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WAI Fractional Director of Development

Engagement Type: Fractional independent contractor

Expected Capacity: Approximately ~10 hours per week

Reports To: President

Compensation: Monthly retainer commensurate with experience

Role Overview

The Director of Development & Strategic Partnerships will lead WAI's revenue development strategy while building and maintaining strong relationships with pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organizations, corporations, foundations, and other institutional funders.

This is both a relationship-building and revenue-generating role.

The Director will own the development lifecycle from identifying and cultivating prospects through pitching, proposal assistance, submission, funding, stewardship, and renewal.

A significant focus of this position will be strengthening WAI's pharmaceutical and healthcare relationships, expanding WAI's network of funding partners, and developing a sustainable pipeline that supports the organization's long-term growth.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable opening doors and nurturing relationships as they are managing the systems, proposals, submissions, and follow-through required to convert opportunities into revenue.

Core Responsibilities

1. Development Strategy & Revenue Growth

Develop and execute WAI's annual development and partnership strategy in alignment with organizational priorities and revenue goals.
Establish annual and quarterly fundraising targets, pipeline goals, and development priorities.
Build and maintain a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical, corporate, foundation, healthcare, grant, and philanthropic opportunities
Identify new funding opportunities aligned with WAI's mission, programs, and communities served.
Monitor funding trends, partner priorities, and industry developments that may create new opportunities for WAI.
Provide leadership with visibility into projected revenue, active opportunities, funding risks, and upcoming decisions.

2. Pharmaceutical & Corporate Relationship Management

Build, cultivate, and maintain strong relationships with current and prospective pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, and corporate partners.
Develop relationships across multiple departments and decision-makers within partner organizations to strengthen account continuity.
Understand each partner's therapeutic areas, patient engagement priorities, funding cycles, corporate objectives, and areas of potential alignment with WAI.
Identify opportunities to deepen existing partnerships through expanded programming, sponsorships, educational initiatives, and multi-year investment.
Monitor changes within partner organizations and proactively establish relationships with new contacts when appropriate.
Prepare WAI leadership for high-level sponsor and funder conversations.

3. Prospect Development & Strategic Outreach

5+ years of experience in nonprofit development, corporate partnerships, pharmaceutical relationship management, institutional giving, sponsorship development, or a related field.
Identify and qualify new pharmaceutical, healthcare, corporate, foundation, and strategic funding prospects.
Conduct strategic outreach through warm introductions, email, LinkedIn, conferences, existing networks, and other channels.
Participate in and, when appropriate, lead prospective partner meetings.
Tailor partnership conversations and opportunities based on each prospect's priorities rather than relying solely on standardized sponsorship packages.

4. Proposals, Sponsorships & Funding Submissions

Own the preparation and submission of sponsorship proposals, funding requests, letters of inquiry, grant applications, and related materials.
Ensure submissions are accurate, persuasive, complete, and delivered by required deadlines.
Confidently navigate pharmaceutical, corporate, foundation, and grant submission portals.
Respond to requests for revisions, amendments, supplemental documentation, budgets, organizational information, and clarification.
Maintain reusable proposal language, organizational documentation, impact data, sponsorship materials, and submission templates.
Coordinate with Finance, Programs, and Operations to gather accurate budgets, metrics, program information, and supporting documentation.
Maintain detailed records of submissions, deadlines, decisions, amendments, awards, and reporting requirements.

5. Pipeline, CRM & Development Operations

Maintain accurate sponsor, donor, prospect, and partner records within CRM and tracking systems.
Track outreach, meetings, proposals, commitments, funding decisions, reporting requirements, follow-ups, and renewals.
Maintain an annual development calendar covering sponsorship cycles, grant deadlines, renewals, reports, campaigns, and major funding opportunities.
Build systems that reduce dependence on information living solely in individual inboxes or institutional memory.

6. Partner Stewardship, Account Growth & Renewals

Work with Programs and Communications to provide partners with relevant impact updates, community stories, program outcomes, and organizational milestones.
Track sponsor benefits and commitments to ensure WAI fulfills contractual and partnership obligations.
Begin renewal conversations early enough to support annual planning and revenue forecasting.
Identify opportunities to increase the value of existing partnerships.
Develop strategies to move appropriate partners from one-time sponsorships toward year-round or multi-year relationships.
Gather and communicate partner feedback internally to strengthen future programming and partnerships.

7. Industry Networking & Strategic Visibility

Strategically leverage healthcare conferences, pharmaceutical meetings, and industry events to cultivate relationships and generate opportunities.
Represent WAI at select industry events and networking opportunities.
Ensure timely post-event follow-up and pipeline entry for new relationships.
Advise leadership on which industry events provide the strongest relationship-building and revenue opportunities.

8. Leadership, Board & Cross-Functional Collaboration

Provide regular development and revenue updates to the President and organizational leadership.
Equip leadership and Board members with talking points, materials, and prospect context to support introductions and fundraising.
Leverage WAI's Board, Advisory Board, community, and existing relationships for strategic introductions where appropriate.
Collaborate with Programs to understand upcoming initiatives and funding needs.
Partner with Finance on budgets, contracts, invoicing, pledged versus received revenue, and funding reconciliation.
Collaborate with Communications on sponsor recognition, storytelling, and partnership visibility.
Ensure leadership has accurate relationship history and context before partner meetings.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this role will be evaluated through a combination of revenue generation, relationship development, pipeline health, and operational execution, including:

Annual fundraising and partnership revenue secured
Number of new partner meetings secured
New pharmaceutical and corporate partnerships established
Proposal and funding submission volume and success
Prospect-to-funded-partner conversion
Existing partner retention and renewal rate
Timeliness and quality of proposals, submissions, amendments, and funder reports

Qualifications

5+ years of experience in nonprofit development, business development, corporate partnerships, pharmaceutical relationship management, institutional giving, sponsorship, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience generating revenue and cultivating significant corporate, pharmaceutical, foundation, or institutional partnerships.
Experience working with pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, patient advocacy, or health-focused organizations strongly preferred.
Existing relationships within the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry are highly desirable.
Strong proposal development, grant writing, and sponsorship submission experience.
Demonstrated ability to manage funding opportunities from initial prospecting through submission, award, stewardship, and renewal.
Strong presentation, relationship-building, negotiation, and executive communication skills.
Ability to understand complex organizations and identify the appropriate decision-makers and funding pathways.
Strong CRM, pipeline management, project management, and reporting skills.
Comfortable balancing high-level strategy with hands-on execution within a lean organization.
Ability to translate program impact and community needs into compelling partnership opportunities.
Strong alignment with WAI's mission and commitment to serving Black women living with chronic illness.

About We Are ILL

We Are ILL (WAI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and uplifting Black women living with multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, NMOSD, and other autoimmune diseases through community, education, advocacy, and meaningful partnerships.

Through national programming, community experiences, patient education, Beyond ILL, Wellness Weekend, and other initiatives, WAI creates spaces where Black women living with chronic illness feel seen, supported, informed, and empowered.

How to Apply:

To apply, send your resume to info@weareillms.com

This job description is not exhaustive and may be revised as needed to meet the organization’s evolving needs