Vice President of Fund Management & Coalition Building

Position Type: Full-Time, Salaried, Exempt
Location: Flexible (remote); must be eligible to work in the U.S.
Salary: Starting at $203,500
Closing Date: Jan. 2, 2024

Candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The position will remain open until we have a sufficient pool of diverse candidates who meet the job requirements, at which point we may pause the review of new applications before the stated deadline. Please understand you may not be contacted for several weeks after you apply.

Due to the holiday season in the U.S., we anticipate that screenings will not commence until late December; however, candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Ideal Start Date: 4-6 weeks after offer

About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

CDP began in 2010 with the goal of pioneering the practice of strategic disaster philanthropy. Since then, it has grown in its ambition, envisioning a world where the impact of disasters is minimized through thoughtful, equitable, and responsible recovery for all. CDP has a $33 million budget and a team of more than 20 staff members working remotely across the U.S.

CDP is a trusted partner, expert and authoritative resource helping hundreds of individuals, foundations, and corporations boost the impact of philanthropic giving in response to disasters and humanitarian crises by supporting equitable recovery and addressing root causes of vulnerabilities worldwide.

In 2022, CDP awarded $28.2 million through more than 117 grants to 99 grantee partners worldwide; demonstrated thought leadership through 15 webinars, 21 external commentaries, 113 blog posts, 43 featured speaking engagements and other events; and served 40 philanthropic partners through consulting efforts.

In 2020, CDP was a featured nonprofit for the 14^th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.
CDP has earned Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Charity rating and Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal.

As an organization grounded in racial and intersectional equity, our team members are deeply committed to strengthening communities most vulnerable to disasters because of systemic inequities. We are guided by our values of integrity, boldness and innovation, humility, and empathy in all that we do in pursuit of our mission.

Bottom line: We aspire to walk the talk of anti-racism and to treat each other and our partners in ways that inspire trust, creativity, learning and care.

Be a part of our fast-growing team that offers countless ways to help communities thrive. Join us!

Responsibilities & Duties

Over the last few years of CDP’s 13-year history, growth has been exponential. CDP has granted over $123 million to more than 676 nonprofits. CDP’s positioning and increased visibility bring a need for an enterprise leader to further amplify CDP’s impact through CDP’s grantmaking, coalitions and partnerships.

CDP hosts several collaborative recovery funds, which, according to Panorama Global, are funds that “serve as mechanisms to pool donor resources and collaboratively fund smaller, innovative organizations across a shared issue area or geography to drive impactful change towards a common goal.” CDP’s funds model a shift in norms and practices in disaster giving and provide a service to the philanthropic sector.

Our grants support medium- and long-term recovery and resilience efforts in communities affected by natural and human-made hazards, including conflicts and humanitarian crises. With a focus on historically marginalized and at-risk populations, CDP prioritizes investments in local* organizations to support a range of programs critical for individuals’ and communities’ recovery.

CDP also seeks to build momentum for systems change through place-based and sectoral donor coalitions. These coalitions seek to develop peer relationships among philanthropy, advance learning on community-led equitable recovery practices, and encourage the sharing of best practices and lessons learned.

Reporting to the CEO and a member of the executive team, the new Vice President of Fund Management and Coalition Building (FMCB) will also play a critical role in positioning CDP within the collaborative fund and system change communities.

The successful candidate will display the following traits:

You will provide vision and think strategically to make sense of complex issues, be a creative problem solver, synthesize material, and focus on the essence of an issue and specific opportunities while advancing CDP’s mission and strategic goals.

You are a servant leader who fosters an open, collaborative and highly equitable environment for team leadership and decision-making, allowing diverse opinions and staff from diverse backgrounds and roles to be heard and included.

As a member of the executive team, you communicate effectively with other members of the team and other stakeholders, conveying your ideas and proposals in a way that is easy to understand and that inspires action. You also need to be able to listen to others and respond to their questions and concerns.

Primary responsibilities include:

The VP of FMCB is the organizational lead and chief strategist for CDP’s grantmaking and coalition-building efforts. You will play a representative and advocacy role with key stakeholders, including those outside the philanthropic sector.

In collaboration with your team members, you will adapt and manage the policies, procedures and practices to ensure the grantmaking model is strategic, impactful and financially viable, and ensure the effective oversight of grantmaking strategies and partnerships.

Working closely with the CEO and staff providing services to ensure our efforts remain aligned with our mission and goals, the VP of FMCB also engages closely with the marketing and communication, development, strategy, innovation and special projects (SISP), and finance and operations teams to ensure that we are positioning ourselves correctly in the sector and meeting stakeholder/client needs.

Fund management

Provide high-level strategic support, thought partnership and counsel to team members on grantmaking strategies, priorities and special initiatives, fund budgets and operations, and external engagement.
Leverage in-depth subject matter expertise, professional networks, data and thoughtful analyses to support the FMCB team in delivering a cohesive grantmaking strategy.
Guide the team and other stakeholders on promising practices in disasters and humanitarian crises, specifically for community-centered and locally-led recovery.
Stay abreast of current trends and promising practices in grantmaking and philanthropy to support the team in their work.
In collaboration with the development and marketing and communications teams, integrate and enhance strategic and coordinated fundraising strategies across the department to increase funds available to support equitable disaster recovery.
Participate in donor and prospect meetings to cultivate and steward relationships of current and potential CDP supporters.
Provide strategic insight and facilitate the process of exploring with the board of directors and staff lessons learned from CDP’s grantmaking and coalition building and how these insights can shape the next generation of investments and guide external sharing.

