Senior Director of Development

Overview

Ascend seeks a Senior Director of Development (DoD) to help support and lead Ascend’s plans for philanthropic support. This is a unique opportunity for a seasoned, knowledgeable and innovative fundraising leader to serve as an active member of the Advancement team, who can support in building and execute a fund development strategy to meet current and future opportunities for the organization. Ascend has built and launched their first multi-year development strategy and campaign. The DoD will be charged with amplifying revenue generation and enhancing brand visibility to achieve Ascend's multi-year fundraising plan and goals. The DoD will support the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in fostering and cultivating constituent relationships (both public and private) to convert prospects into champions and investors.

About Ascend

Ascend is the largest Brooklyn-based public charter school serving nearly 6,000 K-12 students in 17 schools. We exist to serve every student – to help them embody their inherent excellence by providing rich, joyful learning experiences that unlock a life of boundless choice.

Access to education is a social justice issue. As educators, we center justice and live out our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (DEIA) by ensuring that our students have the skills, tools, and confidence they need to thrive today and in the future. We are proud to have a workforce that mirrors the diversity seen in our students. Working at Ascend provides a community focused on developing an environment of support and belonging. Educators collaborate closely and encourage each other to achieve great outcomes.

Our schools honor, nurture, and challenge the whole child. Ascend fosters critical thinking skills and a love of learning through an inquiry-based learning approach, Responsive Classroom model, and anti-racist education. Students at Ascend benefit from a rich and rigorous liberal arts curriculum that nurtures natural curiosity about the world and guides them to think critically and independently.

Ascend invests in employees by providing ongoing professional development, coaching, and career pathways in our schools. We are proud to provide a generous benefits package, which includes flexibility in our healthcare plan, and 403(b) matching starting at year one. At Ascend, we care about our workforce’s mental health and offer services covered by insurance and additional time off for our staff to utilize for their personal care.

For more information on Ascend Charter Schools’ model, approach, and core values, please visit our website.

Responsibilities

• Advise the Chief Advancement Officer on the NYC Charter landscape
• Assist with analyzing the New York City funder landscape and conduct relevant, actionable prospect research
• Provide ownership and primary oversight of pipeline and Moves Management process for individual and private institutional prospects and donors
• Facilitate introductions to prospective or potential individual and institutional supporters for both the Chief Advancement Officer and the Chief Executive Officer
• Lead and manage production and submission of grant proposals and reports for private foundations
• Support with connecting Ascend Network stories to funding priorities and advancement strategy
• Liaise with the Ascend Network to identify unique funding opportunities, gathering input, data, and feedback from relevant Schools-based stakeholders
• Other duties related to building the Advancement function, as assigned
  
  
  

Ascend Staff and Reporting Relationships

The Senior Director of Development reports to the Chief Advancement Officer and works closely with the Chief Executive Officer.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Master’s degree in education preferred
• A minimum of five years in a leadership position in a complex organization; proven leadership skills including ability to attract, develop, and inspire engagement from a team
• Experience developing and executing short- and long‐term strategic plans for a core organization area
  
  
  

Skills and Traits

The Senior Director of Development must demonstrate:

• Passion and commitment to education and Ascend’s ultimate goal of closing the achievement gap
• Keen insight and strategic mindset for designing and executing a fundraising plan and outreach campaigns to prospective donors and partners
• Superb organizational, project management, self-management, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to proceed in the absence of clear and immediate answers to problems
• Strong leadership and management skills, including the ability to motivate and lead teams in fast-paced, high-stakes projects
• Superior analytical skills and comfort with data
• Excellent collaborative and communication skills
• A hunger for feedback and an openness to engage in a process of self- improvement
• Alignment with the educational philosophy and core beliefs of Ascend Learning
  
  
  

Compensation

Initial salary offers for this position range from $115,000 - $135,000. Salaries are determined using an equitable compensation scale that accounts for years of experience and levels of attained education.

Diversity at Ascend

Ascend is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio- economic, gender, religious, and national identities—opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.