Youth Engagement Fund (YEF) – Deputy Director

Team: Youth Engagement Fund

About the role

The Deputy Director is a member of the Youth Engagement Fund’s (YEF) Senior Leadership Team (SLT) who partners closely with the Executive Director to drive strategy, fundraising, and high-impact programming. This role plays a leading part in the design and execution of fundraising strategy, serves as an external representative in funder and donor relationships, and provides strategic oversight of the programs team. The Deputy Director reports directly to the Executive Director and serves as both a strategist and organizational leader, implementing the mission and vision into aligned, equity-driven work across the organization, its philanthropic partners, and the overall sector.

Location: Remote with substantial cross-country travel (approximately 30% – 40% of the year). Preferred base location in Phoenix Metro Area, New York City, Washington, DC, Boston Metro Area, Los Angeles Metro Area, or Bay Area.

Role: Full-time, regular, salaried, exempt
Reports to: Executive Director
Direct Reports: Development Officer, Senior Program Officer

Responsibilities

Fundraising, Donor Engagement & External Relations (50%)

• Co-lead YEF’s fundraising strategy in partnership with the Executive Director and oversee execution of fundraising strategy.
• Design and execute donor stewardship, including working with the Development Officer on funder and donor research, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Serve as a leading external representative of the organization primarily at in-person funder and donor conferences, events, meetings, and as a spokesperson in speaking engagements.
• Develop and maintain relationships with philanthropic partners including institutional funders, donor collaboratives, individual donors, and aligned organizational partners.
• Lead or co-lead donor presentations, briefings, pitch meetings, and speaking engagements.
• Lead strategy for participation in external funder events, conferences, briefings, and meetings.
• Oversee creation of donor-facing materials such as concept notes, grant proposals and reports, and communications collateral such as donor update memos, impact reports, and learning briefs.
• Identify new funding opportunities and shape multi-year fundraising plans.
• Manage fundraising/development staff and consultants to strengthen systems for donor prospect tracking, stewardship, and communication.
• Act as an ambassador in the philanthropic sector to engage and organize funders and donors in service of the needs of the movement partners (grantees).
• Oversee management and maintenance of YEF’s funder and donor database, EveryAction.
• Lead on design and implementation of fundraising strategy for Youth Engagement Action Fund (YEAF), YEF’s 501(c)4 sister organization.
• Ensure compliance with and across 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 funding streams, including in grant applications and reporting.
• Represent YEAF in 501(c)4 philanthropic network and movement spaces.

Senior Leadership & Executive Partnership (20%)

• Serve as an external ambassador for the organization’s strategy, values, and field leadership in partnership with other Senior Leadership Team members.
• Serve as a thought partner to the Executive Director on organizational vision, strategic direction, and priority setting.
• Participate in the Senior Leadership Team to guide overall organization and its success.
• Co-lead implementation of governance structure and communications along with Executive Director including recruitment, onboarding, and communications with Guiding Circle (Advisory Board) members.
• Project manage engagement of YEF’s Guiding Circle including planning regular advisory board meetings, setting agendas, preparing materials, and managing speakers with the support of programs and operations team, and Development Officer.
• Represent the organization alongside the Executive Director in strategic coalitions, funder tables, and cross-sector partnerships.
• Exemplify internal culture-building grounded in equity, transparency, trust, and accountable collaboration.
• Collaborate with the Director of People and Operations on compliance with NEO Philanthropy as the fiscal sponsor as applicable.
• Work in parallel partnership with the Director of People and Operations on executive-level project management to ensure that program and development work plans and projects are being implemented across the organization.

Oversee Movement Partner Programming (20%)

• Work with the Senior Program Officer and program team to design, implement, and maintain grantmaking and movement partner (grantee) programming.
• Coordinate with program staff to ensure all fundraising materials are reflective of the work of YEF and YEF movement partners and include up-to-date metrics.
• Facilitate the flow of information between the program and development teams.
• Serve as a thought partner to the Senior Program Officer to provide strategic support on strategy, design, criteria, and learning frameworks.
• Provide high-level coordination of the organization’s grantmaking strategy to ensure alignment with organizational fundraising needs and strategy.
• Support synthesis of insights from movement partners (grantees) and convenings into fundraising strategy, donor communications, and learning products.
• Champion equitable, trust-based, and community-centered philanthropic practices.

