Job Title: EarlyJ Development Director
Organization: EarlyJ
Reports to: Founding President and Executive Director
Location: Bay Area or Los Angeles, California.
This is a remote position, with work primarily conducted from home. Occasional travel for meetings and events is required, as well as some evening and weekend hours to support donor events and meetings. We are seeking a candidate who resides in the Bay Area or Los Angeles, California.
About EarlyJ:
EarlyJ is a pioneering organization dedicated to transforming Jewish early childhood education. Our impact is measured across our four areas of focus:
Catalyzing Growth in Preschool Enrollment Capacity: Expanding access and capacity for preschools.
Investing in High-Quality Educators: Empowering and developing outstanding educators.
Increasing Jewish Early Childhood Education Access and Affordability: Ensuring that Jewish early childhood education is within reach for every family.
Nurturing Strong Family Engagement: Fostering robust family involvement to build a thriving Jewish early childhood education ecosystem that strengthens Jewish identity among families and enriches the broader Jewish community.
Position Overview:
EarlyJ is seeking an experienced, strategic, and relational Director of Development to lead and grow our fundraising efforts during an exciting phase of organizational growth. This role is responsible for overseeing all aspects of EarlyJ’s development strategy and implementation, including foundation grants, individual giving, and donor stewardship.
The Director of Development will play a critical role in strengthening EarlyJ’s culture of philanthropy, deepening relationships with donors and foundations, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the organization. The ideal candidate is a mission-aligned development professional who thrives in a collaborative environment, enjoys both strategic planning and hands-on execution, and is passionate about Jewish education and community impact.
The position will include all or some of the following responsibilities, with the understanding that the role is flexible and may evolve as the organization grows.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop and implement a comprehensive development strategy aligned with EarlyJ’s strategic priorities and growth goals.
- Lead all fundraising efforts, with a focus on foundations, major donors, and strategic philanthropic partnerships.
- Build and sustain a strong culture of philanthropy across the organization, engaging staff, board members, and partners in fundraising efforts.
- Monitor progress toward annual fundraising goals, contribute to forecasting and planning efforts, and provide regular updates, reports, and analysis to inform leadership decision-making.
- Maintain organized tracking systems for donors, grants, and fundraising activities to ensure timely follow-up, accurate reporting, and institutional continuity.
- Donor & Foundation Relations
- Cultivate, steward, and expand meaningful relationships with individual donors, foundations, and institutional funders.
- Manage the full lifecycle of donor engagement, including identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Represent EarlyJ at donor meetings, events, and community gatherings, effectively communicating EarlyJ’s vision and impact.
- Founding President & Executive Director Partnership
- Work closely with the Founding President & Executive Director to develop and execute EarlyJ’s overall fundraising strategy.
- Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Executive Director on donor cultivation, solicitation planning, and stewardship.
- Prepare briefing materials, talking points, donor profiles, and follow-up summaries to support the Executive Director’s donor and foundation engagement.
- Support the Executive Director in preparing development-related materials for board meetings and leadership discussions, as needed.
- Grant Writing & Management
- Lead grant-seeking efforts, including identifying relevant foundation grant opportunities, creating grant applications, leading relevant communications and creating all required reporting.
- Development Communications
- Lead the development of clear, compelling messaging and storytelling that communicates EarlyJ’s mission, strategy, and impact to donors and funders.
- Translate programmatic work and data into strong cases for support, in close partnership with the Executive Director.
- Prepare and update customized donor- and funder-facing materials, including one-pagers, pitch decks, presentations, grant reports, donor updates, newsletters, and contributions to the annual report, as well as other light collateral for meetings, briefings, and cultivation opportunities.
Additional Responsibilities:
- Participate in weekly team meetings and cross-functional planning.
- Support special projects and organizational initiatives as needed.
- Attend conferences, workshops, and professional development opportunities to remain current on philanthropic best practices and trends in Jewish education and early childhood education.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
- At least 5 years of progressive experience in nonprofit development or fundraising, ideally within education, Jewish communal organizations, or field-building nonprofits.
- Demonstrated success in securing foundation grants and cultivating major donors.
- Experience partnering with senior leadership and board on fundraising strategy.
- Strong understanding of the Jewish philanthropic landscape, including in-depth knowledge of the Bay Area and Los Angeles philanthropic communities; familiarity with Jewish early childhood education is a plus.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to craft compelling proposals and donor-facing materials.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities.
- Strategic thinker with a hands-on, “roll-up-your-sleeves” approach.
- A collaborative, relationship-driven professional with integrity, initiative, and a deep commitment to EarlyJ’s mission.
Application Instructions:
To apply for the position of Development Director at EarlyJ, please email a resume and cover letter as a PDF attachment to Maayan Sorek, [email protected] with the subject line "Development Director - [Your Name]". Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
EarlyJ is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in the workplace. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply.
Benefits and Compensation:
EarlyJ offers a competitive benefits package and a salary that is commensurate with education and related work experience. The position is full-time and exempt.
Salary range: $120,000-$150,000
Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance; 3% automatic contribution and a 3% employer match on 401(k) contributions; pre-tax transportation benefits; and paid holiday, vacation, sick, and volunteer time off.
Hiring Statement:
EarlyJ is a project of Hopewell Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public interest projects and grant-making programs. Hopewell is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. Hopewell’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.
E-Verify:
Hopewell participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the United States. Job candidates and employees authorized to work may not be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.
If you are a strategic, hands-on development professional who is excited to build relationships, craft compelling cases for support, and strengthen the long-term sustainability of Jewish early childhood education, we’d love to hear from you.