Development Director (US)

The international climate landscape is entering a decisive period. As geopolitical tensions rise and confidence in multilateral cooperation weakens, new forms of collaboration, leadership and finance will be needed to sustain global climate ambition.

Founded in 2020, the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group is a strategic regranting and collaboration platform backed by some of the world’s leading climate philanthropies. Our mission is to renew, reimagine, and regenerate international cooperation that delivers for people and planet.

Following our successful transition from fiscal sponsorship in the United States and establishment as an independent UK charity, CECG is entering a new phase of organisational and programmatic development. We now have full operational independence, a strengthened governance structure, and an evolved strategic framework for our grantmaking and wider impact.

We are now recruiting our inaugural Director of Development to help sustain the organisation into the future

Reporting directly to the CEO, this senior leadership role will lead CECG’s fundraising, with primary responsibility for securing income, strengthening and diversifying our funding base, deepening strategic funder relationships and sharpening the organisation’s external positioning.

The Director will bring together fundraising, strategic partnerships, and brand communications within a single leadership function. They will help CECG build a resilient funding base, communicate the impact of our partners and grantees, and develop new opportunities for sustainable organisational growth.

We are seeking a highly collaborative and entrepreneurial leader who is comfortable building new functions, operating in an evolving organisation, and moving between high-level strategy and hands‑on delivery.

Key responsibilities

1. Growth and income strategy

• Personally lead major funding opportunities and coordinate fundraising with the CEO and programme leaders, with clear ownership of donor relationships, proposals and asks.
• Develop and lead CECG’s organisation‑wide income and growth strategy.
• Establish clear income diversification objectives across relevant funding streams.
• Identify and cultivate new funders, partnerships, and funding opportunities.
• Work with the Executive Team to reduce income concentration and manage funding volatility.
• Develop robust forecasting, pipeline management and reporting systems.

2. Strategic partnerships and funder engagement

• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders across philanthropic and donor institutions.
• Communicate the impact of CECG, its grantees, and its strategic priorities to existing and prospective funders.
• Develop and maintain a strategic map of the climate philanthropy and international cooperation funding landscape.
• Lead the stewardship of CECG’s existing funders, including trusts, foundations, major philanthropic donors and other institutional partners.
• Build and manage a strong pipeline of secured, prospective and longer‑term funding.
• Represent CECG externally to strengthen its profile, reputation and credibility.

3. Communications and organisational positioning

• Develop and lead CECG’s communications and brand strategy.
• Strengthen CECG’s external narrative and positioning among funders, partners and the wider climate community.
• Oversee the production of high‑quality organisational reporting and strategic publications, working with Finance and Operations on statutory reporting, and with programme colleagues on impact evidence.
• Guide CECG’s digital communications and engagement.
• Ensure communications consistently demonstrate the contribution and impact of CECG’s partners and grantees.

4. Organisational Management and Innovation

• Lead a small partnerships team and ensure effective funder stewardship, award management, communications execution, and administration across workstreams.
• Work with Executive Team to identify and develop new funding models, strategic collaborations, hosted initiatives and other opportunities aligned with CECG’s mission.
• Design and test new approaches to generating income and expanding organisational impact.
• Assess emerging opportunities and recommend where CECG should invest, partner or incubate new work.
• This Director‑level position is expected to join the Senior Management Team as the structure is finalised.

This role may be right for you if you:

• thrive in fast‑paced and evolving environments;
• enjoy working with globally distributed, multicultural teams;
• have a strong record of securing and stewarding funding of $30m or more per annum;
• combine strategic judgement with relationship‑building and delivery;
• are motivated by the opportunity to build a function rather than inherit a finished one;
• are comfortable moving between senior‑level engagement and practical execution.

The role may be less suitable if you:

• require fully established systems and clearly defined processes from day one;
• prefer a narrowly bounded role with limited organisational responsibility;
• are uncomfortable operating with ambiguity or adapting priorities as the organisation evolves;
• do not enjoy combining strategic leadership with hands‑on delivery.

For the right person, this is an unusual opportunity to shape the next phase of a growing and influential international climate organisation.

About CECG

The Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (CECG) exists to make international climate action more connected, more strategic and more effective.

We bring together philanthropy, policymakers, civil society and other leaders to tackle problems that no single organisation, funder or institution can solve alone. As an independent UK‑based charity, we work across organisational, geographic and sector boundaries — identifying gaps, connecting people and ideas, building partnerships and directing philanthropic resources towards opportunities for meaningful impact.

Our work is international by design. We believe that effective responses to the climate emergency must reflect a changing global landscape and give greater weight to the perspectives, expertise and leadership of the Global South.

CECG is now expanding its strategic reach beyond the traditional climate architecture. We want to explore where climate intersects with trade, international finance, global security and the institutions and groupings increasingly shaping international cooperation.

Location and travel

CECG is headquartered in London, with several prominent UK‑based donors. Our preference is for this role to be located either in London, or in the US where several other CECG donors are based, and potential growth of the donor base lies. The position requires approximately 30–40 days of international travel each year.

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