Chief Development Officer

About this role

About MSF USA | Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international organization that provides medical care to the people who need it most. The organization cares for people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, disasters, and social exclusion in more than 70 countries. MSF offers medical humanitarian assistance solely based on need, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or politics. Our international project teams include medical, logistical, and administrative staff, most of them hired locally and working with their own communities. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality. We also bear witness and speak out about the experiences of our colleagues and patients.

MSF USA is one of 24 sections supporting the global movement, primarily through staff recruitment, fundraising, advocacy, and communications. We welcome candidates who bring a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to join us in working toward MSF’s social mission.

Role Overview

The Chief Development Officer (CDO) provides vision, strategic management, and leadership to implement effective fundraising operations in the US Market in alignment with global movement-wide strategy The Chief Development Officer leads a more than 90-person Development Department accountable to raise more than $800 million annually and provides strategic fundraising leadership across the international MSF community.

The CDO will advance the Development Department while centering MSF’s global mission in all activities and prioritizing alignment with the broader organization’s palpable, well-established culture – a culture which centers humanitarian medical field work above all, organizational independence vis-à-vis its funding sources, an egalitarian openness to new perspectives, and a systematic approach to decision making in a large, complex organization. Acknowledging the prominence of MSF USA’s contributions to global MSF fundraising (constituting nearly 30% of total global funding) and disparities in the fundraising strategies and tactics of MSF sections internationally, it is important the CDO actively foster an ethos of mutual respect, common values, and collaborative partnership in solidarity with MSF section counterparts. The CDO will model diplomacy in balancing local and global priorities as well as shared responsibility in the ongoing enhancement of all MSF fundraising worldwide.

A core charge for the CDO is to strengthen MSF USA’s capability and outcomes in high-touch major and legacy giving and to sustain its considerable historic strength in the broad-based direct response fundraising and digital philanthropy that has yielded the unrestricted giving essential to organizational independence. This leader must maintain a whole-picture perspective that recognizes the varied and complementary elements of MSF USA’s successful fundraising efforts and ongoing importance thereof in future success. They will judiciously promote a culture of philanthropy across MSF USA whereby stakeholders on an organization-wide scale experience increasing comfort with mission-focused, culturally aligned fundraising, and key leaders are strategically engaged and supported as partners in fundraising, particularly in relation to the highest potential major and legacy giving initiatives.

The CDO must be able to execute a clearly articulated departmental strategy that aligns with the organization’s priorities. They will ensure a stable Development Department – prioritizing staff retention and morale – and fundraising infrastructure that is both durable and flexible in responding to a fluid external and operational landscape.

Department Accountabilities

Key Account Management

Responsible for designing, developing, and delivering the organization's account management strategy. May also personally manage a few relationships with the most strategic donors.

Donor Development

Pursue strategic opportunities in coherence with MSF-USA´s strategy that creates long-term value for the movement by cultivating partnerships or identifying and developing new geographies, markets, or donors for its mission.

Donor Relationship Development

Build trust and loyalty with potential donors. Update donors on activities at the simplest level. At a more complex level, build long-term relationships with donors, especially large corporations or foundations.

Brand Positioning

Develop brand positioning based on the brand strategy and implement brand plans.

COMPLEXITY AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

• Operates as a recognized expert to shift into and out of a mental mindset associated with assessing the facts and circumstances of the current situation and/or environment and making the appropriate/innovative adjustments to thinking and work habits to thrive in any scenario. Typically known as a subject matter authority.

• Applies expertise to act as an authority to accurately identify and understand the key donation influences pertaining to an opportunity.

• Applies expertise to act as an authority to quickly and effectively establish trust within the client’s organization.

• Applies expertise to act as an authority to orient MSF USA around delivering to the key needs of their donors.

BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES

THOUGHT : How MSF USA staff understand the organization, manage complexity, and contribute by creating new and different.

People Focus

Builds strong relationships and delivers solutions geared to aiding others. Solicits feedback and data; conveys a clear understanding of the level of service the team provides; takes action when standards are not met by the team; aligns processes with organizational needs.

Manages Complexity

Makes sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems. Consistently looks at complex issues from many angles; obtains a rich and deep understanding swiftly cuts to the c

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