FULL-TIME JOB VACANCY
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Multiple Office Locations Considered
Application Deadline: 4 July, 2024

The Chief Development Officer (CDO) will establish the vision and direction for the organization’s fundraising, marketing, and external global outreach efforts. This is a critical position for the organization and an exciting opportunity to create and build the fundraising strategy and roadmap for HRW’s future – developing and implementing ambitious fundraising, outreach, and constituency building strategies. HRW is dedicated to taking on human rights abuses around the world; accordingly, its Chief Development Officer and Development & Outreach team must be committed to its mission, able to communicate passionately about its work, and capable of inspiring its staff and volunteer teams and donors.

Human Rights Watch investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world. The organization consists of roughly 550 people of 70-plus nationalities and includes country experts, lawyers, journalists, and others who work to protect the most at risk, from vulnerable minorities and civilians in wartime, to refugees and children in need. It directs its advocacy towards governments, armed groups, and businesses, pushing them to change or enforce their laws, policies, and practices. To ensure its independence, it refuses government funding and carefully reviews all donations to ensure that they are consistent with its policies, mission, and values. HRW partners with organizations large and small across the globe to protect embattled activists and to help hold abusers to account and bring justice to victims.

HRW’s researchers conduct work in over 90 countries, uncovering facts that create an undeniable record of human rights abuses. The organization writes detailed reports, news releases and tells the stories of what it finds, sharing them via social media with millions of online followers each day. News media often report on its investigations, furthering its reach. While it relies on in-person interviews, its research method has evolved to use technology – whether it is through using satellite imagery to track the destruction of villages and city blocks or mining big data for patterns in arrest rates or the deportation of immigrants – to deliver unimpeachable facts to those in positions of power to deliver human rights change, including governments, the United Nations, rebel groups, and corporations. HRW has also addressed abuses against those likely to face discrimination, including women, LGBT people, and people with disabilities as well as investigated and brought to light the baseless arrests of activists and political opposition figures. When it comes to ending abuses, some victories are big, and others are merely steps on a much longer journey to change. But each represents progress on the many issues HRW works on around the world. HRW’s work is centered in its commitment to justice, dignity, compassion, and equality.

FUNDRAISING

HRW’s fundraising has grown steadily over the years, and it currently raises approximately $100M annually, with approximately 70% of its revenue from gifts of $100,000+. A focus of fundraising and outreach at HRW has been the HRW Council, a collective of some 20 committees and 1,200 individuals around the world who help fundraise, engage new constituents and potential donors, partner with local organizations to promote human rights issues, and advocate on behalf of HRW and its mission. The CDO will be responsible for growing existing revenue streams, and diversifying the organization’s income through principal, leadership and major gifts, institutional funding, marketing and planned giving to ensure the long term health and sustainability of the organization.

The greatest opportunity for the CDO lies in engaging donors at the highest levels to support major strategic work while also determining the optimal level of resources for growing the base of support. HRW has just concluded a strategic planning process that will guide the organization’s programmatic and operational direction over the next five years, and the CDO will shape how it can meaningfully increase revenue to realize the ambitious goals articulated in the strategic plan.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

The Chief Development Officer will report to the Executive Director, Tirana Hassan, and will serve on HRW’s Executive Committee – the senior leadership team comprised of the organization’s six most senior executive leaders. The Development & Outreach Team is comprised of approximately 110 staff members, responsible for leadership and principal giving, donor committees and council fundraising, committee and Board of Directors engagement, foundations giving, marketing, planned giving, and fundraising systems and data analysis work.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Deputy Executive Director & Chief of Programs

Chief Financial Officer

Chief People Officer

Program Director

General Counsel

Senior Advisor on Global Strategy

Chief of Staff and Advisor to the Executive Director

Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Chief Development Officer will:

