Development Director

Sisu Youth; Oklahoma City (OK); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Sisu Youth seeks a Development Director to lead the Development Team and drive fundraising, donor relations, and grant-seeking activities. You will work with the Executive Director, board, and campaign partners to advance Sisu's mission for unhoused youth.

The DD will supervise development staff, coordinate with volunteers and contractors, and engage with donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors to support Sisu's capital campaign and broader communications efforts.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of fundraising experience.
• Proven ability to turn relationships into impact.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Identify, cultivate, and steward individual donors and grant opportunities.
• Set grant-seeking agenda and manage grant-writing consultants.
• Lead Sisu’s capital campaign efforts.
• Supervise two development staff.
• Represent Sisu in the philanthropic community.

Skills

Fundraising

Donor relations

Communication

Job description

Are you a natural connector who enjoys engaging conversations, building relationships, and helping people contribute to a critical, shared mission? We’re looking for a driven and strategic leader with 5+ years of experience fundraising and turning relationships into meaningful impact to lead Sisu’s Development Team. Our ideal candidate is organized, proactive, and an excellent communicator who is passionate about ensuring unhoused youth have the shelter and support they need to pursue the life they want. The DD directly manages all donor relations and grant-seeking activities, and has indirect responsibility for volunteer relations and supporting broad communication efforts.

Chain of Command - the DD reports directly to the Executive Director; works in close partnership with the Community Relations, Finance, and Program Directors; and supervises the Development and Volunteer Coordinators. In addition to these internal roles, Sisu also employs the services of a grant-writing contractor, capital campaign advisors, and a PR partner. The DD will work in conjunction with each, but has direct supervisory responsibilities for the grant writers and capital campaign consultants. Sisu’s board of directors is a key partner in our resource development efforts, and the DD will provide regular education and training to ensure directors are prepared to be advocates for Sisu in our city.

To succeed at Sisu, our staff and board members believe you must be in alignment with Sisu’s Core Values:

• We demonstrate courage in the face of adversity.
  • Our team members must be fierce, resilient, and tenacious. The work is tough, but so are we - and so are our clients! Find out more about the concept of Sisu here!
• We advocate for youth.
  • We’re all in for youth. Young people who are unhoused, who do not have identity documents, those with justice involvement, those who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and those who are experiencing mental health crises all deserve a safe place to sleep. They are our neighbors, and they belong in OKC. Our DD must believe that young people have autonomy and the ability to succeed.
• We do what we say.
  • We follow through: be sincere, transparent, and proactive!
• We evolve and solve.
  • Sisu team members are not afraid to try something new. The one constant at Sisu is change - we are nimble and flexible; we figure things out and make them work for the benefit of the youth we serve.
• We build inclusive communities.
  • We are proud to be an organization where youth, staff, volunteers, and donors of every kind find belonging. Our DD must be bold, affirming, welcoming, and unwilling to compromise on supporting every person who walks through our doors.
• We dream big.
  • Why not us? Why not now? What if we tried…? One phrase you won’t hear at Sisu is “because that is how we’ve always done it.” Our team members are idealistic, and that’s exactly who we are looking for in a new DD!

Sisu’s main campus at 2129 NW 30th is about halfway complete. This highlights two important things: we often work in a remote/hybrid format, and we are in the middle of a capital campaign.

• Remote/hybrid work environment:
  • Ideal candidates are tech-savvy and comfortable working from home, a coffee shop, OKCNP, or a shared office on campus since we do not currently have executive offices.
  • Candidates should be able to articulate their experience communicating successfully and managing staff in this environment.
  • This position is salary/exempt. Work hours should align with typical business hours but can vary based on business and personal needs. Candidates should anticipate working remotely around 75% of the time and in person about 25%.
• Capital Campaign: Sisu is aggressively pursuing funding to complete our campus and close out this campaign by summer 2027. Our new DD will be ready to jump in and work side by side with our ED, board, advisors, and campaign committee to finish up fundraising quickly.

Essential functions of this position:

1. Identify, cultivate, and steward individual donors, granting organizations, program officers, and corporate sponsors.
2. Set a grant-seeking agenda and manage the grant writing consultant team.
   1. Co-lead the drafting, editing, and review of government grant applications, which are outside the contracted grant-writing team’s scope of work.
3. Serve as the lead for Sisu’s capital campaign.
4. Supervise two development program staff.
5. Represent Sisu across the philanthropic community and maintain an active, visible presence in the sector.

You can find more details about this position and Sisu at the following links:

• Full Development Director job description
• Sisu’s 2026-2029 Strategic Plan
• Information about Sisu’s capital campaign
• Capital Campaign Case Statement