
Chief Development and Marketing Officer
- Location
- San Mateo, CA
- Arrangement
- On-site
- Type
- Full-time
- Posted
- Closes
Position Title: Chief Development & Marketing Officer
Program/Dept: Development and Marketing
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Classification: Full-Time, Exempt | Executive Leadership Team
About Us: Caminar is a leading behavioral health organization that supported over 48,000 youth and adults across six counties in Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area last year. Caminar's mission is to build strength and stability through comprehensive mental health and substance use treatment and wrap-around services delivered through evidence-based, whole-person care. The organization was founded in 1964, and our vision is to be a BEACON of SAFETY, COMPASSION, and FULFILLMENT, supporting all those in our communities who need it most.
Caminar values diversity. People of all races, ethnicities, countries of origin, faiths, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities are welcome here. To learn more, please visit www.caminar.org.
Position Summary
The Chief Development and Marketing Officer is an executive position and Caminar's most significant investment in fundraising and revenue growth in the organization's history. Reporting directly to the CEO and serving on the Executive Leadership Team, the CDMO owns Caminar's philanthropic revenue strategy, leads the Development team, and directs all marketing and communications activity in service of fundraising goals and organizational brand, and brings the same rigor to fundraising that a CFO brings to a budget. You track pipeline health, conversion rates, cost-per-dollar raised, and donor lifetime value. You use data to make decisions, allocate resources, and hold yourself and your team accountable to results.
The CDMO will understand that marketing is development’s most powerful tool. A strong brand, a compelling case for support, a powerful digital presence, and a clear payer value proposition all expand the pool of potential supporters and lower the cost of acquisition. You deploy marketing in deliberate service of fundraising goals.
The CDMO will drive a comprehensive philanthropic strategy spanning individual giving, major gifts, planned giving, foundation and corporate grants, and special events — while simultaneously building Caminar's brand and leading a targeted business development strategy with health plans and managed care organizations. Everything the CDMO does — brand, marketing, payer relations — exists in direct service of Caminar's mission and revenue goals.
Supervisory Responsibilities: The CDMO provides direct leadership over the following departmental verticals; Development, Grants, Marketing and Communication. This role is accountable for the team’s performance, professional development, team culture, and collaboration.
- Sets clear performance goals, conducts regular 1:1s and annual reviews, and fosters a high-performance, mission-aligned team culture.
- Recruits, onboards, and retains top talent across Marketing and Development functions.
- Manages departmental budgets with fiscal discipline and allocates resources for maximum fundraising ROI.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Fundraising Strategy & Revenue Leadership — Primary Focus
- Own Caminar's comprehensive fundraising strategy: set multi-year revenue goals, build the plan to achieve them and hold the Development team accountable to quarterly and annual targets.
- Lead the full spectrum of philanthropic revenue streams: individual giving, mid-level donors, major gifts, planned giving, corporate sponsorships, foundation and government grants, and special events.
- Personally cultivate and solicit a portfolio of major and principal gift prospects in partnership with the CEO and board members.
- Build and grow Caminar's major gifts program, including prospect identification and research, moves management, proposal development, gift structuring, and stewardship
- Lead and expand the Leadership Impact Circle and all mid-level giving programs, with structured stewardship tracks that deepen engagement at every tier.
- Develop and execute a planned giving program — including bequests, gift annuities, and estate planning partnerships — to build Caminar's long-term endowment capacity.
- Drive corporate and foundation fundraising through relationship-based outreach, compelling proposals, and disciplined grant calendar management.
- Oversee special events strategy, ensuring events function as donor cultivation channels with clear relationship-building objectives and post-event follow-up plans.
- Ensure that fundraising infrastructure — Customer Relationship Management (CRM), prospect research tools, pipeline tracking, gift acknowledgment, and reporting — reflects best-in-class practices.
- Present bi-monthly fundraising performance dashboards to the CEO and Board, including pipeline health, donor retention, acquisition costs, revenue forecasting, and Marketing KPIs
Payer, Insurance & Managed Care Business Development
- Build Caminar's payer-facing value proposition, translating clinical outcomes, CARF accreditation, HEDIS-relevant quality metrics, and cost-effectiveness data into compelling capabilities presentations and partnership proposals.
