Director of Development

About Imagine Worldwide

All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Imagine Worldwide’s mission is to empower millions of children across Sub-Saharan Africa with the literacy and numeracy skills they need to reach their full potential. We provide an innovative education technology solution and implementation model to the global literacy/numeracy learning crisis using the onebillion application and various toolkits and systems to support implementation. Nine Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) across multiple countries and settings have shown dramatic learning gains, increased school attendance, and gender parity, all for less than $7 per child per year.

Imagine Worldwide partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are a California-based (United States) nonprofit organization operating across seven Sub-Saharan African countries. Learn more on our website.

Role Overview

This is an opportunity to join a rapidly advancing nonprofit at a key inflection point. Reporting to the Executive Head of Development & Communications, the Director of Development will lead the day-to-day management of Imagine's fundraising function—building a high-performing team, strengthening development operations, and ensuring exceptional donor stewardship for our institutional and philanthropic partners.

The successful candidate is an experienced development leader who has built and managed fundraising teams within a high-growth nonprofit environment. They bring deep expertise in donor stewardship, fundraising operations, and systems management, while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

You'll play a central role in transforming ambitious fundraising strategy into disciplined execution while helping build the systems, culture, and infrastructure needed to support long-term growth.

Key Responsibilities

Development Leadership

• Lead and develop a high-performing Development team, providing strong management and support to Development team members.
• Translate fundraising strategy into annual priorities, goals, and execution plans.
• Build clear accountability, workflows, and team processes.
• Recruit, coach, and develop staff as the team grows.

Donor Stewardship

• Oversee stewardship for institutional funders, foundations, family philanthropies, and major donors.
• Ensure consistently thoughtful, timely, and high-quality donor engagement.
• Guide donor reporting, impact communications, and stewardship planning.
• Partner with senior leadership on strategic donor cultivation.

Development Operations

• Strengthen CRM system, pipeline management, prospect research, reporting, and fundraising analytics.
• Improve grant management, proposal development, and reporting processes.
• Build dashboards and operational systems that enable data-driven decision-making.
• Ensure strong compliance, efficiency, and continuous improvement.

Organizational Leadership

• Collaborate across Development, Communications, Finance, Programs, and Executive Leadership.
• Contribute to organizational planning and continuous improvement.
• Represent Imagine with professionalism, integrity, and a commitment to excellence.

Requirements

The successful candidate will possess the following competencies, experiences, and qualities:

• Demonstrated success leading development teams within a nonprofit organization, directly managing multiple direct reports, preferably supporting annual fundraising budgets exceeding $15 million.
• Significant experience managing donor stewardship programs serving institutional funders, foundations, major donors, and philanthropic partners.
• Proven ability to build fundraising systems, improve operational processes, and establish scalable development infrastructure.
• Experience managing budgets, departmental planning, and organizational priorities.
• Commitment to ethical fundraising, donor stewardship, and continuous improvement.

Education

Bachelor’s degree required. An advanced degree in nonprofit management, public administration, international development, business administration, communications, or a related field is a plus. Relevant professional certifications (such as fundraising or nonprofit leadership credentials) are considered an asset.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Location

The Director of Development is a remote role, with a preference for candidates based on the African continent. Will consider the East Coast of the United States and Europe for candidates with experience working with organizations in Africa. Regional travel for events and to countries of operation will be required. 

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis

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Imagine Worldwide is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.