People Leadership & Organizational Integration (10%)

• Supervise Senior Program Officer and Development team positions ensuring cross-team integration with an emphasis on alignment for fundraising strategy.
• Foster cross-team collaboration, shared learning, and a healthy, equity-driven organizational culture.
• Support hiring and onboarding for strategic roles, especially those connected to fundraising.
• Work with other YEF staff to maintain organization-wide work plans and outcomes, including facilitating and contributing to the agenda for internal team meetings.
• Participate in organizational and strategic planning efforts, contributing to long-term development strategy and organizational growth.
• Partner with the operations team on aligning program and fundraising budgets with donor commitments and organizational goals.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

• 7+ years of experience in philanthropy, fundraising, movement-building, civic engagement, social justice, or related fields, with at least 5 years in senior or director-level roles.
• Proven track record in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, including experience engaging institutional funders, donor collaboratives, and individuals.
• Strong knowledge of philanthropic leaders, national funder networks, and cross-sector partners; existing relationships with philanthropic leaders and a high level of comfort engaging with others.
• Experience serving as an organizational spokesperson and presenting to donors, funders, coalitions, and sector leaders.
• Demonstrated success in leading resource mobilization strategies, developing multi-year fundraising plans, and managing complex revenue portfolios.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to craft compelling donor materials, proposals, impact reports, and field-facing presentations.
• Strong strategic, cross-sectoral, and progressive thinking.
• Ability to create and implement strong work and strategic plans paired with effective organizational management.
• Experience supervising and developing staff, including senior-level staff.
• Strong project and team management skills, with the ability to balance strategic leadership and hands-on execution.
• Ability to translate complex programmatic or field insights into accessible narratives for different audience types, not limited to donors and funders.
• Knowledge of compliance and experience working at a 501(c)4 organization.
• Experience fundraising for a 501(c)4 organization.
• Ability to travel multiple times a year, including cross-country, overnight, and weekend stays.

Demonstrated Experience and Commitment To:

• YEF’s mission and vision, including the practice of strong grant writing and grant management as well as effective grantee engagement to advance the mission.
• Knowledge and application of race, class, gender lens and experience using it in verbal and written communications, relationship building, and decision making.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative and highly relational team, remote and across time zones is a plus.
• Advancing equity, racial justice, and progressive, community-centered philanthropic practice.
• Serving as a strategic partner to executive leadership in organizational visioning, strategy development, and cross-team alignment.
• Collaborating with program staff to align fundraising strategy with programmatic needs, movement partner insights, and learning frameworks.
• Supporting and influencing philanthropic sector peers and partners toward values-aligned, equity-driven practice.
• Balancing long-term strategy with nimble adaptation in a dynamic, movement-focused environment.
• Supporting the leadership of other staff and team members, knowing when to allow others to take the lead (beyond delegation), or comfort defaulting to peers as appropriate.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Experience managing and working with a team of remote staff across time zones.
• Experience leading or supporting youth-centered, or community-organizing-centered programs or coalitions.
• Strong media and public speaking skills, with the ability to represent the organization confidently in high-visibility settings.
• Knowledge of new, innovative, progressive movement philanthropy and practices.
• Senior and/or leadership role at a 501(c)4 organization.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to sit or stand at, and engage with a computer for long periods of time.
• Mobility to travel for long distances multiple times a year including 5+ hour cross-country flights.
• Ability to review virtual documents and engage with computer systems for extended periods of time (visual).

Pay

$145,000 – $170,000 annualized, depending on experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

Benefits

Youth Engagement Fund’s fiscal sponsor, NEO Philanthropy, provides a generous full benefits package for this position, including:

• 100% Medical coverage for the employee and 90% Medical coverage for dependents.
• 100% coverage for Vision, Dental, Life/AD&D, and Long-term Disability.
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan.
• Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA).
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• Commuter Benefits.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Other supplemental benefits.
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO).
• Paid Family Leave.