Executive Office

Senior Development Specialist (SRDV62016)

Job Category:                         Senior

Experience Required:            5 to 10 years

Salary Range:                         $65,700 – $81,453

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) is seeking a full-time employee to focus on external fundraising, grant seeking, and resource development. Within the CMAP organizational structure, this Senior level position requires significant experience but does not entail managerial responsibilities. Compensation will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

CMAP is the region’s official comprehensive planning organization. The agency and its partners are developing ON TO 2050, a new comprehensive regional plan to help the seven counties and 284 communities of northeastern Illinois implement strategies that address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other quality-of-life issues. See www.cmap.illinois.gov for more information.

Position Description

Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Senior Development Specialist will design and execute a comprehensive funding development and stewardship strategy for CMAP.

One of CMAP’s top priorities is diversification of its revenue sources. Historically, the agency has been funded primarily through federal and state transportation resources, which currently provide $16 million of the agency’s approximately $17 million annual budget. Across the country, coordinated planning and implementation is increasingly being carried out through innovative, cross-sector partnerships that involve a range of funding partners. Over the past five years, CMAP has successfully submitted proposals for competitive grants from federal, state, county, and philanthropic funding sources and has fostered strong, ongoing relationships with funding organizations as both thought and implementation partners. Now, to better support its comprehensive planning mission, CMAP seeks to create a more diversified revenue stream by doubling its current annual $1 million in non-transportation funds from both public and private funding sources. The Senior Development Specialist will lead the effort to achieve this initial goal.

Responsibilities

Development strategy:  The person hired will coordinate with each of CMAP’s four departments: Planning; Policy and Programming; Communications and Outreach; and Finance and Administration to develop a deep understanding of CMAP’s goals within each of these departments and their respective program areas. The person hired will help identify areas for expansion of programs within each of these departments based on potential external sources of funding (including government, foundation, or other private grants), ensure consistency of potential new funding sources with the agency’s strategic plan and direction from the CMAP Board, develop an agency-wide development plan to access the identified funding sources with specific goals and targets, and implement that plan with the support of senior program staff, the Executive Director, and the CMAP Board.

Grant Application Process Management: The person hired will work with CMAP program staff to screen potential grant opportunities available through competitive programs, particularly government programs, and other nonprofit, foundation, or private organization programs. The person hired will also write grant applications, in collaboration with program experts. The person hired will ensure that CMAP program and grant managers are educated on the grant requirements once the funding source is secured to make sure each grant is properly executed.

Reporting: The person hired will provide reports to the Executive Director and the CMAP Board on the success of development activities while seeking to learn from unsuccessful applications and funder outreach efforts so that future attempts can be improved, as well as tracking success and measuring performance against goals. The person hired will also work with internal grant managers to ensure compliance with reporting requirements for successful grants.

Relationship management: The person hired will strategically use existing relationships between CMAP staff and the Board with potential external funders, while helping to guide the agency’s Executive Director and other senior staff to develop new relationships that enhance external fundraising. The person hired will also develop and maintain long-term relationships with key funders and prospects

Qualifications and Skills

A successful candidate for this position will have the following qualifications and skills:

• Experience in development and fundraising. The candidate should have proven success in raising funds on behalf of a large nonprofit or public sector organization. The ideal candidate will have familiarity with government funding sources (particularly federal programs), philanthropic organizations, corporate funders, and other potential funding sources.
• Experience in the Chicago region. While not a requirement, CMAP would prefer a candidate who is familiar with the government, philanthropic, and corporate environment in the Chicago metropolitan area.
• Knowledge of CMAP’s work. The candidate should be familiar with the public policy issues in which CMAP specializes, including transportation, land use, housing, economic and community development, the natural environment, and similar topics. Current priorities for fundraising include economic and community development, water resources, public health, local capacity building, and governance, although additional priorities will be identified through ON TO 2050, CMAP’s next long-term regional plan.
• The candidate should be able to take initiative and proactively build relationships with appropriate groups. Must be a dynamic self-starter who is politically savvy.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are required, including the ability to convey complex ideas through brief and easy-to-understand materials and the ability to make compelling public presentations.
• Teamwork and collaboration. The candidate should be skilled at working with others to reach common goals and objectives, managing and contributing to complex projects, and working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Relationship building. The candidate should also be skilled at establishing and cultivating strong relationships with peers, both inside and outside of the organization, and be familiar with tracking and reporting on contact data.

 Education and/or Experience

A Bachelor’s degree is required, and a Master’s degree in a relevant field is preferred. Requires at least 5 to 10 years of work experience in fundraising, grant writing, or a similar field for a large nonprofit or government organization. Should also have knowledge of the public policy fields in which CMAP works — transportation, land use, economic and community development, housing, the natural environment, and others.

How to Apply

Please submit cover letter and resume via the web at: http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/about/careers. Please refer to Job Code (SRDV62016).

Posting End Date

This posting will close on July 17, 2016. All applications must be completed and submitted within that timeframe.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is an Equal Opportunity Employer.