Director, Philanthropic Partnerships

JAX Advancement is seeking a highly collaborative, entrepreneurial and experienced fundraising professional focused on corporate/foundation and principal-level prospects and donors. Reporting to the Senior Director, Development, this position will work in partnership with JAX scientific leadership to establish and advance relationships with key constituents. The incumbent will have a record of identifying and building corporate and foundation relationships that resulted in seven-figure gifts or greater in the basic or life sciences sector. The Director, Philanthropic Partnerships is an externally facing position responsible for identifying, initiating, building and soliciting a pool of key/high-level institutional relationships to secure high-impact philanthropic investments in JAX science, research and programs. The incumbent will possess a deep understanding of science and research, an advanced scientific degree and fundraising or investment experience with basic or life sciences organizations and institutions.

This role will be remote with required travel to Bar Harbor, ME, Farmington, CT campuses and prospects visits as needed to cultivate relationships and inform solicitations. Ideal candidate will be located within a driving distance to JAX Bar Harbor, ME or Farmington, CT campuses or close to a larger transportation hub.

Responsibilities (What you contribute):

As a collaborative member of the advancement team, lead JAX’s strategic efforts to develop key philanthropic partnerships, implement complex and multi-faceted fundraising strategies, solicitations and stewardship plans with prominent foundations/corporations, principal prospects, and partners such as non-governmental organizations and public charities for the production of gifts.

• Identify and prioritize mission-aligned institutional prospects and donors to engage and support JAX research and programs.

• Serve as the expert across the development team for foundation prospects managed by other gift officers.

• Coordinate meetings and site visits with corporate and foundation leaders to promote JAX’s research excellence and create collaborative funding opportunities.

• Manage two fundraising professionals with a focus on high-level corporate/foundation stewardship and principal prospect engagement.

• Establish a deep working knowledge of JAX research programs, genomics, and laboratory research in partnership with JAX internal stakeholders.

• Strategically develop funding opportunities for research priorities at JAX, education programs and capital projects, in partnership with key internal stakeholders and Advancement leadership.

• Provide overall direction and coordination when developing funding proposals. Work closely with JAX scientific writers and serve as proposal editor.

• Forge and lead new approaches for successful stewardship and reporting to key philanthropic partners, including establishing internal mechanisms to track and engage scientific progress on an ongoing basis.

• Maintain advanced knowledge and understanding of philanthropic and fundraising best practices to interact capably with donors and their advisors on charitable gifts. Serve as an effective spokesperson and champion for JAX both through verbal and written communication.

• Build close working relationships with a wide variety of internal JAX partners to successfully cultivate, solicit and steward external institutional donors. These partners will include JAX’s Chief Scientific Officer, scientific directors, principal investigators, Senior Vice President of Research, Vice President of Education and the ‘REAL Team’, as well as colleagues in Sponsored Programs, Research Program Development, Finance, Facilities, and Translational Science and Network Alliances.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities (What you're good at)

• Bachelor's degree required and advanced degree preferred. 5+ years related experience working with corporate and foundation funders to support science and/or research-based organizations.

• Solid understanding of genetics, genomics, precision medicine, and translational science. Familiarity with computational biology is desirable.

• Experience with transformative philanthropy and the needs to advance and steward these types of gift conversations and relationships.

• Experience working in a fast-paced, matrixed organization with multiple internal and external stakeholders.

• Must have excellent interpersonal, organizational and facilitation skills and be confident approaching and communicating with personnel at all levels of The Jackson Laboratory and external customers and scientists

• Ability to organize, prioritize, manage and monitor multiple projects to successful completion, adapting to shifting priorities in a high-pressure environment

• Entrepreneurial, independent, deeply collaborative and diplomatic.

• Excellent communication skills, organizational skills

Pay Range: $113,718 - $190,388 based on total years of related experience

About JAX:

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and nearly 3,000 employees in locations across the United States (Maine, Connecticut, California), Japan and China. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.

Founded in 1929, JAX applies over nine decades of expertise in genetics to increase understanding of human disease, advancing treatments and cures for cancer, neurological and immune disorders, diabetes, aging and heart disease. It models and interprets genomic complexity, integrates basic research with clinical application, educates current and future scientists, and provides critical data, tools and services to the global biomedical community. For more information, please visit www.jax.org​​​​​​​.

EEO Statement:

The Jackson Laboratory provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, gender, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, marital status, national origin, veteran status, and other classifications protected by applicable state and local non-discrimination laws.