Development Operations Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: Development Operations Officer

REPORTING TO: Senior Director of Philanthropic Partnerships

LOCATION:  Zambia or the East Coast of the United States

ABOUT HEALTHY LEARNERS

Healthy Learners is an award-winning non-profit organization committed to improving the health of children in Zambia and beyond. We partner with the government and local communities so that school children can stay healthy, learn effectively and have a brighter future. Healthy Learners was the inaugural winner of the 2021 Duke F.M. Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact, the UBS Optimus Foundation COVID-19 Relief Prize, the 2025 Skoll Award for Social Innovation, and has seen strong, steady growth in philanthropic support over time.

School-aged children in low-resource settings suffer from a high burden of disease and often lack access to basic healthcare, which causes otherwise preventable and curable illnesses to frequently result in life-long health challenges or disability. In the short term, these illnesses contribute to school absenteeism, poor academic performance, and high drop-out rates. In the long term, they undermine physical, cognitive, and emotional development and hinder economic prosperity.

Healthy Learners is bridging this gap in Zambia through our unique model of school-based community health. By training teachers to be community health workers and making schools entry points into the public healthcare system, children now receive medical attention in substantially greater numbers, improving health outcomes and reducing absenteeism. We currently serve more than 1 million students and are working with the Zambian government to scale the program nationally to serve 3 million children by 2028.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Healthy Learners is built on a solid foundation of strong philanthropic partnerships, a capable team and a robust culture. As we prepare to enter an exciting period of growth, we are looking for a passionate Development Operations Officer to join our development team and help drive our fundraising as we scale in Zambia and beyond.

The Development Operations Officer is an exceptionally motivated and highly organized individual who provides critical support to the Development Team. Reporting to the Senior Director of Philanthropic Partnerships, s/he will provide fundraising, project management, and administrative support for the Development Team. This position requires someone with impeccable attention to detail, who jumps in wherever needed to get things done, who is proactive and can work with little direction, and who displays a can-do attitude. This role is designed to be a great learning experience to gain insight into all aspects of a development department. The Development Operations Officer will get to work with all team members on various projects.

IN AN AVERAGE WEEK, YOU MIGHT:

Manage organizational CRM and file management systems – maintaining accurate donor entries and data, as well as running and analyzing pipeline reports. You are
Develop a calendar for a high-stakes proposal that is due in the next two weeks, proposing a timeline and key milestones based on team schedules
Complete detailed forms related to payment processing and other administrative requirements
Schedule internal meetings, take notes, and follow up on action items
Keep tabs on a multitude of details, liaising with colleagues across the organization to ensure the team delivers on its commitments – ensuring nothing “slips between the cracks”
Research donor prospects, including conducting due diligence research

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

General Development Support

Support the development of grant applications, concept notes, reports, and supporting documents.
Carry out research and engage other departments across the organization to collect and synthesize data for proposals and reports.
Create monthly fundraising reports and manage dashboards.
Perform prospect research and analysis
Prepare and keep up-to-date donor profiles, including biographical and demographic information before key donor/prospect meetings or events.
Provide planning support for events and site visits (in-person and virtual).
Manage and generate contact lists for newsletters, appeals or other mailings; coordinate special signatures, special notes, and addressing and mailing fundraising appeals.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of Healthy Learners programs, initiatives, and strategy; engage with staff across Healthy Learners’ teams and offices to better learn the program and to gather critical information in non-burdensome ways to enhance proposals and reports.
Support with special projects, scheduling meetings with funders, sharing administrative expertise with other departments, and other office management tasks as needed.

Donor Stewardship and Grant Administration

Own and maintain the proposal and reporting calendar, supporting the team to consistently meet deliverables on time
Maintain customer relationship management (CRM) systems, including data entry, report generation, data analysis, system updates, campaign progress, documenting protocols and processes, and recommending improvements
Ensure data integrity and accurate donor records.
Maintain and track foundation grant documentation and reporting requirements.
Facilitate timely delivery of reports and adhere to reporting timelines.
Assist in completing the due diligence requirements of donors by coordinating and collating data from across the organization, especially the M & E, Programs, and Finance Teams.
Ensure all donations are processed, recognized, and acknowledged in a timely manner.
Help to administer grants for Healthy Learners to ensure compliance with all pertinent guidelines, regulations, and deadlines.

Project Management:

Development Calendar: Maintain the Dev team calendar to track deadlines and submissions, ensuring timely application submissions.
Prepare regular reports that measure the development department’s progress toward quarterly and annual goals.
Stewardship Plans: Work with the team to calendar important stewardship touchpoints, moves management actions, and critical deadlines – keep the team on track on a series of development deliverables as described.
Coordinate inputs from colleagues across the organization on key projects, proposals and deliverables

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The ideal candidate is a strong team player, has impeccable attention to detail and follow-through, and is deeply passionate about the mission and vision of Healthy Learners. S/he is a clear, precise and confident communicator, with strong verbal and written skills. The ideal candidate will be excited to join on the ground floor of a new department in a rapidly growing organization. S/he approaches that opportunity with humility, hunger, and a “no job too small” commitment to meeting the needs of the organization. In addition, the ideal candidate:

Has at least three (3) years of relevant experience, ideally with experience in fundraising operations.
Has experience working with a Customer Relationship Management Database.
Has excellent note-taking skills
Has strong analytical skills.
Has excellent project management skills.
Is a thoughtful, confident, mature, and charismatic individual who is able to maintain positive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.
Is highly organized, extremely detail-oriented, and able to prioritize competing assignments and deliver quality results on a deadline.
Is highly comfortable working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
Thrives in a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and collaborative environment that demands and rewards innovation and creativity, with a high bar for commitment and performance.
Has the ability to maintain confidentiality and follow established procedures.
Has knowledge of international development and global health issues.

If interested, please send your CV and cover letter to jobs.development@healthylearners.org with the subject:

Development Operations Officer