About XPRIZE

XPRIZE competitions change the world for the better by accelerating innovation life cycles, catalyzing markets, and energizing stakeholders.  

The XPRIZE Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and incentivizing breakthroughs to the most critical challenges facing humanity. Since its beginning in 1994, the Foundation has been building and continues to build a vision of hope and abundance for humanity’s future by harnessing the power of innovators, technology, and resources.  

Through incentive prize competitions, XPRIZE enables people to create bold and transformative solutions that are scalable and drive real impact. XPRIZE competitions positively impact both the marketplace and humanity by addressing the market failures that have prevented significant breakthroughs across multiple sectors.  

An XPRIZE… 

sets an audacious but achievable goal that aims to overcome challenges deemed impossible. It tackles some of humanity's most pressing issues by redefining what is achievable and pushing the boundaries of human potential.  

defines and addresses a clear problem through extensive research, a design sprint, and a competition that catalyzes the development of the next breakthroughs to put humanity on the path toward a preferred future state for all. The desired outcome from an XPRIZE is clear and measurable, and the rules of the competition are transparent and easily understood.  

democratizes innovation by encouraging expert and nonexpert participation and multidisciplinary collaboration.  

catalyzes markets and revitalizes stagnant industries by increasing awareness of market failures and accelerating innovations to address them.  

is highly leveraged, with competing teams attracting and mobilizing investment capital, partner support, and new members in pursuit of the prize. Philanthropic dollars are thus magnified in support of a solution.  

Our first XPRIZE, the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE for private spaceflight, spurred an industry and created exponential breakthroughs. Since then we have provided over $140 million in incentives through these competitions. Each prize has created an industry-changing technology that brings us closer to a better, safer, more sustainable world.  

The use of incentive competitions, or prizes, to accelerate innovation goes back over 300 years, to when the British Admiralty launched the Longitude Prize in 1714 to find a better way to navigate our seas. In the years since, several well-known innovations have resulted from incentive competitions, including canning as a form of food preservation (a competition launched by Napoleon in 1795), modern plastics (the Billiard Ball Prize, 1863) and commercial aviation (the Orteig Prize, 1919).  

This is more than a job to us. When you work at XPRIZE, you’re making a positive impact on some of the biggest challenges facing our world. Whether you’re working in prize design or development, marketing and communications, stakeholder relations, business operations or any other department, you’re playing a critical role in turning the impossible into the possible.

Role Summary 

The Senior Specialist, Programmatic Giving for the XPRIZE Foundation is an exciting opportunity to join XPRIZE’s growing fundraising team. The successful candidate will be an organized, hard-driving team player and a professional who thrives in a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture. 

Reporting to the Senior Director of Programmatic Giving, the Senior Specialist, Programmatic Giving will support the Foundation’s efforts to secure tens of millions of dollars in annual funding for all of the Foundation’s prizes and impact programs, including prize purses, prize operations, Impact Roadmaps, prize designs, and other impact programs. The role will involve working with other members of the Programmatic Giving teams to develop fundraising strategies for different programs, industry research, sponsor prospecting, and research, pitch and proposal preparation, pipeline tracking, and sponsor communications. The individual in the position will also work closely with other departments in the Foundation to ensure the coordination of fundraising efforts. 

Responsibilities

• Work with department leadership to develop fundraising strategies for XPRIZE programs, including prize purses, prize operations, Impact Roadmaps, prize designs, and other impact programs
• Work closely with other members of the Programmatic Giving team and other XPRIZE departments to develop fundraising materials for all of the Foundation’s prizes and impact programs
• Conduct research on industry verticals to determine sponsor fit for different XPRIZE programs
• Prospect for and research potential sponsors through desk research and network analysis in support of Programmatic Giving team's fundraising objectives
• Help prepare for meetings with prospective sponsors, including preparation of background materials on sponsors, XPRIZE materials, and proposals
• Communicate with prospective program sponsors through written, spoken, and in-person communication

 Requirements

• At least five years prior experience in fundraising, business development, or technical sales
• Knowledge of fundraising principles
• Excellent oral, written and interpersonal skills
• Strong problem solving, strategic thinking, research, and analytical skills
• Flexibility to work some evenings and weekends as well as travel
• Prior work in management consulting or technology companies preferred
• Demonstrated academic success beyond secondary education preferred

Come change the world with us.

XPRIZE Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to having a truly inclusive workforce. We do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.