• Play a critical leadership role in managing and participating in the development of the organization’s financial and multi-year strategic plans;
• Lead on all aspects of HRW fundraising activities and provide direction to the Development & Outreach team, which includes leadership gifts, foundations, marketing, donor experiences, planned giving functions, development operations and analysis work, as well as the functions which manage donor committees and the board;
• Represent the work of HRW to donors, prospects, and the Council to cultivate and grow the organization’s base of support;
• With support from an external firm, develop and implement a multi-year fundraising campaign to support the organization’s strategic plan that articulates how Human Rights Watch will work together, and with our partners, to address unprecedented challenges to human rights and the human rights movement.
• Develop and implement a strategic plan and annual goals for the Development Department to meaningfully grow revenue from the current $100M baseline in collaboration with the Finance team;
• Set and meet fundraising objectives, monitor and evaluate progress and develop change strategies as needed, and assess opportunities for fundraising campaigns and lead their planning and implementation;
• Develop a strategy for creating comprehensive, ambitious funding proposals that will engage and attract top-tier donors and prospective donors to make transformational gifts;
• Be a visible leader in fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Development & Outreach team and with donors, board, and committee members;
• Determine the appropriate level and types of short and long-term investments in development, setting budgets and balancing the use of resources, using appropriate data analytics, to maximize revenue while developing a pipeline of future major and planned giving donors;
• Work effectively and collaboratively with leadership throughout the organization to ensure development activities are well coordinated with and supportive of organizational priorities;
• Support and optimize fundraising efforts of the Executive Director and senior leadership, and fundraising teams;
• Sustain and strengthen the engagement and stewardship activities of the board of directors in consultation with organizational leadership;
• Lead, motivate and mentor direct reports, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely constructive feedback, ensuring balanced workload, providing guidance on professional growth, and monitoring staff well- being as it pertains to stress and resilience issues and self-care;
• Create and promote an inclusive and positive work environment where all staff feel welcome and can access opportunities for professional growth and impact, soliciting diverse points of views, supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and proactively addressing any bias or discrimination; and
• Perform other responsibilities as required.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Chief Development Officer will be an expert, collaborative, innovative, and visionary leader with outstanding people, communications, and management skills as well as the capacity and passion to play a leadership role in a global fundraising operation. It is critical that the Chief Development Officer possess exceptional management skills, an ability to motivate and inspire a global and experienced team, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Both high intellectual and emotional intelligence are critical in order to communicate and influence effectively within a global, highly distributed organization. The Chief Development Officer will understand the complexity of fundraising and leading teams working across multiple geographies and cultures and must possess the cultural awareness necessary to work with global staff, donors, and committee and board members. The Chief Development Officer will have strong influencing skills, be passionate about HRW’s mission, and be able to communicate a vision that engages and motivates staff, volunteers, advocates, and donors while catalyzing giving.

The successful candidate will have at least 12 to 15 years of experience in fundraising, with at least five (5) years of experience in a senior role such as Chief Development Officer, Deputy Chief Development Officer, or an equivalent leadership role.

Required Qualifications/Skills

Human Rights Watch seeks a Chief Development Officer with:

• A commitment to HRW’s mission of defending the rights of people worldwide and the ability to communicate with passion about HRW’s work;
• Experience leading and motivating fundraising teams in a complex and global organization, setting ambitious team and individual objectives, and managing performance;
• Experience in leading and successfully working with major gift giving, marketing, capital campaigns, and planned giving and knowledge about evolving trends in these areas;
• Experience in cultivating and maintaining long-term relationships with major donors, including foundations, and success in closing major gifts;
• An ability to master, represent, and communicate the organization’s mission and programs to varied audiences;
• An ability to foster an environment marked by creativity, commitment to professional growth, connectivity, collegiality, mutual respect, and cultural competency across a global team of fundraising professionals with an emphasis on equity;
• A global perspective on philanthropy;
• Outstanding oral and written communications skills in English (proficiency in other languages is appreciated);
• An ability to use metrics and data driven approach in developing, implementing and measuring fundraising strategies, and an ability to create transformational growth; and
• Superior analytical, strategic planning, and problem-solving skills.

Salary and Benefits: HRW seeks exceptional applicants and offers comprehensive compensation and benefits. HRW can offer a relocation assistance package and immigration support for this role if required, and people of all nationalities are encouraged to apply. If this position is based in the United States, the salary range would be US $250,000 – 280,000. Salary ranges outside of the United States vary based on location.

Location: HRW is flexible about the location of this position, but the candidate must be based in one of HRW’s major global office locations and have a flexible schedule to accommodate working with colleagues in multiple time zones. This role will require both international and domestic travel (approximately 25-40% of the time).

How to Apply: Please apply immediately or by July 4, 2024 by visiting our online job portal at careers.hrw.org and attaching a cover letter and a CV or resume, preferably as PDF files. No calls or email inquiries, please. Only complete applications will be reviewed, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

If you are experiencing technical difficulties with your application submission or if you require accommodations during the application process, please email recruitment@hrw.org. Due to the large response, application submissions via email will not be accepted and inquiries regarding the status of applications will go unanswered.

Human Rights Watch is strong because it is diverse. It actively seeks a diverse and global applicant pool and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Human Rights Watch does not discriminate on the basis of disability, age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or criminal record. It welcomes all kinds of diversity. Its employees include people who are parents and non-parents, the self-taught and university educated, and from a wide span of socio-economic backgrounds and perspectives on the world. Human Rights Watch is an equal opportunity employer.

Human Rights Watch is an international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization known for its in-depth investigations, its incisive and timely reporting, its innovative and high-profile advocacy campaigns, and its success in changing the human rights-related policies and practices of influential governments and international institutions.