Senior Director, Development – Northern

Senior Director, Development – Northern California

Remote within Northern California

Job Title: Senior Director, Development – Northern California

Department: Development

Location: Remote/Virtual, within Northern California (San Francisco Bay Area preferred)

Reports to: Senior Vice President, Devealopment

Classification: Exempt

Position Type: Full-Time Employee

Anticipated Pay Range at Commencement of Employment: $106,000 - $146,000

* The Senior Director must reside in Northern California.

Blue Star Families is the largest nonprofit dedicated to making military life better for families. Each year, we support over 1.5 million military- and veteran-connected family members through a national network of 300,000+ members and local chapters in communities across the country.

Our mission is simple and bold:
We make military life awesome for families.

We listen, share, partner, and act to deliver evidence-based, data-driven solutions that work for real people. We’re a lifestyle organization, a friend and neighbor, and a trusted partner. Our approach is collaborative, human-centered, and designed with the whole family in mind.

A Blue Star Family is one with an immediate family member — a spouse, parent, or child — actively serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Guard and Reserves. These families face unique challenges: frequent relocations, deployments, career disruption, and isolation. We respond with research-informed programs that create connection, build resilience, and foster a true sense of belonging.

We serve with urgency but build trust over time — because change happens at the speed of trust. Whether we’re driving spouse employment, supporting caregivers, or helping communities welcome military families, we strive for upstream solutions.

• Bold thinkers. Fast movers. Smart collaborators. People who want to build, lead, and drive measurable change — and who care deeply about making an impact that matters.

• Solve complex challenges with data, heart, and humility
• Build cross-sector partnerships that get things done
• Help military families feel at home wherever they live

If you're ready to work in a high-performance, mission-driven environment — and to make life better for those who serve — Blue Star Families is where you belong.

The Senior Director, Development – Northern California serves as the lead fundraising strategist and major gifts officer for Blue Star Families within the Northern California region. This role is responsible for cultivating high-net-worth individuals, corporate leaders, family foundations, and institutional partners across the Bay Area and broader Northern California market.

Northern California represents a high-opportunity philanthropic market characterized by significant wealth concentration, corporate philanthropy, technology sector leadership, and innovation-driven giving. The Senior Director must possess strong working knowledge of the regional philanthropic climate, including venture philanthropy, donor-advised funds, family foundations, and corporate social responsibility networks.

This position manages a defined major gift portfolio and is accountable for revenue generation, pipeline development, and strategic donor engagement within the region. The Senior Director collaborates closely with Development leadership, Chapter Support, Events, and national fundraising initiatives to maximize regional impact.

While this role is remote, regular local travel and periodic out-of-town, overnight travel is an essential function. In-person time is critical to how we work — enabling deep collaboration, team alignment, creative problem-solving, and a shared sense of purpose. Team members are expected to travel several times per year for offsites, planning sessions, and company-wide gatherings. These events are essential for contributing to team outcomes, building trust across the organization, and staying aligned in a distributed environment.

Participation in these in-person gatherings is a required part of the role and integral to successful performance in our remote-first organization.

• Develop and manage a…