Project Manager, Development & Corporate Partnerships

Position: Project Manager, Development & Corporate Partnerships

Department: Development

FLSA Status: Full-time, Exempt

Reports to: Director, Corporate Partnerships

Location: Washington DC (Hybrid)

Date Issued: December 2022

About Polaris

Polaris is a leader in the global fight to eradicate human trafficking. Named after the North Star that guided slaves to freedom in the U.S., Polaris acts as a catalyst to systematically disrupt the human trafficking networks that rob human beings of their lives and their freedom, and supports survivors on their paths to freedom. By working with government leaders, the world’s leading transportation & hospitality, finance and technology corporations, and local partners, Polaris equips communities to identify, report, and prevent human trafficking. Our comprehensive model puts victims at the center of what we do – helping survivors restore their freedom, preventing more victims, and leveraging data and technology to pursue traffickers wherever they operate. Polaris is headquartered in Washington, DC, operates on a $16.8 million budget in 2023, and has approximately 145 staff members.

Founded in 2002, Polaris practices a survivor-centered, justice- and equity-driven, and tech-enabled approach to this work. We tackle the problem in three main ways - direct response, research and intelligence, and public policy & advocacy. More details about our programs and history can be found on our web site at www.polarisproject.org. 

About Opportunity

Polaris seeks a Project Manager, Development & Corporate Partnerships, to join an eight-person fundraising team and help build the organization’s financial support base from a wide range of funding sources including foundations, government, corporate, individual and earned revenue sources. Polaris seeks a Project Manager to organize cross-functional efforts to materialize Corporate deliverables, support the overall planning and execution of goals and events by the Development team, and assist with corporate business development. They bring demonstrated results in project management, experience in nonprofit fundraising, and/or the corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) spaces.

Responsibilities

• In collaboration with the Director of Corporate Partnerships and the Chief Development Officer, manages the manifestation of promised deliverables across internal teams at Polaris to corporate partners that align with Polaris’s mission and core program areas
• In consultation with Development team leadership, manages the planning and execution of Development team goals
• In partnership with the CDO and external vendors and consultants, leads the execution of 3-5 public-facing fundraising and brand-building events
• Supports the CDO and Director of Corporate Partnerships on corporate business development

Collaboration

• Plays a key and leading role in coordinating and managing activations across teams within Polaris
• Works with the Director of Corporate Partnerships to conduct corporate donor research and vetting, and produce donor profiles;
• Supports the planning and execution of the Development team’s annual fundraising strategy, strategic plans and events; and 
• Provides high-level support and preparation to the CEO, CDO, Chief External Affairs Officer, and Director of Corporate Partnerships

Relationship Management

• Liaises directly with corporate CSR and ESG points of contact
• Serves as a front-line fundraiser by managing a portfolio of corporate partners and prospects by routinely communicating by phone, mail, and email;
• Oversees and manages a multi-year calendar of funding deadlines including LOIs, proposals, reports and other key corporate communications; and
• Creates and implements a moves management plan in Salesforce; and
• Produces and deploys periodic electronic and print communications.
• Commitment to the National Human Trafficking Hotline mission and Polaris values; 
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor. 

This job description provides a summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by individuals in this position. Incumbents may be asked to perform other tasks not specifically written in this job.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and/or experience
• Minimum five years of professional work experience in NGO fundraising, corporate relationship management, and or CSR/ESG experience
• Integrated direct marketing experience
• Ability to occasionally travel to meet with corporate partners and prospects, roughly 1-5 times per year
• Outstanding relationship and team-building skills
• Ability to work independently and in a collaborative team environment across multiple programs and departments
• Excellent project-management and problem-solving skills, strategic thinking, and attention to detail 
• Experience with research and prospect identification strategies
• Solutions-oriented, collaborative, self-directed, and self-disciplined
• Highly organized, reliable, and able to set and balance multiple priorities and meet deadlines

Preferred Qualifications

• Accreditation or certification in project management
• Experience in the finance, transportation & hospitality, and/or social media/technology sectors
• Experience using Salesforce NPSP, Salesforce Pardot, Jackson River’s Springboard, iWave, and Asana or similar software
• Commitment to and interest in social justice and human rights; specific interest in human trafficking

Communication

• Internal: Ability to communicate with supervisors and peers across teams
• External: Frequent contact with corporate CSR/ESG professionals

Working Conditions

• Typical office setting
• Travel up to 25%

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged sitting, chiefly at a computer terminal
• Occasional bending, stooping and stretching
• Requires eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity sufficient to operate a computer, telephone, calculator, and other office equipment
• Requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to record, prepare, and communicate in writing, in person and by phone; and
• Requires occasional lifting up to 25 pounds.

Our priority is the health and safety of our members, colleagues, partners, and community. Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination is required for employment. If you are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons or sincerely-held religious beliefs, we will consider requests for reasonable accommodations consistent with our policy, and where we are able to provide such accommodations without undue hardship to the company pursuant to applicable law. All requests for proof of vaccination or for exemptions from the vaccination requirement will be subject to any limitations stipulated by current state and/or federal laws.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Organization Background

VALUES: Polaris is grounded in a set of values and organizational beliefs and strives to model and embody these values in all that it does.

We work with humility and a spirit of service. We serve a mission that is bigger than ourselves, and we recognize that we cannot do this work alone. We foster a caring community of mutual support, and we actively pursue collaborations and partnerships to expand our reach.

Victims’ and survivors’ experiences ground our efforts. We honor the dignity, agency, and resilience of victims and survivors of slavery, both past and present. We serve, work alongside, and stand in solidarity with those who have been most affected by modern slavery.

We strive for inclusion and equity. We engage different perspectives to inform our decisions, actions, and positions. We create opportunities that empower individuals of diverse backgrounds and circumstances. We acknowledge the structural inequities that lead to human trafficking and modern slavery, which drives us to create just and equitable solutions.

We approach our work with courage. We promote a culture of inquiry, innovation, risk-taking, and continuous learning. We are resilient and evolve when faced with obstacles or failure. We recognize that what is typical or traditional is not always optimal.

We create positive impact and achieve results. We leverage and cultivate the strengths of our staff, and we work with discipline, integrity, and a commitment to excellence. We embrace a measurement culture to track our progress. We view impact holistically, considering multiple sectors and the effects on individuals’ lives, as we pursue systemic and social change to eradicate modern slavery

DIVERSITY STATEMENT:

Polaris designs and implements data-driven strategies to prevent and disrupt human trafficking, and restore freedom to survivors.  Achieving this ambitious goal requires both trafficking-specific systemic interventions and broader cultural and structural shifts that reduce the inequities that lead to human trafficking. While Polaris alone cannot build a more diverse, just, equitable, and inclusive society, both the success of our work and our organizational values require modeling in the workplace the change we want to see in the world.

This means cultivating a workforce, organizational culture, and priorities that respect and celebrate a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team made up of individuals with different identities, lived experiences, and backgrounds. Within both our team and across every part of our work, we strive to integrate and elevate the full range of survivor voices.

This is a living commitment.  Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values to be manifested daily, in the work we do, the decisions we make, and the way that we treat each other and the people we seek to serve.  This means creating space where staff can be included, heard, valued, and set up for success, and where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, best selves to work. We will not check boxes and consider it done. We will push new innovations and different ways of thinking, and treasure the community built and strengthened by each of our contributions.