Upstream Vice President of Development & External Affairs Strategy & Operations

Organizational Summary

Contraceptive care is basic healthcare. Yet too many patients in the U.S. struggle to access the care they need, when they need it. Founded in 2014, Upstream USA is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that equitable, patient-centered contraceptive care is available to everyone.

Upstream works to ensure individuals can make fully informed, autonomous decisions about the contraceptive methods that are best for them. We are currently the largest contraceptive organization in the country improving contraceptive care in primary care settings, operating in 37 states and Washington, D.C.

While our foundational work focuses on partnering with healthcare organizations offering primary care, such as federally qualified healthcare centers (FQHC) and health systems, we are always evolving. We are actively pursuing additional, innovative paths to ensure every patient has streamlined access to the contraceptive service of their choice, where and when it is most convenient for them.

Supported entirely by venture philanthropy
, Upstream operates with a culture of aggressive growth and a laser focus on measurable outcomes. To maintain our independence and nonpartisan stance, we do not accept funding from the government or pharmaceutical companies.

• Our 2030 Goal: We are on a mission to partner with organizations that collectively reach 5 million patients of reproductive age.
• Recognition: We are a 2023 Audacious Project recipient, with our work featured in publications such as Harvard Public Health, Bloomberg, and Med Page Today.

We welcome individuals who are driven by impact and scale to join us in making equitable contraceptive access a reality for all.

The Vice President of Development and External Affairs Strategy and Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for Upstream’s Development and External Affairs department, ensuring the systems, planning processes, and team coordination required to achieve Upstream’s ambitious revenue goals and to steward a growing network of stakeholders.

The VP leads the operating strategy for the Development & External Affairs team, including annual operating planning, prioritization and resourcing decisions, top donor engagement strategy integration, development of the team’s service menu, performance standards, training and capability building, and the establishment of the team’s operating cadence. In this role, the VP ensures that fundraising activities, investor engagement, and cross‑team coordination are strategically aligned, effectively integrated, and executed through streamlined systems and processes to enable the team to execute high‑quality, high‑touch donor engagement at scale.

The VP leads a team of 8, including 4 direct reports, and provides management and oversight for several core functions within Development and External Affairs, including systems & operations, donor and stakeholder communications, major and annual giving, and external affairs teams.

This role does not manage an individual donor portfolio and does not carry personal revenue targets. Rather, the VP is accountable for building and running the operating infrastructure, planning, and team capability that enable Upstream's frontline fundraisers and executives to achieve the organization's revenue goals.

• Represent Development and External Affairs in key internal leadership forums and cross‑organizational planning sessions, ensuring donor and investor insights inform organizational decisions and communicating enterprise priorities back to the Development & External Affairs team.
• Serve as the strategic integrator between the Transformational (investor engagement and prospecting) team and other Upstream teams and leadership bodies, ensuring fundraising priorities are aligned with and informed by organizational strategy and programmatic work.

• Serve as the primary operational leader for the team’s development, external affairs, board governance, and…