- Cultivate and maintain senior-level relationships with network development, provider relations, and population health leaders at target payer organizations.
- Lead development of payer-specific collateral: capability statements, outcome reports, RFP responses, and value-based care partnership frameworks.
- Partner with program and finance leadership to track contract performance metrics and proactively use outcomes data in payer marketing.
- Monitor the evolving managed care landscape — including CalAIM implementation, mental health parity enforcement, and network adequacy regulations — and advise leadership on positioning implications.
Brand, Marketing & Communications
- Own Caminar's brand identity and narrative — voice, visual standards, case for support, and messaging architecture — ensuring consistency and emotional resonance across all channels and audiences.
- Develop and execute an integrated multi-channel marketing strategy — digital, social, email, content, events, and earned media — explicitly aligned with fundraising acquisition and retention goals.
- Lead Caminar's annual Impact Report, digital campaigns, and all public-facing storytelling, centering client voices with dignity, consent, and care.
- Oversee website strategy, digital analytics, email program performance, and social media to drive audience growth, donor engagement, and online giving conversion.
- Position Caminar as a regional thought leader in behavioral health — elevating the CEO and program leaders as public voices through media placements, speaking opportunities, and content strategy.
- Serve as Caminar's primary resource for media relations, earned media strategy, and crisis communications in coordination with the CEO.
Board & Volunteer Engagement
- Partner with the CEO and Board's Development & Marketing Committee to develop and align strategy, engage Board Directors, and advance Caminar's fundraising goals.
- Build and execute a board fundraising engagement program — equipping Board Directors with training, talking points, prospect introductions, and solicitation support.
- Identify, recruit, and steward volunteer fundraising leadership — including campaign chairs, event committees, and advisory councils — to extend Caminar's donor network.
Executive Leadership & Organizational Partnership
- Serve as a full member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributing to organizational strategy, culture, and institutional decision-making.
- Collaborate with compliance, clinical, and finance leadership to surface impact data and human stories that strengthen Caminar's case for philanthropic support.
- Represent Caminar externally at community events, funder convenings, behavioral healthcare conferences, and public forums
Requirements
Required
- 12+ years of progressive experience in nonprofit development and fundraising leadership, with at least 5 years in a senior executive or VP-level role.
- Bachelor's degree required; MBA strongly preferred
- Documented track record of personally closing major gifts at the six- and seven-figure level and managing a high-performing development team to multi-million-dollar revenue goals.
- Deep expertise across the full fundraising spectrum: major gifts, planned giving, annual fund, foundation and corporate relations, and special events.
- Strong marketing and brand instincts — sufficient to set strategy, direct staff, and ensure all external communications actively support fundraising goals.
- Rigorous analytical capabilities: experience with fundraising KPIs, pipeline management, CRM platforms, and data-driven decision-making.
- Coaching, empowering leadership style with a track record of building, retaining, and growing high-performing teams.
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, including experience as an organizational spokesperson and major gift solicitor.
- Deep personal commitment to racial equity, cultural humility, and serving communities with complex behavioral health needs.
Preferred
- Experience in behavioral health, mental health, physical health, social services, or a related human-services sector.
- Experience marketing to or partnering with health plans, managed care organizations, or Medi-Cal/Medicaid payers — including familiarity with network development, value-based care models, and CalAIM.
- Understanding of behavioral health payer dynamics: HEDIS quality measures, network adequacy standards, mental health parity, and Medi-Cal managed care contracting.
- Relationships within the Bay Area philanthropic community — regional foundations, family offices, and corporate giving programs.
- Proficiency in LiveImpact. Salesforce, Bloomerang, or comparable CRM platforms; familiarity with Google Analytics and email automation tools.
- Experience engaging and activating volunteer boards for major gift fundraising and ambassador programs.
- Multilingual skills or experience fundraising from and for culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
