boston); occasional travel to the alternate office approximately 4x/year.
• Flexible work schedule, including some evenings and weekends for events.
• Candidates must be based in New York, NY or Boston, MA; this is a hybrid role requiring at least 2 days/week in our South Bronx, NY or Roxbury, MA office.

Compensation and Benefits

Room to Grow offers a collaborative work environment, support with scheduling and client communications, competitive compensation, and a comprehensive benefits package including:

• 8+ weeks of paid time off per year (holidays, vacation, sick time, personal/self-care time)
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance, Health FSA,