Chief Development Officer

Position Overview

Reports to: Executive Director

North10 Philadelphia seeks an entrepreneurial, strategic, and relationship-driven Chief Development Officer (CDO) to build and lead a best-in-class development function during a period of significant organizational growth and transformation.

This inaugural executive leadership role offers a unique opportunity to design and scale the systems, strategies, partnerships, and culture necessary to support North10's next chapter of growth. Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as a key member of the executive leadership team, the CDO will lead the organization's fundraising efforts while building the infrastructure, processes, and accountability systems needed to sustain long-term revenue growth and organizational impact.

The CDO will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive fundraising strategy that generates more than $6 million annually and positions North10 for continued expansion. The successful candidate will bring deep knowledge of the Philadelphia philanthropic landscape, strong relationships with regional and national funders, and a proven ability to build high-performing development functions from the ground up.

Beyond fundraising success, the CDO will play a critical leadership role in strengthening cross-functional collaboration, enhancing board engagement in philanthropy, building stronger alignment between development and finance, and helping North10 evolve from a founder-supported organization to a sustainable, institutionally funded organization with a diversified revenue portfolio.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable cultivating major donors, building organizational systems, coaching staff, partnering with executives, and navigating complexity within a fast-growing, mission-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Fundraising Strategy and Revenue Growth

• Develop and execute a bold, multi-year fundraising strategy designed to increase and diversify revenue while advancing North10's mission and strategic priorities.
• Lead all fundraising activities with responsibility for achieving and exceeding annual revenue goals, including a target of $6 million+ annually and long-term growth objectives.
• Build and manage a diversified funding portfolio that includes individual donors, foundations, corporations, government grants, special events, and emerging revenue opportunities.
• Identify and cultivate new philanthropic partnerships throughout Philadelphia and nationally, expanding North10's visibility and footprint among institutional and individual funders.
• Monitor trends in philanthropy, public funding, and community development to proactively identify opportunities and mitigate risks.
• Develop strategies that increase unrestricted funding and strengthen organizational sustainability.

Development Operations, Systems, and Financial Partnership

• Build and scale the development infrastructure required to support long-term growth, including CRM systems, donor pipelines, reporting tools, stewardship systems, and performance dashboards.
• Establish clear fundraising metrics, benchmarks, and accountability measures to monitor performance and inform decision-making.
• Create a disciplined forecasting and revenue management process that provides leadership with accurate fundraising projections and pipeline visibility.
• Partner closely with Finance to develop regular reconciliation, forecasting, revenue tracking, and reporting processes.
• Participate actively in annual budgeting, organizational planning, and revenue goal setting.
• Ensure leadership has timely and accurate information regarding fundraising performance, grant status, donor activity, and future revenue projections.
• Partner with Finance to ensure appropriate tracking, allocation, and reporting of restricted and unrestricted funds across North10 and affiliated entities.
• Strengthen organizational understanding of the relationship between development, finance, and strategic planning.

Donor Engagement and External Leadership

• Personally manage a portfolio of high-capacity donors, foundations, corporate partners, and strategic prospects.
• Lead the organization's donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and retention strategies.
• Build a culture of proactive relationship management and timely follow-up that increases donor engagement, retention, and long-term investment.
• Serve as a visible ambassador for North10 throughout the philanthropic, civic, corporate, and nonprofit sectors.
• Expand North10's presence among regional and national funders while strengthening relationships with existing partners.
• Partner with the Executive Director and Chief External Affairs Officer to identify and pursue strategic funding opportunities.
• Ensure appropriate engagement of executive leadership, board members, and other stakeholders in donor cultivation and stewardship activities.

Executive Leadership and Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Executive Director and executive leadership team on fundraising strategy, organizational growth, and external partnerships.
• Build a highly collaborative partnership with the Chief External Affairs Officer, aligning fundraising, communications, marketing, government relations, corporate engagement, and external positioning strategies.
• Partner with the Chief of Staff to establish effective systems for cross-functional communication, planning, and accountability.
• Foster collaboration across departments and break down organizational silos through transparent communication and shared goals.
• Lead with emotional intelligence, humility, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning.
• Help strengthen organizational decision-making through data, planning, and disciplined execution.
• Navigate complexity, change, and rapid organizational growth while maintaining strong relationships and trust across teams.

Board Development and Fundraising Capacity

• Partner with the Executive Director and Board leadership to strengthen board engagement in fundraising, stewardship, and external relationship development.
• Support efforts to build a fundraising-oriented board culture while recognizing varying levels of fundraising experience among board members.
• Establish practical tools, structures, expectations, and accountability systems that enable board members to contribute meaningfully to fundraising efforts.
• Support ongoing board recruitment efforts by identifying opportunities to expand the organization's philanthropic networks and influence.

Team Leadership and Culture Building

• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing development team capable of supporting North10's future growth.
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and professional development opportunities to team members.
• Establish a culture of accountability, operational excellence, continuous improvement, and shared ownership of results.
• Promote collaboration, transparency, and relationship-centered leadership practices throughout the department.
• Model North10's values through servant leadership, authenticity, inclusiveness, and respect for diverse perspectives.

First-Year Priorities

The successful candidate will:

• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of North10's current development systems, staffing structure, fundraising practices, and donor pipeline.
• Develop a strategic fundraising plan that positions the organization for sustained growth and increased revenue.
• Build strong working relationships with the Executive Director, Chief External Affairs Officer, Finance leadership, Board members, and key external stakeholders.
• Establish reliable forecasting, reporting, and revenue management systems.
• Expand the organization's donor pipeline, particularly among individual, corporate, and national philanthropic funders.
• Strengthen donor stewardship and relationship management processes.
• Build greater alignment between development, finance, communications, and executive leadership.
• Create the foundation for a scalable development operation capable of supporting North10's long-term growth.

The Leader:

Qualifications

• 12-15+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in fundraising, development, philanthropy, or nonprofit management.
• Demonstrated success building development systems, teams, and fundraising strategies from the ground up.
• Proven track record securing significant revenue from multiple funding sources, including major gifts, foundations, corporations, and public funding.
• Experience creating fundraising infrastructure, performance management systems, and donor pipeline processes.
• Experience partnering effectively with executive leaders, boards, and cross-functional teams
• Deep knowledge of the Philadelphia philanthropic community with established relationships among donors, foundations, corporations, and civic leaders.
• Experience working within complex organizations and managing multiple stakeholders.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking and strong execution skills.
• Exceptional relationship-building and stakeholder management abilities.
• High emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal effectiveness.
• A collaborative and team-oriented leadership style.
• The ability to influence without authority and build consensus across diverse perspectives.
• Strong operational discipline, planning skills, and attention to detail.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity, change, and organizational growth.
• Executive presence and the ability to represent North10 publicly.
• Commitment to equity, community partnership, and resident-centered approaches.
• Authenticity, humility, adaptability, and a learning mindset
• Willingness to effectively use and continuously learn emerging tools, including artificial intelligence, to improve fundraising strategy, operational efficiency, data analysis, and donor engagement.

Location:

Philadelphia, PA

Compensation:

$150,000 - $180,000