Chief Development Officer

For more than 30 years, Per Scholas has worked to unlock potential, bridge systemic gaps, and build direct pathways to sustainable financial independence. Today, more than 35,000 graduates have launched successful careers in technology through Per Scholas training. With more than 25 locations nationwide, Per Scholas has become a growing national resource for tech talent, delivering technical training to thousands of learners and partnering with hundreds of employers.

About the Role

Per Scholas seeks a visionary, growth-oriented Chief Development Officer (CDO) to architect and execute the capitalization strategy that will scale the organization from its current footprint of approximately $90 million toward $150 million and beyond. Reporting to the President and serving as a key member of the executive leadership team, the CDO will leverage Per Scholas’s fresh brand positioning, national footprint, and demonstrated economic mobility outcomes to build a resilient, multi-stream revenue engine capable of supporting the organization at an enterprise scale.

The CDO will translate Per Scholas’s mission-driven outcomes into a diversified funding strategy combining transformational individual giving, systemic corporate social responsibility alliances, institutional grants, government funding, and innovative earned revenue frameworks. The successful candidate will be an ambitious, systematic builder who recognizes that Per Scholas’s proven track record of accelerating human potential presents a compelling value proposition to investors.

Growth Plan

To reach and sustain an annual operating budget of $150 million and beyond, Per Scholas is pursuing a strategic shift in its revenue distribution over a three- to five-year scaling cycle. The CDO will lead the development and execution of this strategy, balancing growth across multiple high-capacity revenue channels to ensure that rapid expansion strengthens the organization’s long-term financial resilience. The growth strategy will focus on:

• Principal and Major Individual Donors: Engage major philanthropists and cultivate high-yield peer networks focused on systemic economic mobility and opportunity, creating pathways toward transformational seven- and eight-figure gifts.
• Foundations and Large-Scale Grants: Secure multi-year institutional anchors tied to regional and national workforce development milestones and position Per Scholas to compete successfully for significant private foundation, federal, and other institutional funding.
• Corporate Strategic Partnerships: Position the Per Scholas talent pipeline as a strategic asset for corporate America, developing multi-million-dollar, multi-year alliances, ESG alignments, cause-marketing opportunities, and workforce partnerships with hyperscalers and leading Fortune 500 companies.
• Government Funding: Maximize public funding through federal, state, and local opportunities, government-funded partnerships, and advocacy efforts that advance workforce development and economic mobility.
• Earned Revenue Models: Support opportunities to commercialize proprietary assets, training, and employer-based services under the Per Scholas brand in partnership with Enterprise Talent Solutions.

Responsibilities

Brand Mobilization, Mission Integration, and Enterprise Scale

• Design, pressure-test, and execute a multi-year capitalization plan explicitly mapped to move Per Scholas toward and beyond the $150 million annual revenue threshold.
• Leverage Per Scholas’s newly launched identity, narrative, and digital assets to re-engage lapsed donors, accelerate current pipelines, and enter new philanthropic markets.
• Translate complex economic mobility, workforce insertion, and wage-gain metrics into clear, compelling, high-ROI investor materials that resonate with venture philanthropy, institutional funders, corporate partners, and individual donors.
• Architect and manage a balanced revenue portfolio spanning individual giving, corporate alliances, foundations, government funding, and earned revenue to ensure that growth does not create organizational vulnerability.
• Serve as a key public representative of Per Scholas, championing its mission, vision, brand, and impact with donors, partners, and other influential stakeholders.

High-Velocity Relationship Management and Market Expansion

• Build and lead a sophisticated principal and major gifts strategy, cultivating high-net-worth individuals and family foundations interested in systemic poverty disruption, economic mobility, and opportunity.
• Lead strategic moves management to cultivate and secure transformational seven- and eight-figure principal gifts.
• Develop systemic corporate alliances that move beyond traditional charitable contributions toward multi-million-dollar, multi-year partnerships, ESG alignments, cause-marketing campaigns, and workforce collaborations.
• Position Per Scholas to win and successfully absorb significant federal, multilateral, and private foundation grants focused on workforce development and economic equity.
• Expand Per Scholas’s reach into new philanthropic and investment communities by translating its talent accelerator model and measurable outcomes into compelling opportunities for partnership.

Team, Infrastructure, and Organizational Leadership

• Structure, recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing, multi-tier development department capable of operating effectively at a $150 million-plus organizational scale.
• Build the systems, processes, and fundraising infrastructure necessary to support a sophisticated national development operation and sustained revenue growth.
• Partner closely with the President, CEO, and Board of Directors to expand the Board’s networks and equip members to serve as effective ambassadors and fundraisers for Per Scholas.
• Work closely with the Chief Marketing Officer and Communications team to ensure donor cultivation and stewardship materials are aligned with Per Scholas’s updated, impact-first brand.
• Collaborate closely with senior leaders across the organization to ensure alignment across campuses and enterprise-wide initiatives and identify opportunities for braided revenue.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and ambitious goal-setting across the development function.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 15 years of progressive nonprofit fundraising leadership experience, with demonstrated success significantly scaling an organization’s revenue and budget, ideally toward or beyond $100 million.
• A documented history of personally cultivating, soliciting, and closing transformational gifts, including eight-figure commitments across individual, corporate, foundation, or other funding sectors.
• Demonstrated success building, coaching, retaining, and developing high-performing fundraising teams.
• Experience designing and executing sophisticated, diversified revenue strategies encompassing individual philanthropy, corporate partnerships, institutional giving, government funding, and other revenue sources.
• Deep alignment with Per Scholas’s commitment to economic mobility, career acceleration, and structural equity. Experience in workforce development, education reform, economic justice, or related fields is highly preferred.
• Experience working successfully in highly matrixed, fast-moving organizations, with the ability to thrive in ambiguity and build alignment across teams, functions, and geographies.
• Demonstrated success partnering with marketing and communications teams and leveraging a rebrand or significant marketing shift to support donor acquisition, engagement, and revenue growth.
• Experience managing complex, geographically distributed fundraising operations and budgets, coupled with a passion for building and leading capable fundraising teams.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills and the presence and credibility to engage high-net-worth individuals, institutional funders, corporate executives, government partners, and other influential stakeholders.
• An authentic and highly engaging communication style, with the ability to translate Per Scholas’s mission, brand story, talent accelerator model, and economic mobility outcomes into a compelling case for investment.
• A strategic and entrepreneurial mindset, with the ability to pursue ambitious opportunities while building the systems and infrastructure required for sustainable long-term growth.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $250,000 to $275,000, commensurate with experience.

Schedule

This position will be based in the New York Metro area or other major markets, including: Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, and Los Angeles.