Job description
The Organization: Merit America
Context
Merit America's first four years have been characterized by explosive growth in our impact, scale, sustainability, and team.
Impact: We've published an analysis of our first 1,000 graduates with Professor Ben Castleman at UVA, demonstrating ~$20k in average wage gains for our graduates (from approx. $25K starting salaries) and validating our estimate that we've driven $100M in 5-year wage gains for learners served to date.
Scale: We grew by almost 4X the number of learners served (from ~300 in 2020 to ~1,200 in 2021 to 3,000 in 2022) and are on track to double each year for the next three years, reaching 10,000+ learners annually by 2024.
Sustainability: We closed over $90M in funding, including a $45M financing deal with Google (which we announced alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai and had featured in the NYTimes); next year, we will be eligible for a 9-figure gift from Blue Meridian Partners, which provided an $8M initial grant in 2021.
Team: We grew our team from 3 to 100+ FTEs, with 65%+ identifying as BIPOC, first-generation college-going, or without BAs, and we built an exceptional executive team - including our co-CEOs and founders Rebecca Taber Staehelin and Connor Diemand-Yauman, Leila Makarechi (Chief Business Officer), Crystal Barcelo (VP of People), Jen Mazzon (Chief Product Officer), and Latricia Barksdale (Chief Program Officer). We launched a 4-day workweek (with Fridays off) in late 2021.
Most importantly, based on all of these developments, we're on track to achieve our 2025 goal of driving $1 billion in wage gains for hard-working Americans currently stuck in low-wage jobs
Role Overview
We are excited to bring on a uniquely talented, senior leader to oversee our development function and partner with us to achieve our future growth. The VP of Development will report to our Chief Business Officer and work closely with the CBO and co-CEOs to develop and implement our fundraising strategy, build our development team, and close $30M+ in funding in 2023.
This leader will build their team, including hiring direct reports to focus on:
- Corporate Philanthropy (Corporate Partnerships, Corporate Foundations, Matching Gifts, Workplace Giving) – we have a strong track record of working with the largest corporate funders in our space: Google.Org, Walmart.Org, Ascendium, etc.
- Institutional Foundations – we anticipate building strong and lasting relationships with major funders; the role requires stewarding key partners like Blue Meridian Partners, ECMC, Strada, and others
- Individual Giving (High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs), Private Family Foundations, Community Foundations, Family Offices) – though nascent for Merit America, individual giving is expected to offer the strongest future potential to drive impact. We seek a seasoned professional with a strong track record of developing and leading individual giving functions, carrying a portfolio personally, and managing a team of front-line individual giving officers
- Government Funds (Local, State, Federal) – we've had successful pilots with government grants (e.g. partnerships with the state of CT and city of Sacramento) and see opportunities to expand our presence to take advantage of large-scale opportunities such as the Good Jobs Challenge from the Department of Commerce (which we actively developed alongside policy makers)
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the VP of Development will include, but are not limited to, the following:
Strategic Planning
- Oversee the development, execution, and refinement of Merit America's long-term development vision and strategy, along with the CBO and Co-CEOs
- Develop and bring to life a detailed roadmap for how we'll deliver on our fundraising targets. Key aspects of this plan will include:
- Crafting a retention and renewal strategy to maintain and grow current donors
- Launching an individual giving strategy focused on HNWIs in the United States
- Oversee the annual goal setting (OKR) & budget-setting processes for the development team, aligned to Merit's long-term strategy and roadmap
Data-driven Operations
- Oversee every aspect of our development operations, with an emphasis on making data-informed decisions.
