About Proteus Fund

Proteus Fund connects philanthropy to the frontlines of social justice to advance, racial, gender, queer, and disability justice, and an inclusive, fully representative democracy. Our work lifts up opportunities, gaps, and challenges facing movement organizations, especially at the state and local level, and then mobilizes donor support as well as a range of other non-grant tools to support these efforts. Our donor collaboratives are best-in-class models for bridging responsive philanthropy with cutting-edge social justice movements to create deep and long-lasting impact. Through fiscal sponsorship, Proteus Fund partners with emerging initiatives and innovative movement leaders — enabling them to focus on growing their substantive work and impact with the support of a trusted operational partner.

To date, Proteus Fund, and its affiliated 501c4 organization, the Proteus Action League, have distributed over $300 million in grants and provided other essential tools to support activists, advocates, networks, coalitions, and issue-specific campaigns at the local, state, and national level. Proteus Fund has offices in New York City and metro Boston. Our staff is based across the entire United States.

 Job Summary

The Strategic Partnerships Officer (SPO) is a core member of Proteus Fund’s centralized Strategic Partnership team and will serve as the lead for the Piper Fund Donor Collaborative. Reporting to the Director of Strategic Partnerships and working in close collaboration with Piper’s program team, the SPO helps advance the fund’s resource development goals by stewarding funder relationships, coordinating proposal and reporting processes, and aligning donor messaging with Piper’s mission.

The SPO plays a critical role in ensuring that fundraising efforts reflect Piper’s three core program areas—Judicial Integrity, Right to Protest, and Money in Politics—while upholding the fund’s long-standing commitment to field-building, coalition support, and systemic democratic reform led by communities most harmed by injustice.

 Essential Functions

Responsibilities of this position include, but may not be limited to: 

Fundraising Coordination & Infrastructure Integration

• Serve as the Piper Fund’s point person for fundraising strategy within the centralized Strategic Partnerships team
• Partner with the Strategic Partnerships Operations Consultant and Data Manager to ensure funder records, outreach, and reporting timelines are maintained in the CRM with accuracy and consistency
• Serve as lead writer for high-quality proposals and reports that lift up Piper’s program goals, grantee impact, and strategic vision across all three pillars

Funder Stewardship & Donor Communications

• Support the Piper team in strengthening relationships with institutional funders by coordinating briefings, calls, and stewardship touchpoints
• Draft funder updates, newsletters, and other donor communications in collaboration with Piper program staff and Strategic Partnerships colleagues
• Help plan and document funder convenings, including tailored preparation materials and follow-up communications.

Program Integration & Narrative Alignment

• Participate regularly in Piper Fund program team meetings to stay informed about grantee needs, field developments, and campaign milestones
• Ensure fundraising communications reflect Piper’s approach to resourcing power-building in the field, including the work of state-based groups and cross-issue coalitions
• Translate complex programmatic strategies into accessible, compelling language for institutional audiences while maintaining program integrity.

Workplan Ownership & Strategic Tracking

• Develop and maintain a quarterly workplan under the supervision of the Director of Strategic Partnerships to align proposal/report schedules with program timelines and donor expectations
• Participate in 1:1 meetings and Strategic Partnerships team planning sessions to surface needs, receive coaching, and adjust work priorities as needed
• Track deliverables, flag capacity or content gaps, and ensure timely and compelling grant materials across all deliverables

 Strategic Insight & Growth Trajectory

The SPO role is designed to hold both immediate ownership of writing and coordination, and the opportunity to grow into deeper leadership around donor communications and strategic engagement. The role requires strong writing, critical thinking, and the ability to frame Piper’s programmatic work within a broader philanthropic and movement-building context.

While high-level prospect cultivation and ecosystem mapping remain shared responsibilities between the Piper Fund Director and the Director of Strategic Partnerships, the SPO will:

• Support research and analysis on trends in democracy funding
• Identify and share potential new funders and partnership opportunities
• Help shape donor engagement strategy in collaboration with senior leadership
• Develop capacity over time to contribute to relationship-building with select institutional funders

Supervision & Collaboration

Reports to: Director of Strategic PartnershipsCollaborates with:

• Piper Fund Director and Program Team
• Strategic Partnerships Team
• Proteus Fund Finance and Donor Services

Competencies

Content Knowledge Expertise in Areas of Functional Oversight: Fluency in key areas of oversight; Ability to ask relevant lines of questioning to functional experts when personal content knowledge areas of expertise are not directly aligned. Consistently seeks new approaches to the work, staying abreast of sector best practices.

Customer Service Orientation: Focuses on providing a high-quality experience for clients/ stakeholders we are supporting (internally and externally).

Data Integrity, Accuracy, and Attention to Detail: Maintains a high degree of accuracy and detail orientation when working with data/ keeping data clean and up-to-date, data/ knowledge management, record keeping, etc.

