Noble is Chicago’s highest-performing and largest network of public charter schools. Our 17 campuses and 1,600 employees currently serve 12,000 students, 98% of whom identify as persons of color, 90% as low-income, and 81% as first-generation college attendees. Noble’s mission is to ensure that all students have equitable and positive school experiences that equip them to complete college and lead choice-filled lives. We are proud to be recognized nationally for college access and persistence. Noble supports more than 31,000 alumni, with 98% of students accepted into college and nearly 94% choosing to enroll.
The Role
The Director of Development is a senior individual contributor and operational leader within Noble's development function. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer and working in close partnership with the CEO, Board of Directors, and program leadership, the Director of Development is responsible for executing Noble's fundraising strategy across a portfolio of individual donors, foundations, and corporations.
This role exists to do three things exceptionally well:
Manage and grow a portfolio of donors and prospects, cultivating relationships that result in five- and six-figure gifts in support of Noble's mission and strategic priorities.
Drive day-to-day development operations with rigor and discipline, ensuring strong systems for pipeline management, grant compliance, stewardship, and reporting.
Serve as a thought partner and force multiplier for the CDO, supporting high-stakes donor strategy, proposals, and board engagement with high-quality execution.
This role will help drive Noble’s next phase of fundraising growth, including expanding major gifts, increasing unrestricted support, strengthening institutional partnerships, developing new donor pipelines, and supporting long-term sustainability initiatives. The Director of Development is not entry-level. This leader brings strong relationship instincts, organizational discipline, and a deep commitment to the mission. They are equally comfortable in a donor meeting and a spreadsheet, and they understand that excellent fundraising is relational, not transactional.
Key Responsibilities
Portfolio Management and Donor Relationships
Manage an active portfolio of individual donors, foundations, and corporate funders, with primary responsibility for five-, six-, and seven-figure gift cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
Build and sustain authentic, long-term relationships with donors by connecting them to Noble's mission, student outcomes, and strategic priorities.
Develop and execute tailored engagement strategies for donors at each stage of the giving cycle.
Represent Noble externally in donor meetings, site visits, and cultivation events.
Support the development of Noble’s emerging corporate partnerships strategy, including cultivation of mission-aligned business leaders and corporate philanthropy opportunities.
Grants and Institutional Giving
Manage the full lifecycle of foundation and institutional grants, including prospecting, proposal development, compliance, reporting, and renewal.
Partner with the grants manager, as well as program, finance, and academic teams to ensure proposals are grounded in Noble's work and accurately reflect outcomes.
Maintain a strong pipeline of institutional prospects aligned to Noble's strategic plan.
Development Operations and Execution
Ensure the development team's operational infrastructure supports consistent, high-quality fundraising execution, including CRM management, gift processing, acknowledgment, and reporting.
Track portfolio performance and pipeline progress using data; surface insights and flag risks to the CDO on a regular basis.
Success in this role requires strong portfolio management discipline, including maintaining accurate CRM data, managing donor movement through cultivation stages, and consistently advancing fundraising goals against measurable benchmarks.
Support the development and refinement of case statements, donor materials, impact reports, and stewardship experiences.
Partner with communications to ensure donor-facing content is compelling and aligned with Noble's brand and messaging.
Team Collaboration and CDO Support
Serve as a key partner to the CDO on major donor strategy, proposal development, and board engagement.
Prepare thorough briefing documents for CEO donor meetings, including donor background, relationship history, meeting objectives, and talking points.
Attend donor meetings alongside the CEO and/or CDO, capturing key takeaways, commitments, and next steps.
Own all post-meeting follow-up, ensuring timely and accurate execution of action items and continuity in the donor relationship.
Collaborate across Development, Finance, Communications, Academics, College, and campus teams to ensure coordinated fundraising execution.
Contribute to team culture, systems-building, and the professional development of junior team members.
Candidate Qualifications
The ideal Director of Development brings:
A track record of successfully managing donor portfolios and closing five-, six-, and seven-figure gifts.
Significant frontline fundraising experience and comfort engaging senior donors, executives, and board members.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate Noble's work into compelling donor-facing narratives, with strong proofreading instincts and a high bar for quality in all written work product.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple high-priority projects simultaneously, maintaining rigor and follow-through across each.
Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy, exercising sound judgment to advance priorities and move work forward without requiring close direction.
Strong operational and organizational skills, with a systems orientation and high attention to detail.
Proficiency in CRM systems (Salesforce preferred) and comfort using data to inform decisions.
Sound judgment, professionalism, and the ability to build trust with internal and external stakeholders.
Deep alignment with Noble's mission, values, and commitment to equity.
Minimum Candidate Qualifications
Bachelor's degree required.
Experience working in a charter school, former teaching experience a plus
At least four years of progressive experience in nonprofit development or fundraising.
Demonstrated success managing donor relationships and meeting fundraising goals.
Compensation
We strive to be the best place to work, and our employee
benefits are thoughtfully designed to support us in this ambition. Compensation for this role typically falls between $110,000 and $120,000 per year. Factors such as years of experience and skill sets may impact placement within, or outside, this range
Application Timeline & Process
Interested candidates should apply using this link or by visiting nobleschools.org/careers. Applicants are encouraged to complete the short application, which includes three short-answer questions. Initial application reviews will take place on a rolling basis.
Select candidates will be notified of initial interviews and moved through various stages of our selection process, including virtual and in-person interviews with a variety of Noble stakeholders, reference checks, and opportunities for both the candidate and Noble to assess fit. The Director of Development is expected to start as soon as possible. Please direct inquiries about this role to careers@nobleschools.org.
Statement of Non-Discrimination
Noble is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, making all employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic or classification protected by law.