Head of Development (Washington)

Head of Development

Greentown Labs Washington, District of Columbia, United States

About this position

Location

This role requires you to be based in Boston, Houston, New York City, Washington D.C., or California. Candidates near our Somerville, MA or Houston, TX sites work a hybrid schedule; candidates in New York, D.C., or California work remotely with regular travel.

About Greentown Labs

Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accelerating climatetech innovation for the planet, people, and prosperity. As the world’s largest climatetech and energy startup incubator, Greentown catalyzes ecosystems to provide entrepreneurs mission-critical access to labs, equipment, customers, capital, talent, community, and resources for business and leadership growth. Greentown is home to more than 250 startups and has supported more than 675 since its founding in 2011; these startups, with a survival rate of 88 percent, have collectively created more than 16,600 jobs and raised more than $12.5B in funding. We are entering a new phase of growth—strengthening our platform, expanding globally, and building more structured, scalable ways to serve our two core customer bases: startups and corporate partners. For more information, visit or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.

Position Overview

This position reports to the CEO and sits alongside Greentown's Growth function. Greentown Labs is hiring a Head of Development to own and drive philanthropic and partnership revenue across the organization, carrying a multi-million-dollar target and building the pipeline and relationships to sustain and grow it.

This is development reimagined for the climate era: a modern, entrepreneurial capital-mobilization mandate, not a traditional back-office development function. Its center of gravity is national major gifts and growth capital, roughly three-quarters of the role, with a meaningful secondary focus on enabling structured annual giving and sponsorship at the Boston and Houston sites. To start, this is a team of one in direct partnership with the CEO, with the potential to grow into a larger development function over time; cross-functional support comes from site leadership, the Chief of Staff, and the CEO. You will be as comfortable with a climate philanthropist as with an energy investor or a legacy energy company, and you do not pick camps.

What you'll do

Pillar 1 — Major Gifts and Growth Capital (primary focus, ~75%)

Carry a multi-million-dollar annual revenue target and personally lead the cultivation, solicitation, and closing of gifts from $50K to $500K and well beyondCultivate high-net-worth individuals, family offices, climate philanthropists, corporate foundations, strategic partners, and government and foundation funders aligned with Greentown's missionBuild joint research relationships and collaborative grant opportunities with academic institutions through MoUs and research agreementsAuthor sophisticated, data-driven funding proposals and presentations that translate Greentown's impact into a compelling case for each funder, in writing and in the roomDevelop and structure blended and recoverable capital, including recoverable grants, program-related investments (PRIs), and donor-advised funds, and articulate the value proposition for a blended-finance approach to scaling climate innovationOnce funding is secured, ensure a seamless handoff for ongoing donor stewardship, compliance, and grant reporting, and partner with the Finance team to build grant budgets and structure recoverable capitalLead funder reporting and the stewardship of government and foundation relationshipsRepresent Greentown externally across climate, energy, philanthropy, and industry, including energy and climate trade associations, especially in HoustonOwn and manage a personal portfolio of $2M to $10M and beyond, tracking pipeline movement, conversion, and renewals with discipline, and maintaining CRM hygiene and reporting as a discipline

Location

This role requires you to be based in Boston, Houston, New York City, Washington D.C., or California. Candidates near our Somerville, MA or Houston, TX sites work a hybrid schedule; candidates in New York, D.C., or California work remotely with regular travel.

About Greentown Labs

Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accelerating climatetech innovation for the planet, people, and prosperity. As the world’s largest climatetech and energy startup incubator, Greentown catalyzes ecosystems to provide entrepreneurs mission-critical access to labs, equipment, customers, capital, talent, community, and resources for business and leadership growth. Greentown is home to more than 250 startups and has supported more than 675 since its founding in 2011; these startups, with a survival rate of 88 percent, have collectively created more than 16,600 jobs and raised more than $12.5B in funding. We are entering a new phase of growth—strengthening our platform, expanding globally, and building more structured, scalable ways to serve our two core customer bases: startups and corporate partners. For more information, visit or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.

Position Overview

This position reports to the CEO and sits alongside Greentown's Growth function. Greentown Labs is hiring a Head of Development to own and drive philanthropic and partnership revenue across the organization, carrying a multi-million-dollar target and building the pipeline and relationships to sustain and grow it.

This is development reimagined for the climate era: a modern, entrepreneurial capital-mobilization mandate, not a traditional back-office development function. Its center of gravity is national major gifts and growth capital, roughly three-quarters of the role, with a meaningful secondary focus on enabling structured annual giving and sponsorship at the Boston and Houston sites. To start, this is a team of one in direct partnership with the CEO, with the potential to grow into a larger development function over time; cross-functional support comes from site leadership, the Chief of Staff, and the CEO. You will be as comfortable with a climate philanthropist as with an energy investor or a legacy energy company, and you do not pick camps.

What you'll do

Pillar 1 — Major Gifts and Growth Capital (primary focus, ~75%)

Carry a multi-million-dollar annual revenue target and personally lead the cultivation, solicitation, and closing of gifts from $50K to $500K and well beyondCultivate high-net-worth individuals, family offices, climate philanthropists, corporate foundations, strategic partners, and government and foundation funders aligned with Greentown's missionBuild joint research relationships and collaborative grant opportunities with academic institutions through MoUs and research agreementsAuthor sophisticated, data-driven funding proposals and presentations that translate Greentown's impact into a compelling case for each funder, in writing and in the roomDevelop and structure blended and recoverable capital, including recoverable grants, program-related investments (PRIs), and donor-advised funds, and articulate the value proposition for a blended-finance approach to scaling climate innovationOnce funding is secured, ensure a seamless handoff for ongoing donor stewardship, compliance, and grant reporting, and partner with the Finance team to build grant budgets and structure recoverable capitalLead funder reporting and the stewardship of government and foundation relationshipsRepresent Greentown externally across climate, energy, philanthropy, and industry, including energy and climate trade associations, especially in HoustonOwn and manage a personal portfolio of $2M to $10M and beyond, tracking pipeline movement, conversion, and renewals with discipline, and maintaining CRM hygiene and reporting as a discipline

Pillar 2 — Site Support for Annual Giving and Sponsorship (secondary focus, ~25%)

Work with Boston and Houston site leadership to shape and execute structured annual giving strategiesBuild local sponsorship pipelines and support ecosystem funding opportunities at both sitesDevelop frameworks, playbooks, and tools that let sites mobilize community and corporate support more consistentlyConnect national fundraising narratives with site-level stories and relationships, and help sites identify and steward the right local major-gift prospects

Who You Are

You move easily between energy and climate, between philanthropic and partnership capital, between mission and business, and you believe the best outcomes come from connecting them. You are deeply motivated by Greentown's mission and energized by being in the field, building relationships and making the ask.

Qualifications

A proven major-gifts closer, with experience securing gifts from $100K to $5M and beyond, ideally in climate, energy, science, or innovation-adjacent organizationsA demonstrated climate background and deep commitment to the energy transition, able to articulate that conviction credibly to donors, partners, and skeptics across the political and sectoral spectrum, and to engage just as effectively with legacy energy companiesA deep, existing network in climate, energy, philanthropy, corporate innovation, or adjacent sectors, with relationships you are proud to bring to this work and a desire to grow themA strong writer and storyteller who can turn a complex, technical climate story into a funding case that moves a donor, whether in a proposal, a deck, or a conversationFluency with the nonprofit capital stack and blended finance, including recoverable grants, PRIs, and donor-advised funds (DAFs), is a strong plusEqually credible with a climate philanthropist and an energy or industrial executive, with no