Director, Development Performance & Strategy Enablement - Remote

American Cancer Society, Inc.; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 140,000 - 157,000; Full time

Job summary

American Cancer Society, Inc. seeks a Director, Development Performance & Strategy Enablement to build systems and processes that attract, grow, and retain talent for strategy enablement across the Development Pillar.

This 100% remote role standardizes the ACS Way of fundraising, modernizes training infrastructure, and elevates the pillar employer brand to attract top talent from nonprofits and corporate sectors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• 10+ years of progressive fundraising or sales leadership.
• Background in talent management, organizational development, or sales enablement.
• Ability to influence C-suite executives, HR partners, and frontline staff.

Responsibilities

• Design a unified Performance Framework across regions and teams.
• Drive onboarding and the ACS Way training infrastructure.
• Enable managers to transition to higher spans of control and reduce admin drag.
• Identify Pillar culture attributes and act as change champion.
• Maintain a seamless partnership with Development Pillar POD and benchmark data.
• Cultivate an employer brand to attract top philanthropic talent.

Skills

Performance framework design

Learning & development

People management

Change management

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Job description

At the American Cancer Society, we're working to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. Our employees and 1.3 million volunteers are raising the bar every single day. We are a culture comprised of diverse backgrounds and experience, to better serve our communities. The people who work at the American Cancer Society focus their diverse talents on our lifesaving mission. It is a calling. And the people who answer it are fulfilled. The Director, Development Performance & Strategy Enablement will build systems and processes that help the Development Pillar attract, grow, and retain the talent required for strategy enablement. This role will inform and activate a comprehensive strategy that standardizes the "ACS Way" of fundraising, modernizes the Development Pillar training infrastructure, and contributes to building a specialized, high-performing culture. This role will drive elevation of the Development Pillar employer brand to make ACS the premier destination for top philanthropic talent. This role is 100% remote.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Performance & Competency Architecture. Design a single Performance Framework to eliminate inconsistent goals and metrics across regions and teams using a unified, transparent performance framework tailored to the specific KPIs of specialized channels (Major Gifts, Corporate, Community Events, etc.). Work with Development Operations and Data Analytics to ensure performance metrics are directly linked to pipeline health, portfolio value, and verifiable revenue forecasting.

Learning & Development "The ACS Way". Drive effective onboarding experience to ensure all new hires receive consistent, high-quality training on the enterprise growth strategy, core fundraising fundamentals, and the "Total Mission" investment approach. Build shared playbooks and structured curriculum for frontline staff, focusing specifically on transitioning staff from transactional event management to high-value relationship building.

Manager Enablement. Partner with the CDO, Strategy team, and POD partners to execute the transition toward specialized frontline roles, helping managers navigate the shift to higher spans of control (from 1:3 to 1:6) by defining clear expectations and reducing administrative drag. Equip mid-level and senior managers with the coaching skills necessary to actively guide their teams, manage change fatigue, and drive pipeline velocity.

Culture Building & Change Management. In partnership with POD and Development Leadership Team, identify and drive Pillar-specific culture attributes necessary to create desired Pillar culture. Act as a change champion for the pillar, ensuring that staff feel supported, heard, and aligned with the overarching vision.

Cross-Functional Partnership. Maintain a seamless, tightly integrated partnership with the Development Pillar's POD partners. Collaborate to benchmark industry data, address recruiting/retention headwinds, and build compensation architectures that appropriately reward specialized, high-performing fundraisers.

Cultivate a compelling "employer brand" for the ACS Development Pillar to be used for talent attraction to highlight our mission, the scale of our ambition, and our commitment to professional growth to attract top-tier, specialized talent from across the nonprofit and corporate sectors.

EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Degree Required: Bachelor's Degree Years of experience: 10+ KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITY: 10+ years of progressive fundraising or sales leadership preferably within a large, complex nonprofit or a highly matrixed corporate sales environment with a background in talent management, organizational development, or sales enablement. Strong understanding of the mechanics of modern fundraising (mass market acquisition, major gift portfolios, campaign cycles) to ensure talent strategies are directly linked to revenue outcomes. Proven experience navigating organizations through significant structural and cultural transitions, with a high degree of empathy and resilience. Demonstrated ability to influence and partner effectively with C-suite executives, HR partners, and frontline staff. Ability to lead and scale a small, agile team to produce outsized enterprise impact.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

Occasional travel required

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Work setting is in typical office and/or home-based office.

The starting rate is $140,000-$157,000. The final candidate's relevant experience/skills will be considered before an offer is extended. Actual starting pay will vary based on non-discriminatory factors including, but not limited to, geographic location, experience, skills, specialty, and education. ACS provides staff a generous paid time off policy; medical, dental, retirement benefits, wellness programs, and professional development programs to enhance staff skills. Further details on our benefits can be found on our careers site at: jobs.cancer.org/benefits.

We are a proud equal opportunity employer.

At the American Cancer Society, our employees are the soul of our lifesaving mission to save lives. Our employment opportunities are as diverse as our people and include every discipline found in other business enterprises. As an organization, we adhere to a set of core values that help inform all our decisions. But what really sets us apart is that the work we do has global impact -- and every passionate, dedicated American Cancer Society team member contributes to each groundbreaking achievement we make.