Development Manager

About the Organization: Merit America

The American economy is broken. Today, 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. These talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time boot camp programs don’t offer enough flexibility, and online courses don’t have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: We start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we support our learners in their job search, helping them connect with a broad constellation of local and national employers such as JPMorgan Chase and Accenture to land higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $24k three months or more after completing the program. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. Since our founding in 2018, we’ve generated a projected $1 billion in near-term wage gains for our learners.

About the Role:

Merit America empowers low-wage workers to build family-sustaining careers. As the Development Manager, you'll secure transformative gifts from foundations, corporations, and individuals to fuel this mission. You'll cultivate a robust pipeline, develop compelling proposals, and work closely with leadership to secure and steward six- and seven-figure grants.

The Development Manager is an exempt role and will actively work with Merit America’s Philanthropy team leaders to expertly manage and thoughtfully cultivate relationships with new and existing funding partners and ensure their commitment to the organization's mission.

A successful candidate will:

1. Thoughtfully and strategically drive the development of a robust portfolio of new funding partners with annual grant sizes between $250,000 and $5M, including research and prospecting.
2. Develop and present strong, compelling cases for support to attract new six- and seven-figure corporate and foundation funding partners to our mission and impact.
3. Manage a portfolio of existing institutional donors, including stewardship, reporting, and renewal strategy.

Role Structure & Goals:

• Reports to the Director of Institutional Giving within Merit America's Sustainability Team
• Part of a team with a 2025 portfolio goal of approximately $40M in secured funding
• Key relationship contact or account manager for several funding partners

What You’ll be Doing:

Alongside the Director of Institutional Giving, the Development Manager will create and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy focused on individual, foundation, and corporate funding partners. This leader will manage some relationships and opportunities with foundations and corporations that fund Merit America or are likely to do so in the future.

The responsibilities of the Development Manager will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Pipeline Development & Research (40%):

• Build and maintain major individual donor and institutional funding pipeline using research tools and network intelligence
• Design and implement prospect screening criteria and outreach strategies
• Partner with Development Coordinator on:
  • Prospect research and relationship mapping
  • CRM management and pipeline tracking
  • Prospect profiles and funding estimates
• Build relationships within funder communities through strategic networking, conferences, and other events
• Partner with Sr. Sustainability Manager on grant calendar and pipeline management, executing action items aligned to internal and external deadlines
• Prepare briefing materials for leadership donor meetings, as needed

Initial Outreach & Proposal Development (30%):

• Partner with Finance, Growth, Product, Policy, and Program teams to craft compelling proposals to prospective funders and meet the needs of Merit America’s mission and strategy.
• Create well-written, engaging, and strategic grant proposals, budgets, and supplementary materials that position Merit America for success according to all submission and reporting deadlines.
• Work with program, finance, and impact teams to gather proposal content and ensure accuracy
• Work with the Sr. Sustainability Manager to track and manage proposal deadlines and submission requirements
• Develop impact measurement frameworks aligned with funder priorities
• Support development teammates in the creation of reports for current funders

Stewardship and Relationship Management (20%):

• Cultivate and manage a portfolio of individual and institutional donors, guiding them through the entire grant lifecycle from initial outreach to renewal and increased giving.
• Develop and execute engagement strategies to deepen relationships with program officers and foundation contacts, including:
  • Targeted communications and updates
  • Site visits and events
  • Impactful reports and presentations
  • Customized stewardship activities
• Collaborate with the Development team on broader initiatives, including events, donor recognition, and database management.
• Ensure seamless communication with funders, drafting compelling correspondence and preparing briefing materials for leadership meetings.
• Contribute to a culture of philanthropy by identifying opportunities to enhance the donor experience across all touchpoints (e.g., website, events, reporting).

Systems Management & Process (10%)

• Track and analyze giving metrics and pipeline health
• Contribute to development strategy and annual planning
• Drive relationship transition planning and institutional memory building
• Support proposal and reporting calendar
• Manage giving data in Salesforce and Hex platforms

What Makes a Successful Candidate:

We recognize that individuals from marginalized backgrounds, including women, people of color, and those with disabilities, are often less likely to apply when they don’t meet 100% of the job qualifications. Don’t let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We want to emphasize that your unique skills, experiences, and perspectives are valuable, and we encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of the skills and competencies. Below are the skills that are relevant for thriving in this role:

Must Haves:

• Proven experience working within a nonprofit development team, including working on an individual or institutional giving portfolio that includes multiple six- and seven-figure gifts
• Understanding of philanthropy landscape and grantmaking processes, including experience with prospecting for an individual giving portfolio
• Exceptional writing skills with the ability to craft compelling narratives and clear explanations of complex programs; comfort with using impact data to shape narratives
• Strong attention to detail
• Strong project management abilities with a track record of managing multiple deadlines and stakeholders
• Strategic networking skills and proven ability to build and maintain relationships with external partners
• Strong analytical skills for assessing funding opportunities and creating budgets
• Experience with project budget development or management
• Proven ability to manage up and coordinate with executive leadership
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to drive projects forward independently
• Proven ability to effectively and independently correspond and engage with funders in writing, on calls, and in person
• Committed to Merit America’s mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers
• Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture
• Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we serve, true to our value of Win & Lose Together
• Committed to continuous learning and growth in understanding and addressing issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice
• Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Salesforce
• Familiarity with the workforce development sector
• Comfort working with ChatGPT or similar AI tools

Other Logistics

• This position is full-time: 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Location: Remote
• Salary: $105,000
• Application Deadline: applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Our goal is to have competitive and equitable compensation. We have a market-based compensation approach, which means we benchmark each role from reputable data sources. We compare our benchmarks against similarly sized non-profit organizations with comparable annual budgets and geographical areas. We pay the same rate for the same roles and adjust to comply with statutory mandates.

Remote Work & Sponsorship

Candidates must be residents of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia and authorized to work in the same location. We do not sponsor employment visas, and positions are not located in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success, and we are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer.

This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.

We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain fully inclusive workspaces. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in our video with our founding partner, Google.

Fair Chance Ordinance

Applicants who have arrest or conviction records and are in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will be considered in accordance with the state’s fair chance ordinance law. Employment under the ordinance includes part-time work, seasonal work, contract work, contingent work, work on commission, and work through the services of a temporary or employment agency.

E-Verify Statement

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.

We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits*:

• 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
• Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
• Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
• Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit America
• Education & personal development reimbursement
• Catalog of course for professional learning and development
• Short and long-term disability
• Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
• Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after one year of employment)
• 11 federally recognized holidays
• 1-week office closure in July (week of July 4th)
• 2-week holiday office closure in December/January
• 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit America contribution
• Wellness Benefits/Wellness Resources
• Discount perks at work program
• Phone/technology stipend
• Home office setup stipend
• Affinity groups and community building via virtual, in-person, and/or regional meetups
• Eligibility for some benefits may vary based on employment states, full-time or part-time, and eligibility will be outlined during the hiring process or upon hire.