Director of Growth and Strategic Partnerships

About Report Local

Report Local, home to Report for America, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local journalism and the communities it serves. Our flagship Report for America program has placed nearly 850 journalists in almost 500 newsrooms across the country, in communities where they are needed most, helping newsrooms produce new and exceptional journalism while building a stronger foundation for long-term sustainability.

With the rise of misinformation, overwhelming news feeds, and a rapidly changing media landscape, people struggle with what information they can rely on and trust. Every week, two U.S. newspapers close, leaving communities without the vital thread of local news that connects neighbors, holds leaders accountable, and helps communities understand themselves and their place in the world.

Report for America exists to rewrite that story. We believe local journalism is a critical building block for every community and democracy, and by investing in it, we foster trust and build a brighter, more connected future.

Report for America partners with innovative local newsrooms across the country to recruit and place talented reporters (corps members) in high-impact, often overlooked beats. We provide ongoing mentorship and training for corps members, offer newsrooms grant support for reporter salaries, and provide fundraising coaching and hands-on revenue development to help sustain essential reporting beyond our two-to-three-year placements.

About the Role

The Director of Growth and Strategic Partnerships is responsible for driving new revenue growth by building Report Local and Report for America's next generation of funders and strategic partners. With a particular focus on geographic expansion, thematic initiatives, and other organizational growth priorities, this role will identify and develop new funding opportunities, build relationships with prospective partners, and cultivate those relationships toward significant investment in Report Local and Report for America's work.

This role leads the development of new funding relationships across foundations, corporations, and other prospective partners, working closely with the Chief Development Officer, CEO, Development team, and Report for America leadership to translate Report Local's strategy and programmatic strengths into compelling opportunities for investment.

The Director will proactively identify new markets and prospects, open doors, cultivate relationships, and move opportunities from initial interest toward significant investment. Success will be measured by the strength and growth of the new-funder pipeline, new relationships developed, and new revenue secured.

What You'll Do

New Funder and Partner Development

• Build and manage a strong pipeline of new prospective funders and strategic partners across foundations, corporations, and other sources of philanthropic investment.
• Proactively identify, qualify, and prioritize prospects aligned with Report Local's strategic priorities.
• Open doors to new relationships through direct outreach, networking, referrals, events, and organizational leadership.
• Secure and lead introductory and cultivation meetings, bringing in the CDO, CEO, program leaders, and others at strategic points.
• Move prospects through a disciplined cultivation process toward significant investment and partnership.

Geographic and Thematic Expansion

• Identify philanthropic opportunities connected to Report Local and Report for America's geographic expansion, thematic cohorts, and emerging areas of work.
• Assess new markets for philanthropic potential, including local and regional funders, national funders, corporations, and other partners.
• Develop funding strategies for expansion opportunities, identifying prospective anchor funders and opportunities to leverage national and local investment.
• Build networks of prospective partners within priority geographies and issue areas.
• Help determine where philanthropic interest could accelerate or strengthen strategic expansion.

Partnership and Opportunity Development

• Work closely with program leadership to develop expansion opportunities and shape programmatic plans that are both mission-driven and compelling to prospective funders.
• Translate emerging organizational ideas into clear, fundable partnership opportunities.
• Develop partnership concepts, cases for support, pitch materials, and other tools needed to bring new opportunities to market.
• Gather feedback and intelligence from prospective partners and bring those insights back to program and organizational leadership.
• Help refine opportunities as conversations progress, balancing funder interest with organizational strategy, capacity, and mission.

Cultivation, Solicitation, and Closing

• Develop tailored cultivation and solicitation strategies for priority prospects.
• Lead prospective funder conversations and effectively communicate Report Local's vision, impact, and opportunities for partnership.
• Coordinate senior leadership engagement to advance high-value opportunities.
• Work with the CDO and other colleagues to develop funding requests, partnership structures, and strategies for closing significant investments.
• Maintain momentum across long-term cultivation processes and ensure clear next steps for priority prospects.

Pipeline Strategy and Growth

• Maintain a disciplined new-business pipeline, including prospect stage, potential revenue, next steps, probability, and anticipated timing.
• Establish and track goals for new relationships, qualified opportunities, solicitations, and new revenue.
• Regularly assess the pipeline to identify gaps, risks, and areas requiring greater prospect development.
• Provide development and organizational leadership with visibility into emerging opportunities and anticipated new revenue.
• Coordinate with our Foundation Relations team to transition newly secured institutional funders into long-term relationship management, stewardship, renewal, and expansion.

Skills and Experience You Bring

We don't expect one person to tick every box, but we are looking for someone exceptional who brings many of the following:

• Eight or more years of progressive experience in business development, partnership development, external relations, or strategic partnerships.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, cultivate, and close new revenue-generating partnerships with foundations, corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, or community funding organizations.
• Entrepreneurial and strategic, with a strong instinct for spotting opportunities and focusing effort on the ones most likely to move forward.
• Exceptional collaborator, comfortable serving as a connector across executive leadership, program, and development teams. Able to steward relationships others have cultivated, build buy-in without formal authority, and keep mission and money working hand-in-hand.
• Strong project management skills, with the discipline to keep a complex portfolio of opportunities and commitments on track across multiple stakeholders and long timelines, and the resilience and follow-through to convert opportunities into agreements.
• Data-driven, with experience using CRM and pipeline analytics to forecast revenue and build dashboards that give others proactive insight.
• Quick learner, able to get up to speed on new issue areas and communities and speak about them credibly with funders.
• Strong understanding of the journalism support and innovation ecosystem, with relationships or experience across sectors such as climate, healthcare, technology, government, and the social sector.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to represent Report Local with credibility and warmth, and to communicate mission and programmatic clarity to diverse external audiences.
• Committed to inclusion and creating contexts where people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives do their best work.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly for partnership development, staff convenings, and external engagement.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.

Benefits

As a mission-first organization, we strive to build a culture centered on impact and nurturing the growth and well-being of our staff.

• Comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, and vision)
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance
• 403(b) retirement plan with organizational contributions
• Generous paid time off, including personal flex days, sick leave, and vacation days, that grows with your tenure

As a fully remote team spread across 20+ states, we are intentional about creating meaningful connections. We prioritize in-person gatherings, foster small-group hangouts during our all-hands, and nurture community through shared hobbies and interests in our Slack space.

Come join us in reimagining what's possible for local journalism and helping communities thrive.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Report Local welcomes applications from individuals of all backgrounds and strongly values diverse lived experiences. Report Local is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws where we operate.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply or to participate in our recruiting process, contact hr@reportlocal.org.

Applicants must have legal authorization to work in the U.S. without requiring visa sponsorship.