Director of Development

Jacob Burns Film Center via TOC Arts Partners

Pleasantville, NY 10570

Rolling

Jan 05, 2026

Jacob Burns Film Center, one of the most successful suburban art house film centers in the country, seeks a thoughtful, committed, and driven new Director of Development, as the organization prepares to celebrate its 25th year of achievement and impact. A cultural arts and educational center inspired by the power of film, the Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) has accomplished a significant amount in its first twenty‑five years, establishing pioneering 21st‑century education programs, offering professional development resources for teachers and local and international media makers, and welcoming more than two million people through its doors for films.

The organization has claimed a beloved and substantial role in the Pleasantville, NY community, within Westchester County.

Now, as the organization takes steps to launch a campaign in honor of its 25th Anniversary, and reaches a new level of maturity as an organization, the JBFC Board of Directors and leadership team are ready to usher in a new chapter that honors their previous accomplishments, and yet finds new paths toward greater sustainability through increased contributed revenue. The Director of Development will be a key leader in the organization, reporting to the Executive Director, collaborating with fellow senior staff members, and mentoring and guiding a dedicated team of four in the development department.

They will work closely with the Board of Directors, strengthening their abilities to be active fundraisers and advocates, and instilling in them an enthusiasm for the organization’s valuable mission. A natural communicator and strategic thinker, the Director of Development will draft detailed annual development plans to help the organization elevate its annual contributed revenue goal from $3.1 to $4 million in the next three years.

Joining a dedicated team, this leader should have a passion for film as a vehicle for storytelling and an awareness of the philanthropic landscape of film and festival supporters. In addition, they will have a keen understanding of the important role JBFC has had in the Westchester community and a commitment to strengthening that position. They should be a storyteller, ready to craft messaging for this moment in the life of the organization.

This chapter will require tenacity, ingenuity, and strategy from an individual, and concurrently, strong team leadership and a collaborative spirit to bring the important and varying forces around the organization—leadership, staff, and board—toward greater financial stability.

In the late 1990s, when many said it couldn’t be done—that a nonprofit cinema dedicated to the art of film would never survive in the suburbs—a community believed otherwise. They imagined something bigger than a building. They envisioned a gathering place where the lights would dim, strangers would become neighbors, and the power of film would spark conversations that rippled far beyond the screen.

That audacious idea became the Jacob Burns Film Center.

Since opening our doors in 2001, we’ve proven that people hunger for more than streaming algorithms and isolated viewing. They crave the electric experience of laughing together in the dark, of gasping in unison, of staying in their seats as the credits roll because they’re not ready for the spell to break. They want to look a filmmaker in the eye and ask, “How did you do that?”

They want their children to discover that they, too, can tell stories that matter.

Today, the Jacob Burns Film Center stands as one of the most successful suburban art houses in the country—not because they defied the…