Chief Development Officer

About this role

Job Title: Chief Development Officer

Department: Development

Location: Hybrid within the DC Metro area

Reports to: President

Direct Reports: Yes

Classification: Exempt

Position Type: Full-time

Anticipated Pay Range at Commencement of Employment: $159,000 - $238,000

Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families is the largest nonprofit dedicated to making military life better for families. Each year, we support over 1.5 million military- and veteran-connected family members through a national network of 300,000+ members and local chapters in communities across the country.

Our mission is simple and bold: We make military life awesome for families. We listen, share, partner, and act to deliver evidence-based, data-driven solutions that work for real people. We’re a lifestyle organization, a friend and neighbor, and a trusted partner. Our approach is collaborative, human-centered, and designed with the whole family in mind.

A Blue Star Family is one with an immediate family member — a spouse, parent, or child — actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Guard and Reserves. These families face unique challenges, including frequent relocations, deployments, career disruptions, and isolation. We respond with research-informed programs that create connection, build resilience, and foster a true sense of belonging.

We serve with urgency but build trust over time — because change happens at the speed of trust. Whether we’re driving spouse employment, supporting caregivers, or helping communities welcome military families, we strive for upstream solutions.

Who We’re Looking For:

• Bold thinkers. Fast movers. Smart collaborators. People who want to build, lead, and drive measurable change — and who care deeply about making an impact that matters.

What You’ll Do Here:

• Solve complex challenges with data, heart, and humility

• Build cross-sector partnerships that get things done

• Help military families feel at home wherever they live

If you're ready to work in a high-performance, mission-driven environment — and to make life better for those who serve — Blue Star Families is where you belong.

As a fully remote organization, we rely on scheduled in-person gatherings to foster alignment, collaboration, and organizational culture. This role requires the ability to travel out of town overnight several times per year for staff offsites, planning retreats, and company-wide events. These gatherings are essential for connection, brainstorming, and staying strategically aligned across teams. Participation is required as a core part of the role.

General Description

The Chief Development Officer is a senior executive responsible for building and leading the infrastructure that supports a $35M+ fundraising operation. This role is primarily focused on enterprise-level strategy and operational leadership rather than direct frontline fundraising. While the CDO serves as a key thought partner to the President, CEO, Board of Directors, and Executive Leadership Team on major donor strategy and high-level engagements, the core responsibility of the role is to design, implement, and continuously strengthen the systems, structures, and capabilities that enable a high-performing development function.

The ideal candidate is a systems-oriented leader and organizational builder who excels in creating operational clarity, scalable processes, and data-informed decision-making frameworks. They bring a strong focus on executional excellence, pipeline discipline, and cross-functional alignment. This leader will oversee a comprehensive Development function that includes major and principal gifts, capital campaigns, corporate and foundation partnerships, direct marketing, planned giving and endowment, donor operations, and stewardship. They ensure each area operates with clear goals, defined accountability, and consistent performance measurement aligned to organizational priorities.

The Chief Development Officer must be able to travel overnight several times per year to attend leadership retreats, staff off-sites, and organization-wide events. Participation in these gatherings is an essential function of the role.

*The Chief Development Officer must reside in Washington D.C. Metro area.

Key Job Functions

Strategy, Structure & Department Leadership

• Design and lead the structure of the Development department, ensuring appropriate roles, spans of control, reporting lines, and performance metrics are in place to support a $35M+ revenue base and long-term growth trajectory.

• Develop and own the multi-year development strategy, translating organizational priorities into annual revenue goals, channel-specific targets, staffing models, and operating budgets.

• Serve as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, providing senior-level expertise on philanthropy, advancement operations, and revenue strategy; partner closely with the CFO on revenue forecasting, gift accounting, and audit readiness.

• Establish and sustain a culture of accountability and high performance through clear role design, defined performance expectations, standardized scorecards, regular pipeline reviews, and structured coaching.

Internal Processes & Operating Systems

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of core Development processes, including moves management, prospect identification and qualification, proposal development, grant submission and reporting, gift entry and acknowledgment, pledge management, and donor stewardship workflows.

• Own and optimize the Development technology ecosystem (e.g., Salesforce CRM, prospect research and wealth screening tools, marketing automation, and grants management systems), ensuring integration, configuration integrity, and reliable data output.

• Establish and enforce data governance standards across constituent records, gift coding, campaign and appeal tracking, restriction designations, and pipeline stages to ensure accuracy and consistency in all reportin

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