Managing Director, Client
Development (
Midwest Region)
A mission-driven individual with deep experience at the
nexus of philanthropy, issue advocacy, and strategic
implementation, who is seeking ways to create cutting-edge
impact Arabella Advisors is seeking a proven
leader with diverse and deep networks across the full
spectrum of philanthropy. The person we seek is a
bridge-builder who ideally brings experience from multiple sectors,
who is fully comfortable engaging with changemakers as a
representative of a purpose-based business serving the social
sector. We are looking for someone who has worked previously in
philanthropy at an institutional foundation or for a
family/individual donor as a program officer or donor advisor, and
who possesses a proven track record in business development.
The ideal candidate sees the impact that can be achieved when
philanthropists of all types have access to the fullest spectrum of
philanthropic tools available—a collection of tools that they can
find here at Arabella that encompasses strategic advisory services,
specialized donor advisor funds that harmonize a range of
philanthropic vehicles, and the broadest array of fiscal
sponsorship platforms within the social sector. We are seeking a
leader who isn’t afraid to be bold, who understands how to
effectively create impact together with a team of smart and
committed colleagues, has the ability to find a way through
challenges, and is passionate about doing good. Someone who is
eager to activate their network and roll up their sleeves to design
and implement strategies to do so at scale.
About
Arabella Advisors Arabella Advisors is an award-winning
consulting firm that helps make social-change efforts more
effective, efficient, and equitable. We are a B Corporation, a
member of the Inc. 5000, and a certified Great Place to Work.
We help our clients understand their philanthropic goals,
then find the right path to help them achieve the greatest change
possible. Through strategic advice, program support, and nonprofit
management services, we help changemakers go further, faster. Our
world-class team of experts has the breadth and depth of experience
to navigate even the most complex challenges and is inspired by a
shared commitment to expanding equity, strengthening communities,
protecting the planet, and defending democracy. We offer creative,
customized solutions to our clients as they pursue bold visions of
a brighter future. Specifically, Arabella supports clients in two
primary ways: we provide “last-mile” implementation support to
several nonprofit 501(c)3 and (c)4 organizations that are fiscal
sponsors to a broad array of initiatives. Arabella also provides
strategic consulting to donors and nonprofit organizations. Helping
our clients achieve the impacts they seek runs through both types
of work. As Managing Director, you will work across both the
fiscal sponsorship and advisory service offerings and be expected
to achieve annual revenue targets. You will be a major contributor
to business development, managing client engagements, and
representing the organization externally.
Essential
Responsibilities Midwest Region Client Development
(60-75%)
- Design and implement business development tactics and
strategies to engage prospective new clients and deepen current
client relationships throughout the region
- Generate a sustainable multi-year book of business with
changemakers of all types (institutional foundations, corporate
foundations, and families/individuals) across the midwestern
region, working toward identified team and individual revenue
targets
- In close coordination with the Advisory Team, design and manage
proposal processes that address our clients’ impact objectives
across a wide range of issue areas and advisory service offerings
(strategic design and implementation, governance, learning and
evaluation, grantmaking accordion capacity, nonprofit capacity
building)
- In close coordination with the Fiscal Sponsorship Team, source,
structure, and launch fiscally sponsored projects and donor
initiatives across a wide range of issue areas including the
environment, reproductive rights, gun violence, civic engagement,
and others
- Represent Arabella as a thought leader through writing,
speaking and conference attendance
- Provide leadership and guidance for the growth of the firm’s
presence in the Midwest region
Client Services and Relationship Management (25-40%)
- Be a trusted advisor to clients, donors, and philanthropic
partners, helping make change in a more effective, efficient and
equitable way
- Serve as a senior strategist to project teams for client
relationships and their project engagements, ensuring client
standards are met on engagements
- Serve as a coach and mentor to client service teams by modeling
inclusion and cultivating diverse perspectives
- Facilitate client meetings and produce expert content for
clients
- Negotiate contracts, finding expansion opportunities and
troubleshooting engagements as necessary
Candidate Profile The Managing Director
will be an experienced leader with expertise at the nexus of
philanthropy, issue advocacy, and strategic implementation. The
ideal candidate will have the following professional and personal
qualities, skills, and characteristics:
An
Expert Business Developer: The Managing
Director will enjoy business development and will be skilled at
cultivation and stewardship. They will have a proven track record
of building a book of business, or cultivating relationships,
across client segments. The Managing Director will be able to
maintain existing client relationships and identify new
opportunities, using their colleagues within Arabella and their
connections within the philanthropic sector. They will be able to
continuously and creatively seek opportunities, manage rejection,
and maintain the goal of securing and growing further business. The
Managing Director will be comfortable navigating in a high-touch
service environment.
