Senior Director of Development Operations

The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the country’s first and foremost civil and human rights law organization. Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who subsequently became the first Black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, LDF was launched at a time when the nation’s aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread state-sponsored racial inequality. From that era to the present, LDF’s mission has been transformative—to achieve racial justice, equality, and an inclusive society.

LDF’s litigation, public policy advocacy and public education programs in the substantive areas of criminal justice, economic justice, education, and political participation seek to ensure the fundamental and basic human rights of all people to quality education, economic opportunity, the right to vote and fully participate in democracy, and the right to a fair and just judicial system. LDF continues to make an impact in the area of public service and was recognized by Fast Company as one of its 2023 Brands That Matter under its public service category.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) seeks a collaborative, motivated, and experienced individual to serve as Senior Director of Development Operations, overseeing operations for a 30-person development department that raises $50M annually and aims for growth. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer (CDO) in LDF’s Washington, DC office, this role is part of the Development leadership team and plays a critical role in building and managing a best-in-class operations infrastructure. These systems will support a multi-stream fundraising program, including individual giving, planned giving, direct response, special events, and institutional giving.

LDF operates in a hybrid work environment where employees are expected to be in the office a minimum of two days per week, unless otherwise indicated.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with the CDO to develop a highly efficient department by establishing new protocols, implementing best practices in development operations, developing goals and metrics, and regularly measuring progress toward goals;
• Collaborate with other members of the Development leadership team to ensure that operations support the varied needs and objectives of the department and implement effective change management to support sustainable change.
• Supervise a team of operations professionals, including developing workplans, goals, and coaching.
• Oversee operation and maintenance of the CRM, Raisers Edge, to ensure the highest data integrity and improve automation and use of reporting.
• Develop and implement standard operating procedures, protocols, processes, and systems for a broad range of activities, including gift acceptance, coding, gift acknowledgements, revenue forecasting, pipeline management, etc.
• Assess and oversee the use of tools and services across the department to ensure cost effectiveness, use of modern and effective tools, and necessary staff training to support utilization.
• Coordinate regularly with Finance, Operations, and Compliance departments to ensure Development’s operations are adapted to connect to other departments where necessary and appropriate.
• Serve as an advisor and partner to the CDO on revenue tracking and forecasting and department expense budgeting.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in Development Operations;
• Minimum of 5 years of supervisory experience;
• Bachelor’s degree required;
• Highly organized individual with strong project management skills and the ability to prioritize and manage deadlines; experience managing vendors to implement software processes/CRM/donor research tools/analytics/etc; 
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral;
• Familiarity with budgeting/financial analysis;
• Flexibility and ability to work independently and as a team player with a range of constituents and colleagues;
• Experience with fundraising databases;
• familiarity with Raiser’s Edge a plus;
• Excellent computer skills and advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) programs;
• Commitment to the mission and growth of LDF.

Critical Competencies for Success:

• A relationship-centered approach: systems must be engineered to center staff and donor needs.
• Ability to effectively implement change management across a diverse team and organization;
• Track record of developing systems, policies, and protocols, leveraging data to create gift portfolios, metrics, and evaluative methods;
• Ability to communicate in both technical and non-technical terms.

The salary range for this position is:

Washington, DC: $173,600-$201,180

New York: $180,800-$210,000

 

This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements, or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This description does not constitute a contract of employment, and LDF may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.

LDF offers all eligible employees a generous benefits package.  To learn more, click the following link: 2025 Benefits Overview.

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