Place-based and sectoral coalition building

Identify opportunities for CDP to develop, build or support coalitions within the disaster, humanitarian and philanthropic ecosystems that further CDP’s mission and strategic goals.
Nurture, fundraise and support existing coalitions and partnerships to maximize impact and explore future work opportunities.

Advocacy

Maintain and strengthen high-level partnerships with philanthropic entities, U.S. government offices, UN agencies, the InterAgency Standing Committee and NGO consortia to ensure CDP remains abreast of current disaster, humanitarian response and coordination trends and issues.
Advocate for policy and practice changes in philanthropic giving and government or system approaches based on CDP’s experiences and evidence.
Further CDP’s thought leadership and brand by serving as a spokesperson, vocal and courageous catalyst, convener, and advocate for our values and approach in a variety of external spaces, such as the media, conferences, convenings and webinars.

Grantmaking systems and compliance

Supervise grants managers and oversee the preparation of analyses and reports on grants, as well as strategy updates and other written materials, for the CEO, executive team and/or board.
Work with the CFOO on risk assessment and mitigation efforts, including but not limited to due diligence and compliance efforts.
Provide leadership to organizational process optimization efforts and technology enhancements for improved grants management and reporting.
In partnership with the Center for Effective Philanthropy, conduct a Grantee Perception Report on a regular basis to ensure that the grantmaking strategy is consistent with organizational values.
Track relevant trends and activities to pursue and exchange information with stakeholders to demonstrate the organization’s impact.

Departmental and team leadership

Provide strategic leadership and collaborate with team members to foster a culture of learning, respect and trust, harnessing the group’s diverse experience and collective wisdom.
Attract, develop, coach and retain high-performing team members, enabling them to elevate their level of responsibility and performance.
Support the team through proactive expectation management and coaching to ensure timely and successful completion of workplan and professional goals.
Ensure the team is adequately resourced to deliver against strategic and operational goals and operates within appropriate operational and financial boundaries.
Guide, inspire, evaluate, mentor and develop direct reports in the leadership and management of their teams.
Bring an organization-wide mindset to departmental leadership to help illustrate the cross-team implications of the team’s decisions and opportunities.

Supervisory and other duties as assigned

Supervise department staff.
Participate on the executive team in service to the organization and as a representative of the work under your purview.
Regular travel for representative needs, professional development and in-person team meetings.
Serve on committees and task forces at CDP as appropriate and as available.
Represent CDP in a positive, professional manner in meetings and other external engagements.
Perform other duties and job-related tasks that may be assigned.

This position reports to the president & CEO but works in service of the whole organization.

As this is a new position, prior experience navigating organizational structural change is welcome.

Required qualifications

≥ 15 years of relevant, progressive professional experience in philanthropy, disasters and/or relevant technical expertise, including supervisory experience (at executive team level a plus).
Masters in a related field or equivalent work experience.
Proven experience developing and executing grantmaking and coalition-building strategies, preferably with a nonprofit working in the disaster/humanitarian sector.
Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication, presentation and writing skills.
Ability to effectively synthesize and distill complex information clearly and persuasively to multiple audiences.
Ability to think creatively and outside the box.

Preferred skills and qualifications

Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain a productive network of professional relationships with key government, philanthropic, business and nonprofit leaders.
Familiarity with, although not necessarily a professional background in, philanthropy, including the role of philanthropy in effecting social justice.
Experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
Experience helping groups integrate evidence and data into their decisions.
Experience designing and implementing learning practices, with strong facilitation skills.
An understanding of nonprofit fundraising and relationship cultivation.
Proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, Blackbaud, CRMs and project collaboration tools.
Proven ability to independently manage various operational functions, stand-alone workstreams and/or supervise staff.
Ability to work remotely with minimal direct supervision and to multi-task, including managing multiple projects simultaneously.
Ability to build relationships with and motivate dispersed team members with diverse personalities and backgrounds.

Personal characteristics

Commitment to the values intrinsic to CDP’s mission and strategy, including the centrality of local leadership, equity and service to marginalized and vulnerable communities.
A transparent, humble and empowering culture builder with demonstrated experience leading a diverse team of professional staff, inspiring trust and optimizing the potential of the overall team.
An entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ability to leverage financial and human capital to advance the organization’s programmatic goals and overall mission.
Sense of humor.
Enterprise leader.

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

We welcome and encourage applicants with non-traditional career paths. If you don’t meet the qualifications outlined here, please apply and tell us how your experiences would equip you for the job.

To Apply

Qualified candidates should submit their resume and a cover letter via this link. Applications must highlight competencies against requirements.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation that they are legally eligible to work in the United States for an extended period.

Due to the expected volume of applications, only finalists will be notified. No phone calls, please.