Job Details
About the Organization
Founded in 1965, Montessori Center School of Santa Barbara (MCS) is an independent school and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The school boasts sixty years rich in a history of nurturing a lifelong love for learning among children ages 18 months through 6th grade – grounded in the Montessori method. An American Montessori Society Member School, MCS fosters independent, self-motivated, confident, life-long learners, who will become positive forces to care for and transform our world. The school is located on a beautiful garden campus in Goleta, California.
About the Opportunity
The Director of Development is the strategic and operational leader of the school’s advancement and fundraising initiatives. This role oversees all aspects of annual giving, major gifts, special events, stewardship, donor communications, and the school’s long-term philanthropic strategy. The Director of Development is a member of the senior school leadership team, collaborates closely with the Head of School and Board of Trustees, and leads efforts to cultivate a deeply engaged, generous, and mission-aligned community of supporters.
Functional Roles & Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Fundraising
- Develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive annual development plan aligned with the school’s mission, values, and strategic priorities.
- Lead all aspects of annual giving, including parent, alumni, grandparent, faculty/staff, and board campaigns, ensuring strong participation and year-over-year growth.
- Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects; build a sustainable pipeline of donors capable of making leadership and transformational gifts.
- Work closely with the Head of School to support donor strategy, portfolio management, and high-level stewardship.
Donor Engagement & Stewardship
- Create and implement a donor stewardship program that recognizes contributions meaningfully and inspires continued investment.
- Build strong relationships with parents, alumni, trustees, and community partners through one-on-one engagement, events, and strategic communications.
- Oversee donor research, prospect tracking, and moves management systems.
Events & Community Engagement
- Serve as executive lead for major school fundraising events ensuring exceptional execution, high donor engagement, and strong ROI.
Support and guide volunteer committees and parent leaders involved in fundraising and community engagement. - Oversee cultivation and stewardship events, including donor thank-you gatherings, grandparent events, and community-building programs.
Communications & Advancement Operations
- Oversee all development-related communications, including appeals, stewardship letters, impact reports, and fundraising collateral.
- Manage development data and reporting, ensuring integrity, accuracy, and confidentiality in the school’s CRM.
- Prepare fundraising dashboards, reports, and analytics for the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and Development Committee.
Leadership & Collaboration
- Serve as a member of the school’s leadership team; contribute to strategic planning and institutional priorities.
- Partner with the Head of School, MPO Co-Chairs, board trustees, Director of Admissions, Director of Communications, and Director of School Operations to ensure aligned messaging and coordinated outreach.
- Support Board-level committees (Development, Governance, Strategic Planning), acting as staff liaison and advisor on philanthropy.
Teamwork & Learning
- Embody MCS’s core values in your daily interactions with children, families and staffulty.
- Seek out and embrace opportunities for collaboration with colleagues across the school.
- Model lifelong learning: Seek out opportunities for learning and development, including opportunities to learn from peer feedback from your colleagues.
- Complete all required and requested administrative responsibilities in a timely manner and within the timeline given
Qualifications
Successful candidates for this role will evidence the following qualifications:
Skills & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of 5–7 years of progressive experience in nonprofit development, preferably in independent schools or educational institutions
- Demonstrated success in major gifts, donor cultivation, and closing significant philanthropic commitments
- Strong leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills
- Experience planning and executing fundraising events
- Proficiency with CRM and donor database systems
- Ability to think strategically and execute tactically
- Outstanding writing skills and comfort with public speaking
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, highly relational environment
- Experience managing volunteers, boards, or fundraising committees
- Experience working in independent schools (preferred, not required)
Mindsets & Skills
- Commitment to MCS’ mission, vision and core values
- Demonstrated capacity to collaborate effectively as a member of a results-oriented, high-performing team, including monthly whole-staffulty meetings and professional development days throughout the school year
- Commitment to living out principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
- Sound professional judgment and decision-making skills
- Capacity to share and receive and implement feedback with grace and agility
- High level of emotional intelligence, integrity and humor
- High level of personal organization, planning and follow-through
Essential Job Functions
The physical demands described here represent essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
- The role is performed primarily in a school setting and requires the physical stamina necessary to engage with elementary-aged children throughout the day.
- Duties include frequent standing, walking, bending, kneeling, crouching, stooping, reaching, and sitting at children’s level, including teaching full lessons while seated on the floor.
- The position requires the ability to lift, carry, push, or pull items weighing up to 50 pounds, such as classroom materials or emergency supplies, and to assist a child if needed for safety purposes.
- The employee must be able to use hands and fingers to handle or manipulate materials, including Montessori materials of various sizes, shapes, and textures.
- The employee must be able to move quickly and safely in response to student behaviors or emergency situations, both indoors and outdoors.
- Vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus, necessary for observing children, reading instructional materials, and using a computer.
- Hearing and speaking abilities are required to communicate clearly with students, staff, and parents; give instructions; participate in meetings; and respond to safety concerns or emergencies.
- The employee is regularly exposed to indoor and outdoor environmental conditions, including varying weather, moderate noise levels, and the typical hazards associated with supervising active children.
- Regular in-person communication and collaboration with parents, colleagues, administrators, and other members of the school community is required.
All MCS employees must clear a DOJ/FBI background check (LiveScan), must provide a negative TB test, must know the school emergency procedures, and must perform other duties not specifically stated as directed by the Head of School.
Experience & Professional Qualifications
Mindsets
Compensation
This is a salaried, exempt full-time position 40 hours per week, 12 months per year. Compensation for this position is competitive and commensurate with starting annualized salary for experienced applicants ranging from $110,000 to $130,000 annually. Full-time employees of MCS are eligible for comprehensive health and wellness benefits, 403b retirement plan matching and generous holiday pay and paid time off (PTO). The school offers a 75% tuition discount to children of full-time staffulty, as well as free before/aftercare and summer camps.
Benefits
Our staffulty works hard and smart and are incredibly dedicated to providing outstanding, high quality teaching and learning opportunities for our students each day. We are committed to ensuring that MCS is where our incredible staffulty members can work and grow for decades. Our employee benefits include:
- Competitive salaries
- Medical insurance for all full-time staffulty (MCS covers the full cost of the employee’s monthly premium)
- Tuition remission for children of staffulty members (up to 75% discount to tuition & fees)
- Dental, vision and life insurance
- Three weeks of paid school vacation, all federal holidays and generous sick leave/PTO
- MCS provides ongoing learning and development opportunities for all staffulty and covers tuition and travel for teacher training programs and ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers
Talent Inclusivity & Non-discrimination
Montessori Center School is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse community where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. We are an equal-opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, and local laws.
We celebrate diversity and are dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for our students, families, faculty, and staff. Our Montessori philosophy emphasizes respect for all individuals, and we strive to uphold these values in every aspect of our school community.
If you require accommodations during the application process, please let us know.
Montessori Center School is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals, including people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ people, and people who come from low income or working-class backgrounds. All potential applicants are strongly encouraged to apply without regard to race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, genetic information, medical condition, veteran status, or any other class protected under federal, state, or local laws. MCS is a non-sectarian institution and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national or cultural origin, sexual orientation, family style, political belief, or disability in the administration of its admissions, financial assistance, education or employment practices.

