California Senior Finance Director
ABOUT THIS ROLE
The Working Families Party is seeking a California Senior Finance Director to set and drive the fundraising strategy for our work across the state. Working under the strategic direction of the Director of Individual Giving, the Senior Finance Director owns the California revenue plan, personally manages significant donor relationships, and builds infrastructure required to meet ambitious multi-cycle goals.
The Senior Finance Director will carry a portfolio of the state’s highest-capacity donors, bundlers, and serve as a trusted advisor to state and national principals on their donor engagement. Day-to-day call time management, donor research, and event logistics are directed by you and executed by the staff and consultants you supervise.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Own the California revenue plan: build and maintain a cycle-long fundraising strategy and budget in partnership with the Director of Individual Giving and state leadership, with targets set by donor segment, entity, channel, and campaign.
Manage a senior portfolio: personally cultivate, solicit, and steward the state’s highest-capacity individual donors, family foundations, labor and allied institutions, and PACs, including five- and six-figure commitments and multi-year pledges.
Advise principals rather than staff them: serve as the strategic counsel to state and national principals on fundraising-determining the highest-leverage asks, which relationships genuinely require their time, and how their political capital is deployed. Set the direction and quality bar for the call time program without serving as its primary operator.
Build and lead the team: supervise, coach, and develop California finance staff and consultants; set priorities, delegate clearly, and hold a high standard for follow-through, data hygiene, and donor experience.
Grow the donor universe structurally: develop bundler networks, host committees, and peer-to-peer donor leadership so that the program’s growth does not depend on any single principal’s calendar.
Navigate a multi-entity landscape: partner with compliance, legal, and finance operations on contribution limits, entity structure, transfers, and reporting deadlines across our party committee, PAC, and affiliated entities; make strategic recommendations about where dollars should land.
Set event strategy: determine which events are worth doing and what they are for and oversee the team executing them.
Integrate finance with the broader program: work with political, organizing, communications, and Director of Individual Giving so that fundraising strategy reflects and reinforces WFP’s political priorities in California.
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
Senior Fundraising Experience: 5+ years of political or advocacy fundraising experience, including federal, statewide, or comparable large-scale programs. Demonstrated track record personally closing major gifts and owning revenue goals for a multimillion-dollar program.
Strategic Thinker: Able to zoom out from the call sheet to the cycle. Builds plans grounded in real assumptions, anticipates where a plan will break, and adjusts early rather than late. Can articulate trade-offs clearly to leadership and make a recommendation.
Principal Ready Judgment: Credibility and confidence to advise principals, senior elected officials, and high-capacity donors-including the judgment to say no, protect a relationship, or push back when the strategy calls for it.
Data and Compliance Fluency: Comfortable owning forecasts and pipeline analysis; fluent in CRM-driven programs (currently: EveryAction). Working knowledge of California and federal campaign finance rules, with the instinct to loop in counsel early.
Project Manager: Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; manages competing priorities in a fast-paced environment, plans backwards from deadlines, and works evenings/weekends as the calendar demands.
Mission Alignment: A commitment to building a party that seeks governing power by, for, and with working class people of all races.