Development Director

Position Title: Development Director

Classification: Full‐time 

Reports to: Executive Director 

Location: Preferably tristate area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut; Option of working remote or working from our Brooklyn, NY office

Compensation: Commensurate with experience; Vacation & health insurance included in benefits package

Position Overview

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Development Director is responsible for leading fundraising for Mercado Global’s innovative poverty alleviation model in Latin America, including the direct management of the organization’s four fundraising income streams: Foundations, Appeals, Galas (New York City and San Francisco), and Major Donors charitable donations. 

The Development Director will manage a dynamic department that has three staff - two associates and one manager - and a current budget of $1.5 million with the goal of raising that budget to $2.5 million over the next three years. The ideal candidate should have a proven track record of success in development work coupled with a keen interest in women’s empowerment, while interest in using fashion for good  is a plus. 

Core to the responsibilities of the Development Director will be managing relationships with different actors across a variety of sectors. The position is ideal for someone who is comfortable working with a range of organizations, including C-suite executives from top international companies like JP Morgan, Bank of America, and PwC, foundation partners from grantors like Echoing Green, Clif Family Foundation, and Greater Impact Foundation, and high-net worth individual donors.

A development professional with experience managing corporate partner (donors) and large fundraising events is preferred for this position. The Fashion Forward Gala (in NY city) is a key piece of the organization's fundraising strategy and has been instrumental in establishing strong relationships with fashion side and financial companies such as Levi Strauss, Stuart Weitzman, and Free People, and with corporate supporters such as Blackstone, Apollo, and JPMAM. 

The position provides a development professional with the opportunity to take over an already impactful program and take it to the next level. Through their work, the Development Director will be able to ensure the indigenous women artisans Mercado Global serves are provided the skills, knowhow, and tools they need to become independent entrepreneurs - providing them with the economic empowerment they need to ensure their families are fed and their children are in school.

Key Responsibilities: 

The Development Director is a multi-function role and serves as the organization's strategic fundraising leader. Key responsibilities include: 

• Develop and implement fundraising strategy and annual fundraising plan with accountability for execution in the areas of Foundations, Appeals, Galas (New York City and San Francisco), and Major Donors. 
• Oversee development growth from $1.5 million to $2.5 million over a three year period
• Report fundraising progress to the Development Committee and Board of Directors
• Manage development team to meet fundraising goals, including supervision of donor communication strategies, event strategies, and development operations

Key Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree and a minimum of seven years of fundraising experience. 
• Demonstrated success in developing fundraising strategies and meeting fundraising goals
• Demonstrated success in cultivating and managing major donor relationships
• Demonstrated success in managing major donor events
• Excellent writing skills and proven success in writing donor correspondence
• Experience in grant writing and managing foundation relationships
• Staff management experience
• Excellent planning and organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to move multiple projects forward simultaneously
• Proficiency in written and spoken Spanish a plus but not required
• Enthusiasm for Mercado Global’s mission

How to Apply 

Please send a cover letter and resume to jobs@mercadoglobal.org. Please indicate “Development Director” in the subject line of your email. 

About Mercado Global:

Since 2004, Mercado Global has worked to empower Indigenous women to transform their lives through entrepreneurship. The organization’s three pillar model - Community Based Education, Market Access, and Asset Development - affords indigenous women the chance to gain the skills, know-how, and tools they need to become independent entrepreneurs. 

Over the years the organization’s partner artisans have been able to work with an extensive list of impressive major retailers and brands like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Levi Strauss, Stuart Weitzman, Stitchfix, and Shopbop, amongst others. They then are able to take the income they earn from these work opportunities and drive real, sustainable change across their communities. 

The organization has been recognized for its important impact making work in a variety of contexts including by being featured on the cover of Newsweek, by NPR, and on Good Morning America, while Mercado Global’s founder has been asked to speak about the organization’s work at the United Nations, the Clinton Global Foundation, The Global Summit for Women, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

At its core, the organization stands for the belief that, together, we can make the world a more ethical, sustainable, and just world - for all of us. 

Learn more about Mercado Global here: https://www.mercadoglobal.org/pages/our-work