About the California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences is a globally renowned scientific and cultural institution located in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Home to a world-class planetarium, aquarium, research center, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—our mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

Our extensive collections span plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history. We are a diverse team of leading biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators who work collaboratively to advance knowledge and inspire action through science and storytelling.

When you join the California Academy of Sciences, you become part of a mission-driven community that values curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. Whether you're working behind the scenes in research or engaging the public on the museum floor, your work will help connect people to the natural world and empower them to protect it.

 

About the Opportunity

Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, the Strategic Advancement Manager is a full-time position working closely with members of the Advancement Team, other Academy Departments, Academy Leadership. This position will take a leading role in advancing coordinated and integrated engagement, stewardship, and fundraising strategies across the team for donors and prospects, and will work closely with Advancement leadership to launch strategic fundraising or operational initiatives.

The position also provides fundraising guidance to Advancement staff by championing strategies, tools, and resources for frontline fundraisers. The Strategic Advancement Manager will serve as the Advancement team’s project manager, connecting all development staff initiatives between departments and driving progress.

Organizational Culture
Join a team dedicated to the Academy’s mission, vision and values! Currently, the Academy has a new strategic plan including three initiatives – Hope for Reefs, Thriving California, and Islands 2030 – that leverage biodiversity science, environmental learning, and collaborative engagement to regenerate fragile ecosystems around the world. Learn more at https://www.calacademy.org/about-us/major-initiatives.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are intrinsic to Academy culture and operations, from recruitment and retention to science and advocacy.

We hope you are inspired by what we do and are excited to contribute to our mission. The mission of the California Academy of Sciences is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. The Academy is looking for candidates who do great work, and we know they may come from a number of different backgrounds and experiences. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every one of the qualifications for the position.

This position is based in San Francisco, California. Staff are currently expected to work from the Academy offices at least 2-3 times per week, which may fluctuate based on business needs. Please do not apply if you are not able to work onsite. This position is part of a bargaining unit represented by Cal Academy Workers United. Once the Academy has a Collective Bargaining Agreement with Cal Academy Workers United this position will be subject to the terms and conditions of that contract. Candidates are required to have up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment, absent qualifying exemptions in accordance with applicable laws. Individuals receiving a conditional offer of employment from the California Academy of Sciences will be provided the full text of the vaccination policy. The California Academy of Sciences is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace, to protect its employees, volunteers and guests.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Strategy Program Leadership and Integration

• Provides thought partnership with fundraising staff to develop donor-specific strategies for meaningful touchpoints, individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship methods in support of portfolio management, division goals, and Academy funding priorities 
• Advise on solicitation planning, including portfolio solicitation letters; prepare meeting briefs and other materials; execute follow-up related to donor meetings and solicitations
• Work closely with the Executive Director’s Office to track and plan bespoke itineraries for meetings or site visits and debrief on fundraising strategy meetings  
• In partnership with the Advancement Communications team, create and maintain fundraising proposal materials, funding opportunity menus related to strategic initiatives, and other special fundraising efforts to support donor solicitations
• Working with Advancement leadership, the Strategic Advancement Manager will create and maintain existing donor stewardship policies — with an overall goal of building stronger personalized relationships with Academy donors — and update as needed
• Connect with the Donor Events and wider Donor Experience team to ensure consistent division-wide tracking of donor interactions
• Lead and organize appropriate Advancement and cross-departmental meetings focusing on strategy, information sharing, and collaboration
• Manage stewardship reports and understand grant terms to partner with Relationship Managers, Academy program reps, and the Advancement Communications Team to guarantee timely composition and delivery
• Lead fundraising strategy conversations to make connections between Strategic Initiative Academy Partners and fundraising staff to leverage opportunities, build awareness, and facilitate meaningful engagement for donors around these efforts
• Develop and implement personalized donor engagement and stewardship strategies to increase donor retention

Project Management, Data Analysis, and System Development

• Work in close collaboration with the Academy’s Finance team on fundraising budgets, strategic initiative fundraising tracking, and Advancement department fundraising reporting tools
• Work in close collaboration with the Advancement Operations Manager to influence and ensure efficient moves management and prospect tracking systems in Tessitura
• Collaborate with the Advancement Operations team and Relationship Managers to support timely supporter acknowledgement letters.
• Play a leadership role working with the Prospect Analyst, Development Research Manager, and Development Operations Manager to ensure cohesive and integrated approaches to build donor pipeline and prospecting systems for division-wide efforts
• Collaborate closely with the Advancement Research team to organize and prioritize research demands from leadership and gift officers into actionable and efficient research requests
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with Advancement colleagues and Academy partners to move forward with efficient tracking systems and donor strategy
• Ensure division-wide fundraising plans, touchpoints, and tags are appropriately updated in Tessitura in partnership with the Advancement Operations Manager

Portfolio Management and Solicitation Activation

• Strategically collaborate with the Chief Advancement Officer and the Director, Leadership Philanthropy to review and manage the next steps with portfolios and other qualified donors who have a six-figure+ capacity for solicitation
• Grow donor pyramid and review donor solicitation cycles for the division to ensure touchpoints are made and no donor/prospect is left untouched 

Other

• Follow all Academy safety regulations
• Ability to work evenings and weekends to support donor events
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS: A successful candidate will have the following:

Experience and /or Education:

A qualified candidate will have a combination of the following education and/or equivalent experience: 

• At least five years of increasing responsibility in donor strategy or a related field
• Experience leading and influencing fundraising decisions and strategies on a medium to large Development Team
• Relationship and moves management experience in a fast-paced fundraising environment
• Experience using a Donor Database - Tessitura is preferred 

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities: 

• A solid background in the fundamentals of fundraising and donor stewardship; experience should include data analysis, prospect identification, solicitation design, working with volunteer leadership, and training staff
• Demonstrated expertise to prioritize and project manage multiple priorities efficiently with deadlines in mind
• Energetic, self-directed, and confident, but also flexible, creative, and considerate
• Understands when to escalate, along with excellent upward management skills
• Able to collaborate diplomatically, effectively, and successfully with peers, external volunteers, vendors, and donors — proven negotiation skills
• Excellent problem-solving, written and verbal communication, and interpersonal skills
• Takes the initiative with sound judgment
• Desire to assist others and a willingness to work as part of a team 
• Experience in designing proposals and presentations
• Proficiency with Google and MS Office Suites
• Highly organized and detail-oriented

 

Compensation and Benefits
The salary range for this position is $82,202 - $85,530. Actual compensation will be commensurate with the final candidate's qualifications and experience, including skills, knowledge, relevant education, certifications and aligned with the internal peer group. We believe in fair and equitable compensation practices and are committed to providing competitive salaries within the industry and market standards. The Academy offers a total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits based on the hours per week worked. Further details regarding compensation and benefits will be discussed during the interview process.

Schedule:  Full-Time, 40 hours per week

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, sit, use a computer, and communicate on the phone, in person, and online meetings/calls. Must be able to perform repetitive motions 80% of the time.