Innovation and Continuous Improvement: Displays commitment to identifying opportunities to try new things/ approaches to the work and continuous improvement. Tracks and monitors the impact of changes over time and suggests/ implements changes in service of innovation and advancement.

Personal Operations: Organization, Task Management and Prioritization: Strategic management of daily tasks and related deliverables within a portfolio of work. Prioritization that supports actively mitigating risk and minimizing bottle necks when possible, keeping in mind the needs of other collaborators. Ability to meet deadlines through strong time management skills or otherwise communicate anticipated shifts in timeline for completion in a proactive way to support planning.

Philosophical Alignment: Demonstrates strong commitment to the mission and values of Proteus Fund as a progressive, social justice organization, including a deep investment in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).

Proactive Stakeholder Engagement: Proactive communication and training in support of stakeholder clarity/ education and knowledge acquisition that best informs internal systems and processes related design and continuous improvement.

Project Management: Project based strategy and implementation, inclusive of enlisting/ enrolling, and managing stakeholders internally and/or externally at an individual level, team level or group/ vendor level, budget management, progress monitoring and reporting, etc. – that leads to successful project completion defined by identified project goals.

Strategic Acumen: Ability to anticipate organizational or function specific opportunities and challenges.

System Administration and (Non-Technical) Process Management: Management and maintenance of a system or process and related data within in it in service of leveraging the system’s technology/ functionality to meet aligned organizational needs.

Written and Oral Communication Skills: Communicates clearly and professionally across formats. Produces accurate, well-organized written work and adapts messaging based on audience and purpose.

Education & Experience

While no one person will embody all the qualifications listed below, the ideal incumbent will possess many of the following:

• 5+ years of formal or informal experience in fundraising, which could include writing proposals and reports to foundations and individual donors, stewarding, soliciting and closing gifts or other equivalent development experience
• We value candidates who can demonstrate capability and articulate how prior experiences will help them transition into this role
• Knowledge of and experience in philanthropy in the non-profit sector
• Knowledge of the application of best practices in grant writing
• Experience working in or with BAMEMSA communities
• Experience with identifying and stewarding new relationships
• Experience working with donor partners

Position Type & Schedule/Hours

This is a full-time position requiring a minimum of 40 hours per week. Business hours are Monday through Friday between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm in the time zone where the candidate is located. Additional hours are occasionally required.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Travel

This position requires occasional travel, estimated at 5–10%, including participation in Proteus Fund’s all-staff retreats and other job-related travel such as team meetings, donor convenings, or training opportunities. Most travel will be planned in advance and may involve overnight stays.

Work Environment

REMOTE: This position works indoors and routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers and phones. Most of the work will be performed remotely, which requires a dedicated workspace.

Physical Requirements

This position is largely sedentary, with prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer; however, some movement may be required depending on the specific job duties. This position requires the ability to: operate a computer daily, as well as other home- or in-office devices such as a copier or printer as needed; communicate effectively with coworkers and external parties, including - for example - via email, phone, and/or video conferencing; and, occasionally, lift up to 25 lbs. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Compensation

The salary for this role is $107,444 - 130,008 and is based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, geographic location, skill set level, years of previous/applicable experience, and Proteus Fund's commitment to ensuring pay equity within the organization. The recruiting team will share more details regarding salary bands based on the candidate's specific geographic location as well as the other factors noted above. Salary is one part of the total compensation that Proteus Fund provides to employees.

Benefits

Proteus Fund is committed to ensuring that its employees are supported holistically, from compensation, benefits and resources to an enriching work environment and collaborative culture. Proteus Fund leads the market in a number of its offerings, including a sector-leading retirement plan contribution and robust benefits package. The recruiting team will share more information regarding this commitment and offerings. Medical and dental benefits for employee and eligible dependents available on first day of work.

• Retirement savings account (401k) with an organization contribution of 10% of annual salary
• Three weeks’ paid vacation in first year of work 
• Fifteen sick days per year
• Three personal days per year
• Fifteen paid holidays 
• Professional development initiatives for growth
• Life Insurance
• Paid Family Leave, short-term, and long-term disability

Duties: This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Health Protocols

Please note, in an effort to maintain and safeguard everyone's health, well-being, and safety, Proteus Fund expects all attendees to follow the necessary health and safety protocols related to flu, COVID-19, and other communicable diseases. This includes adhering to any government or organizational guidelines and staying home when experiencing symptoms.

Equity at Proteus: Proteus Fund believes that one of the greatest strengths of an organization is the rich diversity of its staff and board and is committed to providing equal employment and promotional opportunities based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation/affectional preference, age, national origin, ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under the law. Proteus Fund’s policies and practices are to reflect Proteus Fund’s commitment to nondiscrimination in all areas of employment. 

Accessibility: Proteus Fund is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Proteus will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact Human Resources at jobs@proteusfund.org.  Additionally, throughout this document, use of the pronoun “they” is intended to be inclusive of humans who identify as non-binary as well as those of gender expansive identities and experiences.