Parks & People

Director of Development

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:36:35 +0000

Organization’s Mission: Sparking wonder through play, education, and nature to create a community of environmental stewards for a healthier Baltimore.

Parks & People works to sustain and improve Baltimore’s parks and open spaces through public-private partnerships. Since 1984, P&P has a history of making investments in green park projects to revitalize neighborhoods and is a major provider of programs to allow children, youth and adults to learn, grow, and explore their natural environment. Parks & People envisions a Baltimore City where green renewal contributes to economic investment and population growth, where people enjoy green spaces that spark wonder, and where communities build the strength and leadership to steward the environment.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES: The Director of Development serves as Parks & People’s chief development officer with oversight of the development department. Specifically, the Director of Development is responsible for leading a development team in the strategy and execution of fundraising work that results in raising $3.5M in annual operating income through major giving activities, grants from public and private sector funders, and individual giving appeals. Therefore, this role requires an experienced development professional who can provide the expertise to create dynamic annual plans to realize the needed revenue target, and personally participate in the work required to generate needed income.

The role manages a team, which currently consists of four full time equivalent staff persons (1.5 FTE for communications, 1 FTE for Donor Relations, and 1.5 FTEs for Grants prospecting, writing and reporting). The objective is to maximize P&P fundraising potential and guide all its major functions to the next level of excellence, with the support of the aforementioned staff and CEO. The Director, working with the CEO, would be responsible for launching an endowment campaign, a planned giving process, planning and executing annual giving campaign, ensuring corporate and foundation grants and reports are completed, and developing and executing the strategy for sponsorships and donations at P&P’s special events.

REPORTS TO: President & CEO

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Identify and cultivate major givers: This role includes identifying, engaging, and securing from current and prospective major gift donors at least $300K in annual operating support.
2. Administer an outreach, communications and stewardship plan to establish and sustain relationships with current and prospective donors.
3. Provide leadership for a $5M endowment campaign: This role includes performing a feasibility study, developing a case statement, and creating the strategy to increase the endowment fund from $2.4M to $5M by 2029.
4. Manage Parks & People’s development staff to ensure all fundraising efforts are performed well.
5. Provide professional development training and opportunities to P&P’s development staff.
6. Staff the Board of Directors’ Development Committee: In this role, the Director creates an annual development plan and convenes the board committee to generate specific guidance and help from the board on executing the plan.
7. Staff the Board of Directors’ Events Committee: In this role, the Director creates an annual vision, theme, and event plan to get the board committee’s assistance for the annual Picnic in the Park fundraising.
8. Work collaboratively with the President & CEO to get in front of leaders in the public, private, and voluntary sectors, major donors, and other individuals and groups capable of helping to advance the mission and vision of Parks & People.
9. Must have genuine relationships with multiple key stakeholders across the Baltimore philanthropic landscape.

MANAGEMENT & OVERSIGHT:

1. Manage all activities of the Development division, including all designated staff and consultants, to ensure that overall annual development goals for fundraising are met.
2. Oversee the donor database system, grant tracking & reporting systems, prospect research program, and a moves-based portfolio management system.
3. Establish and oversee a comprehensive data management and reporting system that includes financial projections and periodic development progress reports.
4. Oversee creation of collateral material in support of fundraising endeavors.
5. Perform all other duties as assigned by the President & CEO.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:
• Demonstrable knowledge of the Baltimore fundraising landscape, for example, connections with people at 5-10 Baltimore Business Journal Top 20 Foundations or Philanthropic Corporations.
• Ability to be dynamic and engaging with potential major donors.
• At least seven (7) years of development experience with a history of securing 6-figure major gifts, grants and awards.
• Solid knowledge of MS-Office Suite, Development CRM Software, and other office automation software.
• Excellent time-management skills needed to handle multiple, concurrent projects, which are often associated with deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience and success in building and providing leadership for a collaboration-oriented team of professional staff members.
• Possess the interpersonal and leadership skills needed to work with and motivate staff and board members.
• Collaborative work ethic and ability to understand and identify opportunities and connections between fundraising activities and other divisional and organizational activities.
• Ability to use data and analytics as tools to communicate progress and make strategic and timely decisions regarding program effectiveness and impact.
• A willingness and availability to work beyond the usual 8:30am-5pm business day and on weekends as needed.

