The Organization

U.S. Energy Foundation’s (USEF) mission is to secure a clean and equitable energy future to tackle the climate crisis. We envision a healthy, safe, equitable economy powered by clean energy. We believe a thriving clean energy economy can create sustainable opportunities, spur innovation, and protect our climate—for today and future generations.

USEF supports education and analysis to promote nonpartisan policy solutions that advance renewable energy and energy efficiency while opening doors to greater innovation and productivity—growing the economy with dramatically less pollution. For more than 30 years, USEF has supported grantees to help educate policymakers and the general public about the benefits of a clean energy economy. Our grantees include business, health, environmental, labor, equity, community, faith, and consumer groups, as well as policy experts, think tanks, universities, and more.

We are working daily to create equitable systems that support people to flourish. We aim to bring humility, transparency, respect, and an appreciation for others’ lived experiences to our interactions with colleagues, grantees, and partners.

The Opportunity

At a moment of extraordinary urgency and opportunity in the climate and energy transition sectors, USEF is seeking a Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships to lead the development, execution, and evaluation of ambitious fundraising and partnership strategies that advance USEF’s mission and strengthen the broader clean energy field.

The SVP will serve as USEF’s most senior fundraising and external partnerships leader, reporting directly to the CEO and serving as a member of the organization’s Management Team. This role holds enterprise-wide responsibility for designing and executing funder engagement strategies, stewarding relationships with USEF’s most significant funding partners, and continuing to position the organization as a strategy and thought leader at the intersection of funders and the field across the country.

A central and distinguishing feature of this role—and of the organization—is the opportunity to dramatically increase and better coordinate philanthropic capital for the clean energy field as a whole. While these efforts often yield resources to support USEF’s own work, the broader vision is to act as a connector in the sector—guiding funding to the highest-leverage opportunities across the field and partnering closely with funders to align on strategy, learning, and impact.

Key Priorities

The SVP provides strategic, organizational, and people leadership across fundraising, external engagement, and corporate and funder communications. Serving as a trusted partner to the CEO and a key contributor to organization-wide strategy and decision-making, this role is responsible for integrating fundraising with programmatic priorities, operational systems, and organizational culture to maximize impact and effectiveness with funders. Key responsibilities include:

Fundraising Strategy and Execution

• Shape and execute a long-term development framework, aligned with USEF’s strategic ambitions and goals, and leading USEF efforts to raise resources for the organization and the broader climate and clean energy field.
• Design and implement comprehensive organizational fundraising strategies.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward ultra-high net worth individuals, foundations, and institutional partners.
• Personally secure transformational, large-scale philanthropic investments.
• Guide resources to the highest-leverage opportunities, informed by USEF’s position at the intersection of funders and the field.

Strategic Partnerships and External Engagement

• Act as a thought partner to current and prospective funding partners.
• Collaborate with funders on strategy development, including, at times, engaging with funder collaboratives.
• Strengthen USEF’s visibility, credibility, and brand with key external audiences.
• Serve as a senior representative of USEF with funders, partners, and field leaders.

Organizational Leadership & Collaboration

• Ensure strong integration of fundraising with programmatic and operational work.
• Promote a “One USEF” mindset that aligns people, systems, and culture.
• Align fundraising strategies with budgets, planning, and reporting.
• Serve on the Management Team and contribute to organization-wide policy and strategic decisions.

People Leadership and Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Strategic Partnerships team, including directly supervising senior fundraising leaders.
• Build and sustain a thriving, inclusive team culture.
• Support professional growth through coaching, feedback, and clear development pathways.

Communications, Fundraising Operations, and Equity Leadership

• Oversee corporate communications related to fundraising and external positioning.
• Oversee fundraising operations and research functions, ensuring the systems, analytics, and processes that drive strategy are effectively and continuously strengthened.
• Advance USEF’s internal equity and organizational culture commitments through fundraising strategy, management practices, and organizational leadership.
• Model USEF’s values of Service, Community, Equity, Learning, and Transformational Impact.

Ideal Candidate Profile

USEF is operating at the nexus of high profile donor networks and innovative grantee organizations who are together designing some of the most effective solutions to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. As such, USEF is seeking an SVP who will be passionate about the mission and model, and excited by the opportunity to further pioneer these innovative approaches to funding, not just for the benefit of USEF, but most importantly for the field as a whole. The ideal candidate is a seasoned, values-and action-driven executive leader with a demonstrated record of success in large-scale fundraising and strategic partnership development. Candidates must bring immediate credibility with sophisticated funders, strong executive presence, and the ability to operate effectively in a complex, mission-driven organization.

Key attributes include:

• Executive-level experience leading fundraising and strategic partnerships for organizations operating with 9-figure budgets.
• Demonstrated success with donors at the eight- and nine-figure levels.
• Unparalleled relationship-building, communication and storytelling, and collaboration skills rooted in clarity, high-trust, and patience, as well as the judgment and discretion required when working with high profile individuals and institutions.
• Experience developing innovative fundraising strategies and large-scale campaigns that inspire donors to act.
• Demonstrated executive leadership and team management experience modeling accountability as a driver of success, with an eye towards outstanding project management, maintaining calmness and resiliency, and operating with responsiveness and reliability.
• Comfort operating in complex, multi-site, remote-first, and multicultural environments.
• Am unwavering commitment to equity.
• The ability to adapt, listen to others, and learn from their best ideas with a sense of inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity.
• Personal qualities of trustworthiness, patience, diplomacy, humility, and unquestioned integrity.

While deep technical expertise in climate and clean energy is not required, candidates must demonstrate a meaningful intention to working in the sector and a strong commitment to USEF’s mission and values. Programmatic expertise in a nonprofit, government, advocacy, or industry context, including direct engagement on state-level climate and clean energy issues is helpful.

Compensation, Location & Travel

The Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer and directly supervises a senior team within Strategic Partnerships. This is a full-time, exempt position. The target salary range for the role is $380,000 - $460,000, accompanied by a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, disability, retirement benefits, and paid time off.

The position is remote within the United States, with periodic domestic and international travel. USEF is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, and our more than 100 staff members are based in locations throughout the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Western regions, where they can best serve our programs, partners, operations, and other functions.

USEF believes that a diverse workforce makes us a more effective organization and is essential for achieving a clean and equitable energy future. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

To Be Considered

The U.S. Energy Foundation values, celebrates, and supports a diverse and inclusive environment. All qualified candidates who contribute to the organization’s broad commitment to inclusion are strongly encouraged to submit their materials for consideration.

The search for U.S. Energy Foundation’s SVP, Strategic Partnerships is being led by:

Jeff Waldron

Senior Advisor

Jeff@GoodCitizen.com

Graham-Toben

Senior Associate

Graham@GoodCitizen.com