At edX, a Cambridge-based non-profit, our mission is to offer a world-class education to everyone, everywhere, allowing them to gain the in-demand skills and knowledge that will lead to fulfilling careers and lifelong success. Today, edX provides more than 26 million people access to education from the best universities and institutions in the world, including Harvard, MIT, Oxford, and UC Berkeley. edX provides inspirational and transformative knowledge to students of all ages, social status, and income, worldwide.

edX is looking for an influential, driven, and charismatic VP of Development to expand our mission of providing access to education all over the world by planning and fundraising major gifts from individual donors. As our first VP of Development, you will be responsible for creating and executing a strategy that meets our fundraising goals, with a focus on philanthropic donations, and leverages the expertise and strengths of our current Development team, one Fundraising Director. The VP of Development will be a key spokesperson for our organization; a strong candidate is one who is comfortable in an outward-facing role with the stature and distinction to cultivate and maintain senior-level relationships across a variety of donors. 

Reporting to our CEO and founder and working closely with our senior leadership team, this is a critical and visible role that will directly impact edX’s growth as we further our mission of democratizing education.

Responsibilities: 

• Develop a comprehensive strategy for our annual development goals, while building upon the capability of our Development team
• Research prospects and cultivate deep-ties with high profile individuals internationally, promoting edX’s story, through a variety of edX sponsored events and meetings 
• Pioneer and advance our Global Strategic Board to create a community of influential philanthropists world-wide behind the edX mission
• Collaborate with our C-suite and Business Development, Strategic Partnerships, and Marketing leaders to execute on our strategy 
• Establish metrics and KPIs to analyze development progress and identify areas for optimization
• Travel up to 30%

What we are looking for: 

• 10+ years of professional fundraising/development experience, ideally with a background working within universities or non-profits
• Proven success meeting ambitious annual development goals, in the 10s of millions 
• Ability to create, implement, and track a strategic major gifts plan, with a data-driven approach
• Comfort prospecting and growing the relationships of potential donors on an international level, while leveraging your existing network, with an emphasis on stewardship
• Experience planning and managing large fundraising events and smaller, personal gatherings for relationship building
• An entrepreneurial mindset with a propensity to propagate edX’s vision in an energizing and inspirational way

Applicants must be able to work out of our Cambridge, MA office. Sorry, Visa sponsorship is not available.