Sr. Manager, Business Development

CLASP is the leading global authority on efficient appliances’ role in fighting climate change and improving people's lives. With 25 years of expertise, CLASP collaborates with policymakers, industry leaders, and other experts to deliver clear pathways to a more sustainable world for people and the planet.

CLASP is a global nonprofit with offices in Europe, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the United States. We have worked in over 90 countries since our inception in 1999. We are mission-driven and committed to a culture of diversity, transparency, collaboration, and impactful work. Find out more about CLASP.

The Ideal Candidate

CLASP seeks a seasoned development professional to take CLASP’s fundraising functions and capacity to the next level.

The successful candidate will be an exceptional, strategic proposal writer and have expertise in building and managing development infrastructure and processes. We are seeking an agile professional with well-honed listening skills, a flexible interpersonal approach, adept at distilling complex information into clear messages, and who can adapt to evolving contexts and priorities.

This inaugural position will be based out of CLASP’s Washington, DC office, report to the Chief Communications & Development Officer, and collaborate closely with the CEO, Chief of Staff, and others across CLASP’s leadership and communications teams. The candidate will join this highly decentralized fundraising team, coordinate across the group, and provide new processes to professionalize and streamline their work.

Key Responsibilities

• Proposal development: Lead the development of and contribute to solicited proposals, in collaboration with program leads, senior leadership and the communications team as needed.
• Proposal process: Collaborate with colleagues across the CLASP team to build more standardized proposal development processes. Lead these processes, e.g. for grant renewals.
• Content development: Develop presentations, concept notes, and other collateral for current and potential donors. Work with senior leadership, program leads, and the communications team to review and refine such content.
• Donor diversification: In partnership with senior leadership, develop a pipeline of prospective donors and associated engagement plans. Manage their implementation. Work with leadership to assess whether CLASP should diversify to new types of investment, e.g. individual giving.
• Donor engagement: Develop standards, processes, and plans for managing and engaging current donors. Work with senior leadership to implement these across the organization.
• CRM management: Work with the IT / Operations department and administrative colleagues to build and maintain donor contacts in CLASP’s CRM.
• Team oversight: Over time, develop a fundraising team and mentor colleagues on that team. Work with senior leadership to design and build that team.
• Project management: Strong project management skills and the ability to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Board of Directors: Support the leadership team in developing content for and supporting the relationship with the CLASP Board, as needed.
• Set Fundraising Goals & Track Progress: Set individual goals and contribute to organization-wide fundraising goals; track against those goals.
• Adapt and respond to work priorities: You adapt initiatives, priorities, and methods based on changing operational/external conditions and client need. You tailor work based on team capacities, organizational priorities, resources, client needs, and operational/external context
• Persuade: You advise managers and teams on new approaches that sustain project/program quality or delivery. You build collaborative networks with clients and external stakeholders that assess performance, anticipate needs, and enable adaptation of projects and programs.
• Adapt the Project and Program Cycle: You sustain quality and timeliness of delivery while incorporating new learnings, policies and procedures based on evolving client feedback, stakeholder needs and operational demands.

• 8 -12 years of development and fundraising experience, preferably in a related sector (e.g. international development, climate, energy, humanitarian).
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, media, international relations, public relations, public policy, or similar.
• Excellent written and digital communication skills, with a track record of professional experience in non-profit management.
• Strong interpersonal skills and an orientation toward working in a collaborative environment. Ability to maintain composure, flexibility, and a sense of humor. Ability to provide productive feedback at multiple levels, internally and externally
• Confident and polished verbal communication skills; ability to connect with and influence people in a diverse, international work environment.
• Languages: English fluency a must, other languages desirable (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, etc.).
• Demonstrated experience supervising and developing team members.
• Proven ability to take complex, technical ideas and turn them into compelling materials in a variety of formats; experience writing funding proposals required.
• Good visual eye; must be able to reproduce and maintain CLASP’s brand and family of brand identities across all materials.
• Effective project and team coordination skills.
• Strong time management and organizational skills with ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at a time under deadline.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and CRMs; experience with Adobe Creative Cloud applications preferred.

CLASP provides its employees with a highly competitive salary that is benchmarked annually with other non-profit organizations in the DC metropolitan area. CLASP also provides a comprehensive benefits package, including fully paid health insurance for individuals and competitive rates for families/dependents, unlimited leave and all federal holidays, an impressive match of employee contributions to the 403b retirement plan and a collegial office environment that supports professional development, wellness and flexible telecommuting options.

This position will be based at CLASP’s Washington, D.C. office, and the successful candidate must reside in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia. In-office participation will be required approximately once per week, typically on Wednesdays. The role also involves occasional travel, both domestic and international, approximately three times per year. Evening and weekend hours may be necessary as well. The salary range for this position is $100,068.00 to $149,730.00. Compensation will be determined based on the candidate’s experience, education, and relevant skills.