Senior Leadership Gifts Officer

The California Academy of Sciences is a globally renowned scientific and cultural institution located in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Home to a world-class planetarium, aquarium, research center, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—our mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

Our extensive collections span plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history. We are a diverse team of leading biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators who work collaboratively to advance knowledge and inspire action through science and storytelling.

When you join the California Academy of Sciences, you become part of a mission-driven community that values curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. Whether you're working behind the scenes in research or engaging the public on the museum floor, your work will help connect people to the natural world and empower them to protect it.

The Senior Leadership Gifts Officer is a seasoned frontline fundraiser responsible for managing a robust portfolio of high-net-worth donors and prospects, with a focus on securing and stewarding major and principal gifts. This role drives revenue growth by securing transformational philanthropic support and delivering high-impact donor experiences that reflect the Academy’s mission. The Senior Leadership Gifts Officer leads complex cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies; partners closely with Leadership Philanthropy, program leaders, and cross-functional teams to align donor interests with institutional priorities; and contributes to team strategy, pipeline development, and fundraising best practices. By modeling a disciplined, donor-centered, and data-informed approach, this position strengthens the overall effectiveness of the major gifts program while expanding the Leadership Philanthropy team’s capacity, enabling senior leaders to focus on top-tier donor strategy and portfolio management.

• Manage a portfolio of 90–100 donors and prospects, with emphasis on leadership and principal gifts.
• Independently develop and execute tailored cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for each prospect.
• Consistently secure gifts of $25K+, advancing priorities across biodiversity science, environmental learning, and conservation.
• Maintain disciplined moves management, forecasting, and pipeline reporting in Tessitura.

• Serve as primary relationship manager for select high-profile donors and supporters.
• Deliver bespoke, high-touch experiences—behind-the-scenes tours, lab/collections visits, field and site visits—that deepen affinity and accelerate giving.
• Coordinate with Donor Relations, Events, and Communications to provide personalized, timely stewardship touchpoints and impact reporting.

• Partner with scientists and program leads to align donor interests with mission-critical work; translate complex initiatives into compelling donor offers.
• Collaborate with the Advancement Events team on curated on-site and field-based activations that advance cultivation and stewardship goals.
• Work with Advancement Operations to leverage data, dashboards, and reporting that inform strategy and drive results.

• Qualify and advance high-potential prospects into the major/principal gift pipeline.
• Deepen relationships with well-cultivated new prospects following initial engagement by the LP Coordinator and Leadership & Legacy Giving Officer.
• Identify potential board and volunteer leadership candidates and help steward them toward deeper philanthropic engagement.

• Partner with the Director of LP and the Associate Director on select donor strategies.
• Model donor-centered communication, rigorous planning, and cross-team collaboration; share tools and best practices that elevate team performance.
• Represent LP in internal meetings as needed, contributing to seamless coordination across Advancement and program teams.

• 6+ years of frontline fundraising or equivalent high-level relationship management, with a track record of securing $25K+ gifts.
• Demonstrated success managing a robust major-donor portfolio and closing complex, multi-stakeholder solicitations.
• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills; poised and effective with high-profile donors and institutional leaders.
• Experience designing and executing bespoke donor engagements (tours, field visits, events) tied to program impact.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills; adept at prioritizing across multiple donors, deadlines, and partners.
• Proficiency with fundraising CRMs and reporting (Tessitura preferred); data-driven approach to strategy and forecasting.
• Collaborative, generous teammate with a coaching mindset; committed to sharing practices that strengthen team culture.
• Deep interest in the Academy’s mission; familiarity with science, climate, conservation, or museum philanthropy is a plus.

Interested candidates should submit a resume and application through our Careers Page portal.