Director of Development and Community Engagement

Join the fight for public health and environmental justice! Help secure equal access for all people to safe food and drinking water, healthy homes, and products that are toxic-free and climate-friendly. Help empower impacted communities, end racial disparities, prevent plastic pollution, and much more.

Defend Our Health works nationally and at the state level to fix our broken chemical safety system and promote a just and sustainable materials economy. We use the best science and grassroots power to persuade decision-makers in government and industry to act on solutions.

Position Overview

We’re looking for a seasoned leader to help significantly grow our revenues from individual giving, especially major gifts. The successful candidate will be an external-facing fundraiser who loves to talk with people every day, whether they’re old friends or cold contacts; an excellent organizer who knows how to task, motivate, and hold team members accountable; and a strategic thinker who thrives on relationship building, organizational development, and growth.

As Director of Development and Community Engagement you’ll report directly to the Executive Director. You’ll supervise a development team with responsibility for raising more than $2 million annually that supports 14 staff members.

Major Responsibilities

• Grow our major donor development program, lead our moves management system for stewardship and cultivation, and manage donor portfolios for yourself and other leaders
• Lead a staff development team also responsible for grants management, fund appeals, events, corporate gifts, database management, and development-related research
• Lead all analysis and planning for fund development, including forecasting revenue and expenses, to support our annual budget, fundraising campaigns, and strategic plan
• Collaborate with our Communications and Program Teams, and Board of Directors, to build a culture of philanthropy that integrates fundraising activities across the entire organization
• Advise the Executive Director on organizational priorities and strategic direction

Minimum Qualifications

• Seven years of directly relevant experience with progressively increasing responsibility
• Demonstrated success leading major donor development and major gift campaigns
• Strong external-facing communications ability to listen, engage, and build relationships
• Extremely well-organized with excellent attention to detail and follow-though
• Proven ability to organize, support and motivate others to engage in grassroots fundraising
• Experience with fundraising metrics and analytics, revenue forecasting, and budget planning
• Fully capable in the use of contact relationship management and spreadsheet software
• With a demonstrated commitment to racial, economic, and environmental justice.

Desirable Qualifications

• Direct experience in raising funds to support advocacy and organizing campaigns
• Experience in working on environmental public health and environmental justice issues
• Ability to work with subject matter experts to translate complexity into plain language
• Spanish-language fluency and/or other measures of multi-cultural competency

Benefits: Very competitive, with health insurance, retirement, flexible work schedule and more

Location: Work remotely with frequent travel, or from our Portland, Maine headquarters