The Associate Vice President (AVP), Public Affairs & Development, will lead fundraising efforts for Save the Children’s U.S. Programs & Advocacy (USPA) division. While the AVP will oversee private development, his/her primary focus will be on generating public resources to support Save the Children’s programs in rural America, including Head Start. S/he will be charged with substantially increasing and diversifying the division’s public funding portfolio and with identifying new public-private partnership opportunities. The AVP will also partner with Save the Children’s advocacy arm, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), to develop and implement an advocacy campaign to drive policy change and increase state and federal investments in rural communities. A critical member of USPA’s senior management team, the AVP will ensure that the Public Affairs & Development department’s work is fully integrated with other departments within the division and across the larger agency.
Resource Development (65%)
- Develop and implement a strategy to substantially increase and diversify USPA’s public funding portfolio.
- Set annual targets for local, state and federal funding that encompass earmarks, competitive grants and other public funding streams.
- Seek new public-private partnership opportunities to expand within existing states and into new states, ensuring that all expansion plans are well-funded and sustainable.
- Cultivate relationships and raise the visibility of Save the Children with key policymakers and other necessary allies at the local, state and federal levels.
- Develop and implement annual stewardship plans, working in close partnership with the Chief of Staff and SCAN’s government relations, mobilization and communications teams.
- Manage activities, including site visits, briefings and other special events designed to build support for Save the Children’s programs.
- Work with Chief of Staff to determine best use of Senior Vice President, trustees, artist ambassadors and other champions.
- Oversee private fundraising efforts for USPA.
- Ensure robust pipeline and execution plans are in existence to meet or exceed annual targets for both programs and advocacy campaigns.
- In coordination with Director of Resource Development and Chief of Staff, ensure strong working relationship with agency’s Resource Development division.
Advocacy (20%)
- In partnership with SCAN, develop and implement an advocacy campaign to drive policy change and increase state and federal investments in rural communities.
Management (15%)
- Directly supervise a team of three and provide oversight to larger department staff (currently seven in total), as well as local, state and federal consultants.
- Providing day-to-day guidance and support to help staff members meet their goals.
- Establish and implement effective staff management and development plans for entire department.
- Build positive team morale and support staff to become effective and knowledgeable of how their work links to wider agency directions, strategies and policies.
- Actively participate in USPA senior management team meetings and retreats, contributing to the overall strategy and direction of the division.
- Ensure strong coordination and collaboration between the Public Affairs & Development department and other departments in the division, as well as across the agency.
- Ensure compliance to agency standards, policies and procedures for all activities.
- You have a minimum 15-20 years' experience in advocacy at the state and federal level, including experience organizing and implementing large-scale advocacy campaigns
- Extensive experience with state and federal budgets
- Ability to create and maintain effective internal and external alliances and partnerships
- Strong interpersonal and representational skills, with demonstrated ability to advocate and persuade
- Demonstrated ability to be innovative
- Ability to work under pressure on a number of competing issues, yet remain flexible to change
- Excellent organizational and management skills
- Willingness to travel extensively
- Experience building, motivating, coaching and mentoring teams to achieve high quality results
- Clear understanding of U.S. child poverty issues
- Meaningful work, with a knowledge that you are changing the lives of children all around the world
- A family friendly work environment
- Highly collaborative and innovative teams
- Generous paid vacation days, holidays, family leave days, and sick time
- Healthcare plans including medical, dental, and life insurance
- Retirement savings account with matching company contributions
- Structured and formalized management development and coaching programs for mid and senior level managers
- Extensive e-learning opportunities on a variety of topics offered through our affiliation with several prestigious as well as language learning opportunities