Vp Of Development Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Job Summary:

The Vice President of Development will serve as the chief architect of Eastern State's fundraising strategy and the face of our development relationships. You will lead and shape the advancement team, with support from the existing Director of Development, and will work in close partnership with the Senior Director of Finance, the CEO & President, and the Board to expand our donor base, deepen donor relationships, and launch capital campaigns to fund transformational projects at Eastern State. You will personally carry a major gifts portfolio as you build your team and will be expected to close six- and seven-figure gifts.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Fundraising Strategy & Revenue Growth

• Design and execute an ambitious multi-year development strategy to grow Eastern State’s contributed revenue from $3M toward $10–15M, diversifying across individual, corporate, foundation, and government sources.
• Personally manage a portfolio of 50 major gift prospects and donors at the $25,000+ level, with a focus on closing 6- and 7-figure gifts from individuals locally and nationally.
• Lead the design and execution of a capital campaign for a new education center, from case for support and feasibility through campaign close.
• Leverage Eastern State’s large, mission-aligned visitor base, including tens of thousands of daytime programming visitation, as a pipeline for donor acquisition, membership conversion, and major gift cultivation.
• Set clear goals, benchmarks, and metrics; establish a results-oriented culture of philanthropy and accountability across the development team and the organization.

Institutional Giving: Foundations, Government & Corporate

• Oversee and grow a diversified portfolio of foundation, government, and corporate grants, with particular attention to the national criminal justice education, historic preservation, museum experience, workforce development funding landscapes.
• Cultivate and deepen relationships with program officers at Philadelphia-area and national foundations whose priorities align with Eastern State’s program pillars.
• Build and grow a corporate partnerships and sponsorship program, with Eastern State’s museum programming and festivals as a primary vehicle for high-value corporate engagement.
• Work with the existing team to continue to ensure that each of Eastern State’s distinct program areas, historic site, justice education, and workforce development, has its own strong, independent grant pipeline.

Team Leadership & Organizational Culture

• Lead, mentor, and grow a development team, including the existing Director of Development, adding capacity in major gifts, individual giving, grants, operations, and planned to give as the organization scales.
• Partner with the CEO & President and Board of Directors to cultivate a high-performing, organization-wide culture of philanthropy in which fundraising is a shared responsibility.
• Build the systems, processes, and infrastructure, donor database integrity, prospect research, gift processing, stewardship workflows, that a growing development program requires.
• Partner with the communications team to develop compelling donor-facing narratives, cases for support, and stewardship materials that translate Eastern State’s complex mission into powerful stories.
• Serve as a core member of the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to organization-wide strategic planning, budgeting, and culture-building beyond the development department.
• Alongside the Senior Director of Finance cultivate the annual and multi-year revenue forecasting process, ensuring the CEO & President and Board have accurate, data-driven insights for institutional decision-making.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• At least 10+ years of progressive nonprofit fundraising experience, including a demonstrated track record of closing 6- and 7-figure gifts from individual donors.
• Demonstrated success building and leading a development team through a period of significant revenue growth.
• Experience in a leading role in a comprehensive or capital campaign.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex mission work into narratives that inspire and motivate donors.
• Experience using donor management systems, like Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, or equivalent) to drive strategy and accountability.
• A collaborative leadership style; demonstrated ability to work effectively across staff, board, and external partners.
• Demonstrated experience in financial modeling and revenue forecasting for a growing nonprofit.
• Proven ability to navigate complex, sensitive narratives (e.g., carceral history and social justice) with donors and stakeholders.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time.
• Ability to walk all aspects of the 11-acre site when needed.
• Ability to work in space where temperatures may vary to cold and hot
• Ability to lift up to 10 pounds

EEO Statement

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, arrest record or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Our management team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities and general treatment during employment.

ESPHS strongly believes in second chances and, as such, is committed to providing appropriate employment opportunities to those who have been incarcerated. As a condition of employment, all individuals who accept an employment offer must complete a criminal background check. Eastern State will review any criminal record and make appropriate employment decisions in accordance with applicable law and its policies.

Other duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Eastern State Penitentiary Halloween Nights employees are expected to be flexible and to take on additional duties as assigned, according to the organization’s needs and the staff member’s skills and abilities.