Job Description
Position Purpose
The Senior Manager, Strategic Philanthropy & Board Engagemen t is a key member of the Resource Development team, responsible for leading the planning, coordination, and execution of National Board engagement at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA). Reporting to the Vice President Strategic Philanthropy (VP), this role ensures the national Board of Directors operates with excellence driving forward a well-structured, forward-looking cadence of meetings, agendas, and strategic discussions that align with organizational priorities.
This role owns the end-to-end management of Board operations, including building and forecasting annual and multi-meeting agendas, identifying and sequencing key topics for discussion, and ensuring all materials, logistics, and communications are executed at a high level. The senior manager will partner closely with the CEO, CDO, and Senior Leadership Team to ensure board meetings are not only well-run, but strategically curated to inform, engage, and activate board members in meaningful ways.
In parallel, this role brings a philanthropic lens to board engagement, ensuring board members are effectively stewarded as donors, advocates, and connectors. The Senior Manager, Strategic Philanthropy and Board Engagement will also support the cultivation and stewardship of BBBSA’s top-tier donor portfolio, helping to drive coordinated engagement strategies, high-quality donor experiences, and strong follow-through with major and transformational supporters.
The ideal candidate is highly organized, strategic, and relationship-oriented, capable of managing complex logistics while also contributing to high-level engagement strategies that strengthen both governance and revenue outcomes.
FLSA Status: Full Time, Exempt
Location: Continental United States (100% Remote)
Travel: Approximately 15-20 %
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Board Relations and Key Partnership Management/Coordination:
- Serve as a strategic partner to the VP, Strategic Philanthropy, Chief Development Officer (CDO), and CEO in stewarding national board members as donors, advocates, and connectors
- Lead planning and execution of board meetings and committee meetings with a focus on inspiration, engagement, and philanthropic outcomes
- Ensure all board materials and experiences reinforce BBBSA’s case for investment, strategic priorities, and funding opportunities
- Oversee onboarding and offboarding of board members with a clear emphasis on philanthropic expectations and opportunities for engagement
- Design and manage a Board Engagement & Philanthropy Program that tracks giving, engagement, and strategic alignment of each board member
- Support the development and execution of individualized board member engagement plans, including giving goals, cultivation strategies, and stewardship touchpoints
- Partner with senior leadership to activate board members in opening doors to new major donors, corporate partners, and philanthropic opportunities
Major Donor Strategy & Portfolio Support:
- Support the VP, Strategic Philanthropy and senior leaders within the Resource Development department in managing a top-tier portfolio of major and transformational donors
- Coordinate moves management across priority donors, tracking cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities
- Develop high-quality briefing materials, proposals, stewardship reports, and engagement strategies for top donors
- Partner with executive leadership to prepare for and follow up on high-stakes donor meetings, events, and experiences
- Help design and execute white-glove donor experiences, including small convenings, dinners, and thought leadership engagements
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records in CRM systems to ensure visibility into donor engagement and pipeline progress
Culture
- Demonstrate commitment to BBBSA’s shared leadership competencies and organizational values.
- Provide consistent follow-up regarding assigned projects and after meetings.
- Cultivate an environment where all team members feel valued, included, and empowered to achieve their potential.
- Manage related and other duties as assigned in support of department and business needs.
Education, Skills & Related Work Experience
Education Level: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, relevant business experience
Years and Scope of Related Work Experience: Experience working directly with or supporting executives and/or board of directors required. Minimum of 6-8 years senior level executive assistance, operations management, administrative and project for a national company; nonprofit and board experience preferred, but not required.
Skills and Knowledge:
- Proficient knowledge and application of Microsoft Office Suite with advanced expertise in Office, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
- Advanced practical knowledge in organization, project management, travel and relationship management platforms including, but not limited, to Microsoft Asana, OneNote, SharePoint, NEO1 or Concur.
- Travel, Salesforce CRM, virtual meeting platforms (e.g., zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) or similar software with the ability to learn new or updated technology.
- Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
- Expert level verbal and written communication skills and attention to detail.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with proven ability to build rapport and maintain relationships across a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
- Extensive knowledge of office administration, clerical systems and procedures, and recordkeeping systems.
- Ability to identify and solve problems and appropriately facilitate conflict resolution.
- Highly organized approach with demonstrated ability to handle multiple projects, set and manage priorities, timelines and budgets within fast-paced environment while maintaining a commitment to high quality, detail- oriented work.
- Leadership and cross functional project management skills with the ability to motivate and galvanize others toward a common goal.
- Proven adaptability, ability to handle multiple projects and timelines and within a fast-paced environment while maintaining a commitment to discretion, timeliness and high quality, detail-oriented work.
- Demonstrates initiative, creativity and innovation.
- Exceptional attention to detail and organization. interpersonal skills.
- Sound judgment, discretion, and ability to handle sensitive information.
- Experience with document and file management tools preferred.
Our Commitment
At Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, we recognize, affirm, and celebrate the backgrounds, lives, and experiences of all of our stakeholders, including youth, families, donors, volunteers, and staff. We ensure the opportunity for all voices and perspectives to be heard and honored. In the workplace, we foster an environment where all people can be their best selves. We affirm that every person has the opportunity to reach their full potential. We strive to realize the full potential that is within all of us by ensuring that all voices and perspectives are heard and honored.
Equal Employment Opportunity
BBBSA provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to race, creed, color, citizenship, religion, national origin, age, sex, familial or marital status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or any other legally-protected status in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and ordinances.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Employee must be able to perform all essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Job Responsibilities
The above statements reflect the general duties, responsibilities and competencies considered necessary to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of the job and should not be considered as a detailed description of all the work requirements of the position. BBBSA may change the specific job duties with or without prior notice based on the needs of the organization.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is directly recruiting and hiring for this position. We are not engaging any staffing/recruitment firms or agencies for this position. If any candidate profile/resume/identifying information is sent to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and/or Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies, we will not pay any referral or firm fees in relation to this information.
