Advancement Systems & Research Manager

Department:  Advancement

Location: Oakland, CA, Washington, D.C. or Remote

Reports To: Deputy Chief Advancement Officer, Major Gifts

Supervises: Advancement Systems & Research Coordinator

Context: At the Sierra Club, we believe in the power of togetherness. Together, we remain committed to the fight for a healthy climate built on a foundation of environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice – a future where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet and a direct connection to nature. As the climate crisis and deeply entrenched systemic racism all fuel inequity, we will continue to fight for a bold, transformational agenda that recognizes the interconnectedness between our planet, our humanity, and our democracy. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we continue to name that all things are fundamentally connected, and the overlap between ecology, race, gender, and representative government will move to either advance our collective humanity or to oppress it.

Sierra Club is comprised of staff across the country and a network of local chapters that support our grassroots engagement. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with two labor unions representing more than half of our employees.

Scope: The Advancement Systems & Research Manager will help create the vision, define the business needs, develop business processes, and manage the implementation of the Sierra Club’s major donor data systems. This role will translate and meet the needs of the Advancement operation through strategic and optimized technology solutions, including managing the fundraising CRM (Salesforce.) He/She/They will perform a variety of operational functions such as Salesforce database training for fundraising, leading analytics for Advancement Major Gifts and Gift Planning leadership, and overseeing the creation, coordination, and updating of training materials, specifically related to the Salesforce database. Provides ongoing departmental database support for fundraising staff, functions as the liaison to the IT department for database programming needs, manages prospect research projects, and works with the Advancement Deputy Chief Advancement Officer, Major Gifts and the Chief Advancement Officer on operational related projects. Facilitates Salesforce related enhancements and maintains system best practices in conjunction with IT and other Sierra Club staff as well as working with outside vendors. Oversees one direct report, the Advancement Systems & Research Coordinator, who supports the major gifts team with prospect research and related donor & wealth identification in our database.

Job activities include but are not limited to:

1. Salesforce master user for Office of Advancement and liaison to IT on any Salesforce related issues. Key OoA staff assigned to “center of excellence” relating to Salesforce and digital strategy tools. 
2. Manages and supports Advancement and fundraising Salesforce users and their business processes with enhanced user permissions. Organizes a cohesive curriculum and training manual for Salesforce and continues to update and modify. Maintains up-to-date information on Salesforce products and apps.
3. Point person for OoA on generating and distributing complex report selections and record creation.  Manages and creates fundraising trends and analytic reports and analysis for Advancement leadership. Implements Gift Officer KPI reports in Salesforce.
4. Point Person for OoA on generating and distributing complex report selections; campaign creation, and also improving system features.   
5. Takes lead in implementing Salesforce database changes by coordinating with SC IT department and Advancement leadership.
6. Provides Salesforce training to staff, and serves as “troubleshooter” for staff experiencing database issues. Maintains up-to-date information on Salesforce products and apps. Organizes a cohesive curriculum and training manual for Salesforce and continues to update and modify.
7. Manages Advancement Systems & Research Coordinator and in coordination with the Deputy Chief Advancement Officer, Major Gifts helps provide guidance and offers oversight and management on strategic priority setting for donor research, donor qualification and use of key databases and research tools. 
8. Summarize/translate data into easy to understand/visually appealing presentations and to effectively analyze, identify trends/gaps and  present those findings to senior staff and partners.
9. Support and guide the Advancement Systems & Research Coordinator to develop, implement and optimize a system of routinely wealth-screening incoming donors to identify high-potential donors for middle, major, and institutional giving.
10. Performs miscellaneous operational duties as directed by the Deputy Chief Advancement Officer, Major Gifts, and serves as an integral resource for OoA operational and administrative needs.
11. Manages the importing and extracting of fundraising data into and out of Salesforce.

The successful candidate must have the following skills and experience:

• Experience working with CRM and organizational databases, ideally in a fundraising department.
• Experience and proficiency with Salesforce platform. Salesforce Admin Certification preferred.
• Adept at pulling fundraising reports, analyzing trends, identifying gaps and optimizing data to support high ROI fundraising activities.
• Experience conducting various organizational trainings and workshops.
• Ability to model effective equity analysis and practice and demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how group dynamics impact supervisory relationships, organizational culture, partnerships, campaigns and coalition work. Decision-making is consistent, intentional, and committed to creating equitable outcomes at all levels.
• Experience leading high-performing and leaderful teams across group identities. You intervene when challenging group dynamics play out, in ways that build understanding, trust, and deeper self-awareness of team members.
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines, to use tact and diplomacy in dealing with confidential and sensitive matters, and ability to work well with diverse groups of people.
• Strong organizational skills, ability to establish priorities, and ability to work effectively with colleagues and volunteers.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $90,000-100,000 for Region I locations.

The Sierra Club offers a competitive salary package commensurate with skills and experience plus excellent benefits that include medical, dental, and vision coverage, and a retirement savings 401(k) plan.

This is a category 5 exempt, non-represented, managerial and/or supervisory position.

Sierra Club is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. Sierra Club employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

Sierra Club values the expertise and talents of foreign nationals. Sierra Club sponsors both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas when certain criteria are met, based on immigration laws and organizational needs. Such sponsorship is at the discretion of the Department Head and Sierra Club Human Resources in consultation with the employee’s manager. The Sierra Club cannot guarantee the approval of a visa petition.

The Sierra Club is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity.

Explore, enjoy and protect the planet

To Apply

This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. If you choose to include your education history, please remove your schools from your resume. You may leave your degree (e.g., “B.A. Philosophy”), but please remove any undergraduate and graduate school names.

This anonymous process is aimed at opening this opportunity to more candidates, reviewing applicants on performance assessments and mitigating bias in the decision making process.

Lastly, we are intentionally not asking for a cover letter, so please do not send one in with your application.