About City Bureau
City Bureau is an innovation lab reimagining local journalism, civic media, and participatory democracy. We equip people with civic skills, develop resources that directly meet people’s information needs, and create pathways for deliberative dialogue that strengthens communities. We envision a world where all communities have the information, tools, and resources they need to actively shape their futures and cultivate a more responsive and just democracy.
Location: Hybrid in Chicago, with some work required from our Chicago office.
Director of Development
As the Director of Development, you'll be the strategic architect and driver behind City Bureau's financial sustainability, ensuring our ambitious mission is fully funded now and in the years to come. You'll build and lead a high-performing development team, establish robust data and stewardship systems, cultivate deep relationships with foundations, partners, and donors, and integrate fundraising impact into every facet of our organizational strategy. Beyond securing contributions, we see your role as building the infrastructure of fundraising relationships that will solidify City Bureau's future as a vital force for a just democracy.
You should apply if:
You're a forward-thinking builder who gets energy from every level of the job: vision and strategy, building and leading your team, and getting the work done. You love to design new systems, cultivate teams, and lay groundwork.
You thrive on building authentic, lasting relationships with diverse donors at every level of wealth, and find energy and joy in asking people to contribute to a purpose larger than themselves.
The more you read about City Bureau’s purpose and approach the more excited you are about fundraising for it, knowing your work supports equitable information access in communities across the country.
Responsibilities
Architect Development Strategy & Infrastructure for Sustainability
Partner with the Executive Director and senior leadership to conceive and implement a comprehensive development strategy and infrastructure for long-term organizational sustainability.
Serve as a member of City Bureau’s senior leadership team, ensuring that fundraising impact is a key consideration in the evaluation and selection of all projects and program initiatives.
Develop multi-year revenue targets and corresponding structured goals to fully fund City Bureau’s $5M-$10M annual budget through the next strategic plan
Create, implement, and monitor a hiring plan to grow the development team to execute on goals and meet revenue targets.
Lead Foundation Grant Initiatives
Lead prospecting, relationship building, proposal processes, and stewardship for foundation and government grants.
Coordinate with operations/impact and program teams to develop a solid, consistent, and ambitious long-term case for support that attracts funders.
Build and maintain relationships with funders through regular communication, meetings, reports, and invitations to explore and engage with City Bureau’s work.
Proactively reach out to new potential foundation partners to grow our pool of prospective funders, including outside of traditional journalism funding spaces.
Represent City Bureau at conferences and convenings relevant to fundraising
Brief and prepare the Executive Director and other key staff to represent development goals in relationships with funders.
Cultivate Major Gifts & Individual Donor Relationships
Brief and prepare the Executive Director and other key staff to represent development goals in relationships with major donors, and join the Executive Director in meetings as needed.
Build and maintain relationships with major donors through regular communication and invitations to explore and engage with City Bureau’s work.
Ensure effective management and use of data in donor stewardship, including through wealth screenings and donor profiling.
Produce fundraisers and donor stewardship events to raise money and deepen relationships with major donors.
Work with operations and finance staff to build out options and support for donors to make bequests and/or gifts of stock and other assets.
Coach and manage board members to meet individual fundraising targets.
Coordinate with the Communications Team to ensure alignment with marketing on support for awareness, education, and broad stewardship programs for major donors, and on the strategy, coordination, and alignment of grassroots marketing efforts.
Manage Team to Execute Development Strategy
Manage team members to
Prepare all grant proposals and reports at the highest level of quality and on deadline
Maintain and leverage data related to giving, including grant reporting deadlines, funder and donor communications, and regular giving campaigns.
Lead the completion of award applications for City Bureau’s work.
Consult with City Bureau network/coalition partners to strengthen their fundraising practices, especially in consulting relationships that tie to City Bureau’s earned revenue (e.g., sharing fundraising resources with Documenters Networks).
Set and execute on grassroots donor and membership campaign goals
Qualifications
Strategic Planning & Leadership: Proven ability to architect and implement multi-year development strategies, design organizational structures, and translate big-picture goals into actionable work plans.
Team Building & Management: 5+ years experience in hiring, retaining, developing, and managing high-performing teams, with an emphasis on equitable practices, delegation, goal setting, performance feedback, and coaching.
Fundraising Expertise: Demonstrated success in leading diverse fundraising efforts across institutional (foundation, government) and individual (major gifts, grassroots) giving, including prospecting, relationship building, proposal writing, and stewardship.
Communication & Relationship Building: Exceptional speaking and presentation skills, expertise in institutional strategic communication, and the ability to coach and provide feedback on others’ communication. Proven track record of building systematic, authentic relationships across lines of difference.
Systems & Data Management: Experience in scoping, implementing, and managing CRM systems for development, ensuring strong data collection, analysis, and maintenance practices.
Coaching Skills: A dedication to developing others, delegating skillfully, providing actionable feedback, and leading by example while embodying organizational values.
Compensation, Benefits and Support
$120,000 annual salary. City Bureau uses a universal and transparent compensation system. We may consider highly qualified candidates at higher levels of our pay structure.
Full time with benefits package including health care, dental, vision, life insurance
Employer sponsored 401k plans, with 100% employer match up to 4% of salary
$1,000 annual technology and work tools allowance
$1,000 professional development allowance
More than 75 days off annually, including:
15 days paid vacation
12 sick days and 6 personal days
Time off for your birthday
14 company holidays each year, which may be exchanged for employees who celebrate other holidays
Week-long office closure at the end of the year
A 4.5-day week for most of the year. For three months during the summer, City Bureau operates on a 4-day work week.
Work from home options: City Bureau has a central office in Chicago and requires some in-person meetings and work sessions. This is a hybrid role based in Chicago.
A culture of intentional professional development and organizational learning: City Bureau staff hold regular share outs to learn from one another and regular community check-ins to connect and surface feedback on policies and practices.
Our Timeline
We’re projecting the following timeline for this hiring process. We will notify candidates of any shifts as we move through the process.
Application closes September 30th, 2025
Within two weeks of closing applications, you will know if you’ve moved onto the interview stage.
Within two weeks of your interview, you’ll know if you moved onto the case exercise stage.
Within two weeks of your case exercise completion, you’ll know if you moved onto the final interview.
We expect to make a final offer by late November
City Bureau is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.