Overview
Chief Development Officer Jobs in Nashville, TN at Genesis Generation Inc
Title: Chief Development Officer
Company: Genesis Generation Inc
Location: Nashville, TN
Chief Development Officer (CDO)
Organization: Genesis Generation, Inc. Location: Knoxville, TN (on-site, with regular travel across East Tennessee)Reports to: Founder & CEO Supervises: Development team, including the Director of Development Type: Full-time, exempt
About Genesis Generation
Genesis Generation is a Knoxville-based 501(c)(3) on a single mission: connecting Tennessee kids to careers. Our flagship program, Appalachia Sessions Live (ASL), reaches students in grades 5–10 across the state's most distressed Appalachian counties — meeting them before they disconnect from school and work, when the window to change a trajectory is still open.
The stakes are concrete. Tennessee loses an estimated $1.3 billion every year to disconnected youth. Meanwhile, the state's nuclear, quantum, and advanced-manufacturing employers are making public promises about the workforce they'll build here. ASL is the delivery mechanism — a free, five-module program that moves kids toward real post-secondary pathways: college, trades, apprenticeships, and CTE. Our goal is to cut disconnected youth from 1-in-10 to 1-in-20 by 2035.
Phase 1 launches in 2026. We're building the revenue engine to take it statewide and make it permanent.
The Role
The Chief Development Officer (CDO) owns fundraising and leads the development function. You will build and run the strategy and execution across individual giving, foundations, corporate partnerships, and government funding — and you'll work directly with the CEO on a live campaign to secure ASL as a recurring state appropriation. You'll also direct the existing development team, setting priorities and getting the most out of the staff already in place. This is a builder's seat: the mission is proven and the momentum is real, but the development function is yours to architect.
Key Responsibilities
Fundraising strategy & revenue
- Design and execute an annual development plan with clear revenue targets across all giving channels
- Build a diversified funding base — individual, foundation, corporate, and government — that can sustain statewide scale
Team leadership
- Direct and develop the existing development staff, setting clear priorities, roles, and accountability
- Build the department out as the organization scales — hiring, structure, and systems
Major gifts & individual giving
- Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors, closing five- and six-figure gifts
- Build a moves-management pipeline and a repeatable annual-giving program
Grants
- Write and manage foundation and government grant proposals from research through reporting
- Track deadlines, deliverables, and compliance in coordination with finance and program staff
Corporate & institutional partnerships
- Turn Tennessee's advanced-industry employers into a corporate giving and sponsorship pipeline
- Steward relationships with institutional partners across higher education and community colleges
Donor operations & stewardship
- Own the donor database (CRM) — clean data, accurate gift tracking, timely acknowledgments
- Build stewardship systems that keep donors close and giving again
Campaign & board support
- Partner with the CEO on the state-appropriation and advocacy campaign
- Equip board members with the materials, targets, and asks to activate their networks
- Translate program outcomes (Connected Youth Index results) into compelling donor-facing stories
Qualifications
Required
- 5–7+ years in nonprofit development, with a track record of closing five- and six-figure gifts
- Ability to own fundraising strategy and grant management independently, start to finish
- Proven grant writing and grant management experience
- Experience leading a development function and managing or mentoring staff
- Demonstrated success building corporate or institutional partnerships
- Fluency with a donor CRM and data-driven pipeline management
- Excellent writer and storyteller who can make a mission land
- Comfort with outcomes data and reporting
- Willingness to travel regularly across East Tennessee
Preferred
- Background in education, workforce development, or youth-serving nonprofits
- Familiarity with Tennessee's philanthropic, corporate, and government landscape
- Capital or major-campaign experience
- Existing grasstops relationships across the state
Compensation
This is a base salary plus performance incentive role — built for a proven closer, not a fixed salary that draws indefinitely regardless of results.
- Base salary: $65,000–$75,000, commensurate with experience
- Performance incentive: annual bonus of up to 50% of base, earned against defined, measurable targets — net funds raised vs. goal, grants submitted and won, major gifts closed, new corporate/institutional partnerships, and donor retention
- On-target total compensation: ~$105,000, with additional upside for overperformance
- Ramp & milestones: clear 90-day and 6-month benchmarks, including a revenue target the role is expected to generate by month six; performance is reviewed against the numbers
- Benefits: [insert benefits]
We track results and reward them. This role is built for a closer who wants real accountability and real upside — not a seat that pays for activity.
To Apply
Send a resume and a short cover letter to [email protected]
