Deputy Director

Summary
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 role on design and execution of fundraising strategy, external facing representative in funder and donor relationships, and 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 and 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
Compensation: $145,000 – $170,000 annualized, depending on experience, qualifications and internal equity. 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. NEO also administers a 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), and Paid Family Leave.

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.
● Be a leading external representative of the organization primarily at in-person funder and donor conferences, events, meetings, and serve as 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 organizational wide work plans and outcomes, including facilitating and contributing to the agenda for internal team’s 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.

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 to 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 our 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 to work 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 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 501(c)4 organization.
● Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Physical Requirements
● This position requires the 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)

The Youth Engagement Fund is a fiscally sponsored project
of NEO Philanthropy. NEO Philanthropy is an equal opportunity employer. We consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status

Upload a cover letter, resume, and responses to the supplemental questions via this
form. Priority deadline, June 23, 2026. Applications will close July 6

Supplemental Questions (limit of 1500 characters per question)
1. Describe your leadership style. How do you effectively manage a team and drive
accountability within a remote setting?
2. How do you build, steward, and manage relationships with new and existing
philanthropic partners such as institutional funders and individual donors?
3. Describe your experience in multi-entity, 501(c3) and 501(c4), civic engagement?
Specifically, please speak to your experience in developing c3/c4 strategy, c4
fundraising, c3/c4 budget management, and funding compliance

NEO Philanthropy 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. NEO Philanthropy’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.