- Resource the revenue-generating teams with data to ensure a high ROI, track progress to goal, and look for opportunities to maximize operational efficiencies, alongside our Senior Manager for Revenue Strategy & Operations
- Use data to manage the development team's performance towards Merit's goals and plans, with a focus on delivering on our annual targets; identifying if and when we're off-track, and course correcting as needed
Talent Management
- Recruit, develop, manage and retain diverse talent on Merit America's development team, including staff for prospecting research, stewardship, major gifts officers and staff to ensure collateral and materials are updated, beautiful, and make a compelling case for each type of donor
- Foster and continually strengthen Merit America's culture, particularly with regard to creating a data-driven, performance-focused culture and a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just operating environment (aligned to our DEIJ roadmap)
Organizational Leadership
- Work closely with the CBO and share the story of Merit America externally as one of Merit's most senior leaders
Fundraising Engagement and Support
- Carry a personal portfolio of key donor and prospective donor relationships
- Support the key executives in the management and pursuit of their own personal portfolios of key donor and prospective donor relationships
- Support the identification, recruitment, onboarding and staffing of select Board members
- Collaborate with organizational leadership and fundraising staff to lead or support significant solicitation activities leading to securing key gifts and partnerships
Skills and Competencies
We know that women and people of color are often less likely to apply to a position if they don't match 100% of the job qualifications. Don't let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of these skills and competencies.
We are looking for a seasoned development leader with 10+ years of experience building and leading nimble teams to deliver on ambitious targets that grow YoY. Specifically:
Strategic Planning
- Phenomenal strategic planning & analytical skills and experience, including in developing, implementing and refining results-oriented strategic plans, even in the face of fast organizational (and ecosystem-wide) change
- A track record of planning for and overseeing rapid scale, with a mix of funding streams: corporate, institutional, government and especially individual giving with HNWIs in the U.S.
- Oversee research on funding sources and trends, with foresight, to help position Merit America ahead of major funding changes or trends
Data-driven Operations
- Exceptional operational skills and experience, including an obsession with using data to manage performance and drive experimentation; passionate about fostering a strong team data culture
- Experience using a wide range of data tools (e.g., Tableau, Salesforce) to oversee ongoing and discrete analyses related to performance
- Ability to create and operationalize new organization-wide systems and processes for fast-scaling organizations, and to thrive in a rapidly changing environment
Talent Management
- Ability to inspire, empower, and grow a talented, diverse, mission-driven team
- A track record of recruiting and retaining top talent
- Strong diplomacy skills, with the ability to build a robust network of partnerships across the organization and donor communities, and to manage a diverse coalition of stakeholders (including Merit's Board)
Organizational Leadership
- Experience participating in a high-functioning leadership team and guiding organizational strategy, including working cross-functionally with other org leaders
- Experience overseeing a functional P&L, identifying opportunities to reduce costs and increase revenue
- Demonstrated passion for our organizational mission and impact
Results-Oriented Leadership
- Demonstrated track record of pivoting quickly in order to deliver on topline fundraising targets
- Comfortable making bold changes when data shows necessary in order to achieve annual targets
- Able to surpass our 2023 target of raising $30M and build the teams and systems that will scale to raising $100M+/year by 2028
Fundraising Capabilities
- Support and partner with the executive team and board members on all major fundraising initiatives from inception through implementation and long-term growth; project managing executive team for high stakes fundraising campaigns
Phenomenal Interpersonal Skills and Experience in High-Growth Organizations
- Exceptionally strong communication skills, both written and oral
- Ability to influence and engage a wide range of staff and donors and build long-term relationships
- Impressive attention to detail
- Excellent organizational skills to juggle multiple demanding opportunities at once
- Ability to create and operationalize new systems / processes for fast-scaling organizations
- Be energized by our organizational mission - to provide a pathway to family-sustaining careers for Americans without college degrees
- Proven history of living within our values
- Sense of deep personal responsibility for our collective success
- Commitment to DEIJ
Details and logistics
This position is full time: 4 days/week
Location: Remote
Compensation: The total compensation range for this position is $175,000 to $250,000. The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be determined based on base and variable/incentive pay and subject to Fair Market Value evaluation. The range listed is a good faith determination of compensation at the time of this job advertisement and may be modified in the future.
We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits:
- 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
- Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
- Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
- Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
- Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
- Education reimbursement & personal development stipend
- Short and long-term disability
- Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
- Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
- 10 federally recognized holidays
- 1 week office closure in July (week of July 4th)
- 2 week holiday office closure in December/January
- 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
- Employee Assistance Program | Talkspace | Sanvello
- Discount perks at work program
- Phone/technology stipend
- Home office setup stipend
Remote Work & Sponsorship
Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the U.S. In addition, Merit America doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.
We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.
Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.
E-Verify Statement
This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.
We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.
Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.
E-Verify Statement
This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.
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