SVP, Advancement and External Affairs

About JAG

Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) is a national non-profit organization on a mission to empower the nation’s young people with the skills and support to succeed in education, employment, and in life. For over 40+ years, JAG has been working to prevent school dropouts and help America’s most vulnerable young people to succeed in postsecondary education and to secure a job. As the country’s premier education and job preparation/placement program for young people of great promise, JAG has helped more than 1.7 million youth and young adults prepare for future success.

JAG is comprised of an agile national-level team (~20 FTE, $9M operating budget in 2025), with an expansive network reach that serves partners in 32 states impacting 88,000 youth (managed by 2,000 staff at local affiliates with a network revenue of $130M). JAG is funded by corporations, foundations and government agencies. Following the retirement of its founding CEO after 44 years, JAG and its new CEO are six months into executing an ambitious 3-year strategic plan that sets the organization on a path to reach 1 million youth annually over the next decade.

To achieve our vision, JAG is committed to executing against four strategic pillars:

1. Attract sustainable funding to fuel the future.2. Tell the JAG story more effectively.3. Evolve the JAG Program for scalable growth.4. Focus JAG National team efforts on improving quality, credibility, and results.

About this Role:

The Senior Vice President, Advancement and External Affairs will be a key member of JAG’s executive leadership team and serve as the architect of the organization’s funding and broad external engagement strategy. This role will unify and craft a best-in-class and integrated advancement and external affairs strategy, with responsibilities for fundraising, marketing and communications, and national events. Ultimately, this role will increase visibility, secure resources, and strengthen JAG’s impact nationwide.

This role is a great opportunity for a builder – of strong teams, strong systems and strong relationships. In partnership with the CEO, Board and other stakeholders, the SVP, Advancement and External Affairs will be a central driver of strategic pillars #1 and #2 (above), ensuring JAG secures the resources, visibility, and partnerships needed to expand our reach and impact by 2026 and beyond. Initially, the SVP will lead a team of 7 full-time team members (plus contractors).

The ideal candidate for this role has deep experience across the private and non-profit sector, has built and led a team to scale an ambitious fundraising and marketing strategy, and is an exceptional leader and people developer who can flex regularly between the strategic and tactical level.

Reporting to the CEO, this remote position can be based anywhere in the Continental U.S. Regular travel is expected (approximately 20%, including monthly fundraising and partner meetings, plus three annual national events and a staff retreat).

What You’ll Do:

Member of the Executive Leadership Team:

• Along with the CEO, SVP, Operations and VP of Finance, act as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Fundraising & Advancement:

• Lead a team of 4 direct fundraising team members and partner with the Board, CEO and affiliates, to raise $11.2M in 2026 (including major gifts, annual campaigns, corporate partnerships, foundation grants, planned giving, and government funding).
• Oversee the team responsible for funder and prospect research, qualification, cultivation, and pipeline development, prospect strategy, data capture and analysis, and support for operations on proposal development.
• Partner with the CEO and board to ensure a sustainable major gifts strategy (including legacy giving) and 100% board giving participation.
• Work in close collaboration with SVP, Operations to ensure consistent coordination and collaboration with Program Operations related to fundraising, proposal/project development, reporting, etc.
• Partner with SVP, Operations team to hone and accelerate alumni engagement strategy and programming/fundraising.
• Partner with affiliate leadership across 30+ states to strengthen alignment on fundraising, events, and shared systems.
• Drive technology optimization of donor engagement strategy and analytics (e.g., Salesforce, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Constant Contact) to enhance revenue forecasting, donor segmentation, and fundraising performance.
• Ensure compliance with fundraising regulations, ethical standards, and data privacy laws.

Brand Marketing, Communications & Storytelling

• Oversee an integrated marketing and communications team responsible for donor campaigns, social media, PR, targeted outreach to foundations and corporate partners, and content development including thought leadership, youth voice, alumni stories, and stakeholder features.
• Drive a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy that aligns storytelling with fundraising to amplify mission and impact.
• Elevate the CEO’s voice as thought leader, ensuring JAG is a national key voice in the workforce development / education-to-employment space.
• Partner with affiliates to ensure brand consistency across the JAG network.

Events & Sponsorships

• Partner with our Director of Training & Programming, Director of Event Experience, and JAG’s external event partner, to ensure JAG’s funding and branding priorities - including elevating youth voice - are integrated into JAG’s events.
• Drive event revenue strategy in partnership with the Event Experience team, developing scalable registration fee structures, and diversified sponsorship models that maximize revenue potential and advance organizational mission.
• Partner with the Director of Corporate Partnerships to grow sponsorship revenue across events in alignment with strategic plan goals.

Government Affairs & Advocacy

• Provide support to Government Affairs team to align advocacy strategies with advancement priorities across JAG.

Who You Are:

• A seasoned advancement leader with 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in fundraising, B2B marketing, or related fields.
• Experience in both the non-profit and for-profit sector, with experience and interest in building infrastructure and teams during a rapid growth/scale phase.
• A collaborative and flexible leader comfortable engaging diverse stakeholders nationwide.
• A proven revenue generator with expertise in managing multi-source revenue models (corporate, foundation, individual, government, events).
• Skilled at managing and developing teams, with a track record of building culture, accountability, and collaboration.
• Ability to and interest in operating at a 37,000-foot level as well as “in the weeds”.
• Adept at balancing the priorities of multiple stakeholders – e.g. national vs. affiliate dynamics – with experience strengthening alumni, affiliate or related networks and building and maintaining trust.
• An exceptional and proven leader who is operationally disciplined, team-oriented, and able to align diverse functions toward common goals.
• Deeply committed to empowering our nation’s young people with the skills and support to succeed.
• Actively demonstrates adaptability, integrity, and outcomes-driven work product.
• Familiarity with CRM platforms, ideally Salesforce and other fundraising/donor databases.

What We Offer:

Our team works hard to provide a satisfying work experience, competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package.

The hiring range for this role is $200,000 to $250,000 annually (plus an annual bonus), in alignment with JAG’s compensation philosophy. The pay range listed is based on national compensation benchmark data and may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge, variations in cost of labor, and in some cases, geographic location. The exact job offer will be determined based on several factors such as the candidate’s individual skills, qualifications and experience relative to the requirements of the role and market demands.

Our Commitment to Belonging:

As an organization, JAG is prioritizing lifting the voices of JAG participants, while also prioritizing belonging and inclusion at all levels of the organization, including our national organization as well as with our Affiliates and our partners. We aim to cultivate a culture that centers around the overall care, well-being, and success of the employee through flexible work hours, balanced workloads, professional development, and equitable career advancement opportunities.

To Apply:

Please apply at https://jag.org/careers/ ; include your resume and brief response (2 paragraphs max) to the question, What aspect of fundraising and/or building fundraising infrastructure do you find most energizing, and why? Please respond from your own experience. Address your response to Catherine Carrington, Carrington Talent Group.

We are accepting applications through October 26th at 9pm ET. Candidates will be invited to interview for the role on a rolling basis, and all candidates will receive follow up on the status of their applications by November 15th.