Director of Development

Job Description

Word In Black, a public benefit corporation, is entering an exciting phase as the focus shifts to data-driven insights on Black America and seeks a Director of Revenue Development to generate revenue that strengthens long-term sustainability.

The Director of Revenue Development develops, secures, and manages Word In Black’s product lines, which include research projects, sponsored convenings, activation packages, sponsorship/underwriting, and events. Backed by $2 million in funding, Word In Black has produced two significant research reports focused on barriers to organ donation/transplantation and breast cancer screening. The organ donation research resulted in Word In Black winning the 2026 inaugural NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work — Journalism.

The Director of Revenue Development reports to and works with the CEO to develop KPIs and benchmarks.

The ideal candidate will be passionate about our public benefit mission to produce a positive effect for society through research and development, media content production, and other related activities.

Job Requirements

Key Responsibilities

Earned revenue and sponsorship development (primary)

• Build and manage a commercial pipeline for Word In Black’s product lines (research projects, sponsored convenings, activation packages, sponsorship/underwriting, events).
• Own outbound business development: target lists, outreach, meetings, follow-up and pipeline hygiene in CRM.
• Produce proposals and SOW-ready scopes (deliverables, pricing, timelines, inclusions/exclusions, pass-through rules).
• Negotiate and close agreements on both new business and renewals.
• Develop repeatable sponsorship packages tied to research, data and convenings (rate card, packages, reporting).

Revenue operations and coordination

• Lead weekly pipeline cadence, forecasting and KPI reporting (meetings, qualified opportunities, proposals, win rate, average deal size, bookings, collections).
• Coordinate with the CEO and delivery leads to ensure sellable scopes, reliable handoffs and alignment with Word In Black guardrails (data use, disclosures, integrity).

Philanthropy (secondary)

• Manage renewals and institutional opportunities; support proposal development and funder reporting with program and finance teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years experience in business development/partnerships/sponsorship sales (mission-driven media, research/insights, agency, nonprofit or adjacent).
• Understanding of data, research and content products and how they are positioned and sold to commercial and institutional buyers.
• Demonstrated success building pipeline and closing B2B deals; strong writing and proposal skills.
• Strong CRM discipline, forecasting and cross-functional coordination.
• High integrity and sound judgment; credible with community stakeholders and partner networks; knowledge of and respect for Black legacy media.

Reporting, terms and compensation

• Reports to the CEO. Compensation: Base $75,000 with incentives expected to be in the range of $25,000, with further upside potential based on exceeding conservative revenue targets. Benefits include health/dental/vision options, 401(k) with match, PTO, paid holidays and year-end holiday time off.

How to apply

Submit a cover letter and résumé/CV to execsearch@wordinblack.com by April 20.

Word In Black is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and welcomes candidates from all backgrounds aligned with WIB’s mission.

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