Chief of Staff, Development Operations

Malala Fund•Washington, DC

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Chief of Staff, Development Operations serves as the operational and strategic backbone of Malala Fund’s Development team, ensuring our people, systems, and priorities are aligned to maximize fundraising impact. This role blends thoughtful people leadership and coaching with strong project management, operational oversight, and organisational excellence to support a high-performing, collaborative team. Acting as a trusted strategic partner to the Chief Growth Officer, this leader translates vision into action, bringing clarity, structure, and momentum to complex initiatives. They function as a central point of coordination and decision support for the Development team, ensuring work is well-sequenced, risks are surfaced early, and priorities move forward efficiently. Supports the growth of Development staff as confident, external-facing leaders, creating space for team members to thrive while maintaining access to and partnership with the CGO. This role requires a synergistic leader with exceptional relational skills, a commitment to building inclusive, sustainable systems, and the ability to navigate complex, cross-functional work. They have excellent written and verbal communication, international nonprofit and development experience, strong time and project management abilities, and the discretion to handle confidential information with care.

Requirements

10+ years of relevant experience in development, operations, advancement, or a closely related field.
Demonstrated experience in executive-level administration and operational leadership, with success supporting senior leaders and complex organisational priorities.
Proven experience managing and coaching teams, with a demonstrated ability to support professional growth and foster collaborative, high-performing teams.
Demonstrated strength in project management, process design, and operational execution across multiple, complex priorities.
Experience overseeing events, campaigns, calendars, and high-volume ,including those that are time-sensitive or high-impact.
Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and consistent follow-through.
Ability to engage in both strategic thinking and hands-on execution, adapting to the needs of the work.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and relational skills, paired with sound judgment and emotional awareness.
Ability to bring structure and clarity while supporting creativity, learning, and innovation.
Deep commitment to Malala Fund’s mission, values, and purpose.

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior people leader for the Development team, coaching staff, strengthening internal leadership capacity, and positioning the team to consistently perform at a high level.
Cultivate an inclusive team culture grounded in clarity, accountability, and continuous professional growth.
Empower Development staff to show up as confident, effective, and external-facing leaders.
Supervise staff and portfolio providing strategic leadership, overseeing vision, growth, and performance across online fundraising channels to drive revenue and donor engagement.
Serves as the primary operational lead and first point of coordination for the Development team, translating the CGO’s strategic priorities into strategic priorities into clear plans, timelines, and sequenced execution ensuring work is aligned, resourced, and moving on schedule.
Partner with the CGO to monitor and advance annual Development objectives, KPIs, and proactively monitor risks, resolve bottlenecks, filter issues, decisions, and recommendations before they escalate to the CGO.
Act as the Development team’s primary operations and project management lead, overseeing planning, sequencing, and prioritization of work to optimize team capacity and leadership time.
Establish and maintain clear, consistent ways of working across the Development function to strengthen execution, alignment, and accountability.
Lead cross-functional Development projects, campaigns, internal communications, and special initiatives from planning through delivery, ensuring alignment with organizational strategy and priorities.
Coordinate complex calendars, meetings, deadlines, campaigns, and events, balancing long-term planning with emergent needs and shifting needs.
Support planning and execution of key meetings and moments, including board meetings, staff retreats, advocacy opportunities, and major fundraising engagements.
Oversee Development events and campaigns from an operational and project management lens, ensuring timelines, staffing, and logistics are tightly coordinated and delivered with excellence.
Continuously assess and improve Development systems, workflows, and processes to increase efficiency, reduce friction, and strengthen team performance.
Identify gaps, redundancies, and capacity constraints and implement practical, sustainable solutions that improve effectiveness across the function.
Maintain behaviour and conduct that uphold the highest standards for safeguarding, professionally and personally.
Performs other related duties as assigned.