Chief Development and Marketing Officer

Job Title: Chief Development and Marketing Officer Location: Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, or Oakland, CA This position can be remote and requires an ability to travel. Reports To: Executive Director Supervises: 4 to 6 direct reports  Sierra Club’s Mission is to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; and to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment. Context:  As America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, our 134-year old organization is committed to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors; to working to complete America’s transition to a clean energy economy; to safeguarding the health of our communities; and to protecting wildlife and preserving our wild places.  This work is powered by our approximately 700 staff across the country, a network of 64 local chapters that are led and fueled by thousands of volunteers, and our more than 3.4 million members and supporters. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with three labor unions representing more than half of our employees.  Sierra Club completed a successful billion dollar comprehensive revenue campaign in 2025, which has fueled our grassroots power, organizational capacity, and big wins for the environment.  Scope: The Chief Development and Marketing Officer is a key executive leader responsible for driving integrated fundraising, marketing, and stakeholder engagement strategies to grow revenue and elevate Sierra Club’s brand impact. Reporting directly to the Executive Director and serving on the Leadership Team, this leader bridges mission and resources, ensuring that organizational strategy, investments, and revenue are aligned for long-term sustainability. The role combines visionary leadership with hands-on operational execution—imagining what's possible, building the infrastructure to support it, and leading teams to deliver with clarity, accountability, and care.  The successful candidate will work closely with the Chief Communications Officer on the strategic integration of revenue and constituent engagement, ensuring that fundraising, marketing, community building, brand integrity, and advocacy efforts reinforce one another.  The CDMO will establish and foster a comprehensive approach to revenue generation with connectivity at every level of the organization, including  fundraising and development, membership, stewardship, marketing and communications alignment, earned income, corporate and cause-aligned partnerships, influencer engagement, and narrative and brand strategy. Key responsibilities and impact (includes, but is not limited to):

Oversee and strengthen a complex revenue ecosystem generating more than $160M annually, with a particular focus on growing unrestricted and flexible funding.

Lead the development and execution of a multi-year, integrated revenue and constituent engagement strategy, in close collaboration with the Communications, Program and Field Departments, that aligns with Sierra Club’s  strategic priorities, and long-term financial health;  specific focus on expanding and maximizing funding from individual donors.

Serve as a senior external ambassador and leading voice for the organization, to cultivate and steward relationships with key donors and stakeholders; deepen brand value; build organizational awareness; and grow the Sierra Club community.

Review all revenue functions, breaking down silos and strengthening team cohesion; enhance cross-functional and intra-unit collaboration to develop a seamless, integrated division that values relational over transactional engagement.

Manage a sophisticated funding landscape of 501(c)3 funds, 501(c)4 funds and political funds. Balancing these legally distinct and strategic revenue sources is critical to their success.

Build and embed enterprise-wide systems, data practices, and performance frameworks that enable collaboration, transparency, and informed decision-making across functions and geographies.

Foster a culture of fundraising  and shared ownership of revenue across staff, volunteers, leadership, and Boards, as well as strategic integration with a national network of chapters and chapter leaders.

Provide strategic counsel to the Executive Director, Boards of Directors, Chapters, and senior leaders on revenue diversification, capital planning, brand-aligned partnerships, impact investing strategies, benchmarking and constituent trends, as well as key convenings and brand alignment opportunities.

Partner closely with executive peers to ensure alignment across narrative, engagement, financial planning, programmatic and organizational strategy.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following skills, experience and competencies:

Extensive development and marketing expertise: 10+ years experience in revenue generation. Exemplary track record directing a large, comprehensive, complex development and/or marketing team, preferably for a decentralized national organization, including demonstrated results across functions, siloes, geographies, and/or affiliates. 

Executive and team leadership: Substantial executive-level leadership experience and demonstrated ability to establish, lead, and drive objectives - particularly in a highly dynamic and evolvingenvironment - at the enterprise level. A results-driven leader who can inspire staff and volunteer leaders, communicate clearly, collaborate across departments and at alllevels of the organization, and provide feedback and coaching to support the achievementof complex goals. Success inspiring board and other volunteer leaders to engage in revenue generation and marketing efforts. 

Systems and process improvement: Experience building internal systems and processes to facilitate and strengthen all components of a successful revenue-generation function.  

Mission and values alignment: A passion for the Sierra Club’s mission and commitment to environmental and social justice.