Position: Director of Development Operations (Full Time, Remote)

Organization: Accelerate Change

Reports to: VP of Development & Executive Operations, Frank Morris Lopez

Direct Reports: Grants Manager | Development & Communications Manager

Location: Full-time, 100% remote position in the United States (from home or co-working space) with occasional travel once every 2-3 months

COVID-19: We take Covid-19 safety very seriously. Employees must follow our Covid safety protocols and be fully vaccinated and boosted. Accommodations are provided to the extent required by law. For employees based in the state of Florida and Texas, the COVID-19 vaccine is encouraged but not required due to Florida and Texas state laws.

About Accelerate Change

Founded in 2012, Accelerate Change is a nonprofit (c3/c4) digital media lab. We work to increase civic engagement with BIPOC and low-income communities through digital media. Our programs include:

• Scaling emerging cultural media properties

• Investing in established cultural media properties

• Building influencer networks

• Leading a digital media lab

• Driving civic engagement campaigns

Learn more about our theory of change, approach, and impact at https://acceleratechange.org/about/

Our team is made up of digital media innovators and operators who bring a mix of tech, business, civic engagement, and media backgrounds. Meet our team and learn more about our culture at https://acceleratechange.org/values-team/

About the Position

Accelerate Change is seeking an experienced Director of Development Operations to lead and execute on the strategic vision for the Development Operations Department, overseeing all aspects of grant management and managing and optimizing donor data and operational responsibilities. This role supports high-level fundraising and external funder communications, provides leadership to the Development Operations Department team and collaborates cross-functionally, and ensures all grant activities are compliant with rigorous audits.

Here’s what you could expect to do as the Director of Development Operations (key responsibilities):

• Lead the strategic vision for the Development Operations Department, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, strategy, and priorities.

• Oversee all aspects of grant management, including grant writing, proposal development, and grant reporting for Accelerate and incubated projects.

• Oversee and optimize all development operations, including processing donations, tracking data in Salesforce, donor and donation reporting, acknowledgment letters, fulfillment of stakeholder information requests, and other key operational responsibilities.

• Lead and execute external funder communications strategies, including email campaigns, LinkedIn presence, funder events, webinars, and production of annual reports and other donor-facing materials and communications activities.

• Support fundraising solicitation and funder relationship management led by the Executive Director and President alongside the Head of Partnerships.

• Ensure that every donor and prospect has an elevated and meaningful stewardship experience, overseeing and directly answering questions, addressing issues, and providing information to current and prospective funders.

• Provide leadership, coaching, and performance management to the Development Operations Department team to foster professional growth and accountability.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with program and finance teams to ensure all grant activities are compliant with approved budgets and project objectives.

• Provide regular updates to leadership on grant performance, compliance issues, and opportunities for improvement to the President and Executive Director as needed.

• Conduct quarterly audits of grant compliance and expenditures, ensuring strict adherence to funder guidelines and organizational policies.

• Systematically review and audit grant agreement terms to ensure organizational adherence and proactively identify and flag potential risks or discrepancies.

• Oversee the review and validation of all grant-related data entries to maintain data accuracy and support informed decision-making.

• As part of the Leadership Team, help shape the strategy, programs/activities, and culture for Accelerate Change.

We’ll also look for the Director of Development Operations to:

• TBD. As part of a rapidly growing organization, you’ll need to embrace change and that your responsibilities will shift over time. Pitching in to help with the needs of your department and the overall Central Team is an important part of your role.

• Help advance our goal of becoming an anti-racist organization. Within your role, apply equitable work practices, challenge white supremacy, and help make our programs more inclusive. Center our understanding that multiple systems of oppression intersect with racism and be an active part of our values work.

• Serve as a resource to our networks of partners. Help amplify partner successes, make connections between partners and facilitate learning sharing, and offer your expertise to partners in our networks wherever it makes sense.

• Take an entrepreneurial approach to their work and learning new skills. In our fast-paced, unstructured environment, we love it when staff first try to figure things out on their own and then ask for help if they’re stuck.

• Seek out opportunities to deepen their skills on current/emerging platforms and with lean startup methodology. We take an individualized approach to growth where staff have the chance to explore and propose development opportunities that align with their interests and the team’s priorities.

What We’re Looking For

• Commitment to social change. Accelerate Change is a mission-driven workplace focused on civic engagement with BIPOC and low-income communities. You have a demonstrated commitment to this work and you’d like to be part of a team of people who do, too.

• 5+ years experience with key responsibilities: We’re looking for someone who has at least 5 years of experience in a director-level role overseeing a development team or development operations department for a medium-sized (or larger) nonprofit organization. This includes:

  • Demonstrated experience working with the Salesforce platform, with a strong focus on the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP).

  • Strong understanding of nonprofit financial compliance and IRS regulations as related to development operations.

  • Excellent writing skills, attention to detail, and ability to follow instructions. The ideal candidate will be an adaptable self-starter and high performer who can meet outcomes and deadlines with accuracy, efficiency, and top-tier quality.

  • People management skills that involve training and supporting a small team of managers and their development operations support contractors.

  • A solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving with the ability to collaborate across key departments and stakeholders as necessary and a willingness to think outside the box to find solutions to streamline processes within the department.

Benefits

• $90,000-$104,000 salary range, with exact salary depending on experience and new staff rarely starting at the top of the range.

• Flexibility for work and life: Unlike a lot of places, we actually believe that people should only work 40 hours each week, except for occasional sprints that require more time in a week. We also trust everyone to make a schedule that works for them, as long as you’re able to join all necessary meetings. Want to work more one day and less the next? Fine by us. Work better in the middle of the night than during the afternoon? Go for it. Need to shift your hours to be able to pick up your kid from school? All good.

• Health care at the beginning of your employment with individual premiums fully covered and cost-share for dependents. Vision and dental plans are available at-cost to the individual.

• 15 paid vacation days, 6 paid holidays, 3 paid floating holidays each year and 7.5 paid sick days each year

• Professional development funds, with renewal of funds each fiscal year

• Cell phone and internet reimbursement (or co-working reimbursement): We acknowledge that working from home requires using your own internet and phone for work purposes so we offer a set reimbursement amount for cell phone and internet usage. If working from home isn’t for you, we also have the option for folks to rent a co-working space and get reimbursed for their monthly costs.

• Need-based educational loan assistance after 3 months

• 401K contributions and matching program available at the beginning of your employment

• Annual office closure during the last week in December

Apply

To apply, please upload your resume and tell us more about your experience on the application on our website.

Accelerate Change is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQIA+ people must be centered in the work we do. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.