Director of Development
New York, New York
Development /
Full-time /
Remote
Job Summary
As the Director of Development, you'll drive Scholars of Finance's leap from $2M+ to $10M+ in annual revenue, charting a future where our financial system is transformed to maximize human flourishing. This pivotal role offers you the opportunity to scale our resources and significantly expand our impact. You'll collaborate closely with our team and stakeholders, transforming our fundraising and setting the stage for exponential growth. This is your opportunity to level up a company that is changing the future of finance and impacting thousands of lives in the process. You will personally build and maintain new funding relationships, grow our existing funding relationships, lead a fundraising team, drive strategy, and level up fundraising systems, processes, and execution. The base salary range for this role is $120k to $150k, depending on experience. Applicants must be located in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.
About Scholars of Finance
Scholars of Finance is a rapidly growing organization on a mission to transform the financial system and solve the world’s most significant problems at scale. We send thousands of purpose-driven, principled future leaders into the finance industry and influence the system to achieve its full impact potential. College is the entry point into finance, so we provide leadership development and mentorship to undergrads. We then help our members join top firms, funds, and a life-long support community that empowers them to spend their careers serving the greater good in a system managing over $100T in assets.
Since hiring our first staff in 2019 we’ve raised more than $7M and brought together 800+ executives to impact 5,000+ students across 60+ universities, and we’re just getting started. We’re a close, motivated team with a big vision of a future where all finance leaders steward the world’s capital with integrity. We are fortunate to be backed by world-class partners like Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Insight Partners, and are being advised by titans in the industry, like Teri List, Board Director at Microsoft & Visa, and Joe Martinetto, the Chief Operating Officer of Charles Schwab.
What You’ll Do
- Source New Funding: Identify, build, and maintain relationships with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and inspire them to support our mission financially
- Grow Existing Funders: Nurture and expand relationships with current funders, encouraging and inspiring them to increase their support of our mission
- Lead a Team: Manage a small team and enable other fundraisers and teammates to grow our collective fundraising velocity and build a mature, scalable fundraising operation
- Drive Strategy: Set fundraising goals, strategy, and plans, adhering to strategy, driving alignment, and producing regular reports for the CEO and board on progress
- Level-Up Funder Comms: Develop and implement a multi-channel communication strategy to ensure our funders are inspired and up to date with our latest progress
- Organize Fundraising Events: Plan and execute a variety of fundraising events ranging from small virtual gatherings to large in-person galas
Transformation You’ll Drive
- Partner with the Board of Directors, CEO, COO, CIO, and broader team to grow our funding from $2M+/yr to $10M+/yr so we can deepen our impact, grow our team, and scale our mission to transform finance
- Inspire hundreds of top investors and finance executives across private equity, venture capital, investment banking, asset management, real estate, commercial banking, corporate finance, and more to support our mission for years to come
- Scale the only institution in the world developing purpose-driven, principled future finance leaders who have character and integrity and drive the financial system to achieve its massive potential to make the world a better place
What You’ll Need - Foundational Qualifications
- Experience in sales or fundraising; skilled with the systems, processes, and strategies involved in revenue generation, with a proven track record of delivering results
- Demonstrated ability to forge and nurture meaningful relationships with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals to support an organization’s goals and objectives
- Outstanding verbal and written communication; you can effectively communicate with affluent leaders, our team, our board, and other constituents
- Competence in creating and implementing strategic fundraising or sales plans, setting goals, and using data to drive decision-making and measure success
- Understanding of budgeting, pipeline forecasting, and financial reporting with the ability to communicate projections and performance to a variety of stakeholders
- Experience working in the nonprofit, education, and/or finance sectors; you can speak the language of fundraising, finance, and impact
- Ability to travel up to 25% of the time, including occasional nights and weekends if needed for high-value opportunities
What You’ll Need - Leadership and Management
- Proven track record of managing people, coaching, and unlocking high performance from teams to achieve superior results
- Interpersonal excellence and the ability to work exceptionally well with a diverse range of teammates internally and stakeholders externally
- Capacity to navigate fundraising or sales challenges with flexibility, maintaining focus on long-term objectives and adapting strategies as needed
- Ability to work independently and take ownership of outcomes while prioritizing and juggling multiple projects in a deadline-driven environment
What You’ll Need - Mentality for Success
- You love our mission and are passionate about transforming the finance system and impacting student lives
- You have a passion for finance as a force for good and a commitment to developing ethical & morally sound leaders
- Unwavering commitment to quality fundraising and data-driven processes
- You are ready to jump on a flight to meet a CEO or executive who could make a big gift
- A desire and willingness to contribute beyond your job description. You’re ready to do whatever it takes to push the mission forward.
- Humility to be both a leader and a “do-er.” After building a strategy, you’ll roll up your sleeves and do whatever it takes to get it done.
- Courage to challenge the status quo when logic and reason require it. Is something broken? Fix it.
High-Value Nice-to-Haves
- Experience building and growing a fundraising or sales team from scratch while personally building and growing a book of business
- Startup experience; you know what it’s like to move in a fast-growing, constantly evolving company
- Established relationships with potential donors, influencers, and key stakeholders in finance and investing roles who would be passionate about our mission
Benefits You’ll Enjoy
- 401k match (100% match up to 5% of the base salary)
- Pre-tax reimbursement for healthcare expenses
- Generous paid parental leave
- Unlimited PTO; all federal holidays off
- Quarterly in-person team offsites
- High-growth culture to accelerate your professional development
- Focus on ensuring all team members thrive holistically
