The Chief Development Officer plans, organizes, staffs, and directs an integrated cross-function portfolio of fundraising, marketing/communications and volunteer engagement activities designed to deepen community investment and advance the sustainability and expansion of Food Lifelines mission to end hunger in Western Washington.

Essential Functions/Major Responsibilities:

Leadership and Strategy:

• Serve as a key member of the executive team as part of the collaborative group that drives and shapes the mission, culture, and operation of Food Lifeline overall; while advising senior leadership on philanthropic, volunteerism, and marketing and communications issues.
• Ensure strategic alignment and integration across fundraising, marketing/communications, and volunteer engagement functions so that community engagement, storytelling, and philanthropy reinforce and amplify one another.
• Direct the development departments strategic plan and ensure the creation of cohesive, cross-functional annual plans that align fundraising growth, brand evolution, and volunteer engagement with Food Lifelines broader organizational strategy.
• Promote a culture of philanthropy to drive social justice, demonstrating a commitment to using equity as a process and an outcome for the Development teams work while fostering a culture of engagement that values volunteers and community members as essential partners in advancing Food Lifelines mission.
• Recruit, motivate and lead a high-performance team in alignment with Food Lifelines core values and desired culture. Manage the workflow of assigned staff, manage performance and make fair and equitable staffing decisions.
• Encourage and empower staff development and other employee professional growth opportunities.
• Support the President and CEO and overall organization working to ensure we maintain strong strategic communication with the board.

Fund Development:

• Responsible for the oversight, planning and implementation of a comprehensive fund development program and strategy that secures significant financial resources from foundations, corporations, and individuals to support Food Lifelines mission.
• Work with senior staff to establish fundraising goals and accountability for these goals.
• Oversee the implementation and expansion of a digital engagement strategy that moves individuals through an integrated ladder of awareness, action, advocacy, and giving.
• Drive all major gifts functions, which may include planned giving, principal gifts, donor prospecting and research, and special multi-year fundraising campaigns.
• Responsible for moving a select group of prospects. Focus on long-range strategic priorities, advance the goals, and communicate a broad vision to others. Understand and comply with all gift-related policies and procedures and ensures ethical compliance
• In partnership with the CEO and key Board members, develop and define roles for board in fundraising for Food Lifeline. Provide staff leadership for Board fundraising efforts
• Ensure we have proactive, effective, and strategic communications with the board as necessary.
• Partner closely with Marketing and Communications and Volunteer Engagement leadership to ensure that donor cultivation, storytelling, and community experiences are coordinated and mutually reinforcing.

Marketing and Communications:

• Responsible for the oversight, planning, and implementation of a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy that advances revenue goals while strengthening Food Lifelines public voice, credibility, and leadership in addressing hunger and its root causes.
• Oversee marketing efforts; steward, grow, and evolve Food Lifelines brand to deepen community investment in our mission.
• Ensure inclusive and empowering messaging that centers the dignity of people experiencing hunger.
• Ensure alignment between brand strategy, fundraising priorities, volunteer engagement efforts, and organizational messaging to create a unified and compelling community narrative.
• Ensure we provide clear messaging and talking points for the President and CEO and Board.

Volunteer Engagement

• Oversee strategies designed to deepen engagement of volunteers as ambassadors, advocates, and partners in advancing Food Lifelines mission.
• Oversee the development of a scalable volunteer engagement infrastructure and volunteer-leadership pipeline capable of meeting Food Lifelines operational needs while deepening community connection and long-term engagement.
• Ensure volunteer strategy is aligned with operational requirements, community partnerships, and philanthropic goals.
• Ensure we have adequate volunteer recruitment to meet the business needs of Food Lifeline.
• Foster an environment where volunteers feel graciously engaged, deeply informed about our mission, and are meaningfully contributing to the roles that inspire them.
• Faster an environment that focuses on safety standards for our community volunteers.

Job Scope:

This position:

• Has a wide diversity of work situations and high level of work complexity.
• Develops practices that govern work of self and others at all levels of the organization.
• Performs work independently with minimal supervision.
• Decisions are made within broad interpretation of applicable laws, guidelines, policies, and parameters.

Supervisory Responsibility:

This position directly manages three senior leaders including the Director of Marketing and Communications, Director of Volunteer Engagement, Director of Fund Development, and is responsible for fostering strong cross-functional collaboration between Development and other organizational departments to ensure alignment and shared accountability.

Interpersonal Contacts:

Contacts are mainly internal and are frequently confidential and sensitive in nature.

• Internal 60% External 40%
• In person 60% Telephone 10% E-mail 30%

Specific Job Skills:

• Ability to create, articulate, and implement strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to lead integrated, multi-disciplinary teams and align fundraising, communications, and engagement strategies in service of shared organizational goals.
• Ability to balance revenue growth with mission integrity and values-based storytelling.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, including engaging and effective presentation and public speaking skills and the ability to move audiences from one point of view to another along a defined education/communication arc.
• Knowledge of the nature and dimensions of philanthropy, ethics, motivations for giving, research and cultivation practices, standard fundraising techniques including face-to-face solicitation, proposal writing, special events, telephone solicitation, and direct mail.
• Experience s…