Design & Construction Project Manager

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:36:24 +0000

Organization’s Mission: Sparking wonder through play, education, and nature to create a community of environmental stewards for a healthier Baltimore.

Parks & People works to sustain and improve Baltimore’s parks and open spaces through public-private partnerships. Since 1984, P&P has a history of making investments in green park projects to revitalize neighborhoods and is a major provider of programs to allow children, youth and adults to learn, grow, and explore their natural environment. Parks & People envisions a Baltimore City where green renewal contributes to economic investment and population growth, where people enjoy green spaces that spark wonder, and where communities build the strength and leadership to steward the environment.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY: The Design & Construction Project Manager works with public officials, community leaders, and other constituent groups through the green space development process in an effort to increase the number of people in Baltimore with access to healthy, quality, and equitable parks, green space, and/or playgrounds. The Manager monitors and assesses all phases of design and construction projects, operations, and maintenance while ensuring that best practices and Parks & People standards are incorporated in park design.

REPORTS TO: Director of Park Projects

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Project Design
a. Create supporting project materials including fact sheets, presentations, and documentation of process and standards for external communication of projects
b. Oversee conceptual design development including production of drawings and plans using appropriate drafting technology
c. Work with partners to develop creative design solutions to meet urban community needs
d. Oversee process and meetings with stakeholders and constituents to develop design
e. Work with team to create and maintain list of design elements as standard for park projects and ensures designs incorporate predetermined standards for environmental performance and urban design
f. Identify and utilizes technology to further design and engage constituents in the design process
g. Collaborate with program staff to identify design needs for programming

2. Project Management
a. Develop construction phasing with phasing strategy in consultation with the Park Projects team
b. Document project progress with before/during/after photos and project impact stories
c. Provide data and information for monthly reports regarding work accomplished, project invoices, and project budgets
d. Manage spending on projects to complete within budget
e. Assist with planning of park-related opening events
f. Report regularly to the Director of Park Projects about project status and cost and identifies issues that need to be resolved

3. Project Construction
a. Manage bidding and consultant selection processes as required by funding and regulations
b. Assist with securing permits the park development process as needed
c. Complete and monitor construction cost estimates, project budgets and schedules; work with senior staff to value engineer projects to stay within budget
d. Oversee project construction process
e. Identify and implement repairs needed on past projects

4. Compliance and Reporting
a. Assist with community engagement activities and communications
b. Assist with park reporting and research
c. Publish pre- and post-park completion surveys and manage related data

5. Project Sustainability
a. Work with Volunteer & Community Engagement Manager to organize volunteer events in parks
b. Develop park programming with partners
c. Develop project maintenance guides

6. Other Duties
a. Make presentations before citizen groups, partners and commissions as assigned
b. Attend key meetings and assist the Director of Park Projects in representing the mission and interests of Parks & People to external groups, organizations and providers as assigned
c. Keep current on issues of importance to the organization by literature review, contact with social and professional communities, and participating in relevant conferences
d. Provide support, when requested, for all organization activities

QUALIFICATIONS:

Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture, urban planning, or related field
• At least 3 years of progressive experience in project management methods and practices for planning, budgeting, scheduling, monitoring evaluating results
• Experience working with community groups and government agencies
• Knowledge of construction regulations and requirements
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, superb organizational skills, and attention to detail
• Proficiency in MS Office software
• Excellent time management skills needed to handle multiple, concurrent deadlines
• Exceptional people-skills and perseverance in building and maintaining relationships with partners
• Critical thinking needed to understand and identify opportunities to strengthen connections between vibrant parks and community development
• Ability to analyze problems, synthesize information and develop solutions which support Parks & People’s mission
• Able to utilize data as a tool to make strategic and timely decisions regarding program effectiveness and impact
• A willingness to work beyond the usual 8:30am-5pm business day and on weekends is required when needed

Preferences
• Master’s degree in landscape architecture, urban planning, or related field