A Strong Relationship
Builder and Communicator: The Managing Director
will bring a proven record of engagement to the role and be a
natural ambassador for Arabella Advisors. They will be innovative,
ambitious, and experienced in establishing strong working
relationships to further a client’s philanthropic goals. The
Managing Director will have a sophisticated personal presence and
outstanding communication abilities, both verbal and written. They
will substantively contribute to the development of written
content, articles, analytic reports and other thought leadership
avenues. The Managing Director will exemplify leadership and will
inspire trust and confidence across a diverse range of
stakeholders. They will enthusiastically convey the importance of
an organization’s work to existing and potential clients.
A Collaborator and Central
Partner: The Managing Director will be
experienced in collaborating within a team and among important
partners. They will have a proven track record of working with
institutions, individuals, families, or other complex entities to
help them achieve greater philanthropic impact. The Managing
Director will have a consultative and participatory style, working
in close partnership and leading clients to actualize goals. The
Managing Director will have strong people skills, will be an
incredible listener, creative problem solver who understands
constraints involved with legal compliance, and have deep empathy.
They will know how to empower team members to do their best work
and to lead by their actions. To do this work well, you must be
curious, perceptive, and demonstrate high levels of emotional
intelligence.
A Passion for the
Mission: The Managing Director will have a
demonstrated passion and commitment to working with individuals,
families, and institutions to achieve the changes they seek through
their philanthropy. They will enjoy working in a nimble
environment, while navigating the complexity of consulting with a
wide variety of clients. The Managing Director will embrace the
Arabella Advisors culture and will roll up their sleeves along with
their colleagues to deliver the highest levels of quality client
service. As an organization with a deep commitment to Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion, Arabella expects each senior leader to have
demonstrated experience deploying an equity lens in their work and
a perspective on how this role can advance racial justice as this a
core competency in the work we do on behalf of our clients.
Our Core Competencies
- The ability to manage multiple and highly complex client and
prospect relationships to add value to the firm and client, and
position Arabella as a go-to resource for addressing philanthropy
challenges
- The ability to sell and negotiate deals for all service lines,
including innovative opportunities, and achieve significant revenue
goals
- The ability to regularly speak at sector-relevant events that
add value to the firm’s brand, participate in sector leadership
roles, author content in sector-relevant periodicals and news
sites, and be seen externally as an expert in select issues areas
or client types
- Based on market trends, the ability to identify what
innovations within the organization the firm will most successfully
sell
About Arabella’s Client Development Team
Arabella’s client development experts help us reach the
organizations and individuals who need our services, cultivate and
maintain relationships with hundreds of donors and thousands of
nonprofit organizations across our field, track business metrics,
and tell the many stories of our work in ways that enhance program
impact and help to make philanthropy more effective
Arabella’s Impact Arabella is a business with a
mission: Help changemakers turn inspiring ideas into life-changing
impact. In 2020, fulfilling that mission became more important than
ever.
Here's a
look at how Arabella responded.
Our
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Advancing DEI within our firm and in our work with partners is
critical to our mission. To be effective partners to
philanthropists, nonprofits, and communities impacted by
philanthropic dollars, we need to have a highly diverse staff, a
workplace where individuals are encouraged to retain their
uniqueness and can feel a sense of belonging, and a nuanced
understanding of the racial, ethnic, gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability status, and other disparities that
undergird the issues we engage in and the interactions we have with
one another. For us, equity means that our staff members, our
clients, and the people they serve can experience the same level of
success, no matter their starting place. We expect all our
employees to share this commitment, and always seek ways to improve
how well we live these values. Click
here to learn more about DEI at Arabella
and read our official DEI statement.
Total Rewards (compensation and
benefits) This is a full-time position. We
offer a competitive and holistic total rewards package that
includes salary, bonus, and benefits. Our base salaries are based
on a blend of similar sized organizations from different sectors,
including nonprofits, foundations, and professional service firms.
They are also based on local market rates and differentiated by
geography. All full-time staff are eligible for our
generous benefits package on their first day of
employment:
- Health insurance- On average Arabella pays 86% of the medical
premium, 80% of the dental premium, and 100% of the vision
premium
- Paid time off- 21 days’ vacation, 10 personal days, 11 company
holidays (7 federal and 4 more from a list of inclusive cultural
and religious holidays and your birthday), 20 hours’ volunteer
leave, 8 weeks’ parental leave
- 401(k) retirement plan- We offer a 4% employer match on a
dollar-per-dollar basis, and there is no waiting or vesting period;
all funds contributed by you and Arabella are yours to keep on day
1
- Reimbursements for your personal cell phone plan and
fitness
- Pre-tax withholding for transportation and parking
- Bonus incentive opportunities
- Access to professional development opportunities
Working with Us This position is open to
candidates who wish to be based in our Midwest office in Chicago,
IL; it is also open to permanently remote workers based in the
upper Midwest region (MN, WI, IL, IN, MI). We reopened our
offices in Summer of 2022 and work with a hybrid workplace strategy
to ensure continued flexibility for our staff, while deepening our
strong culture rooted in collaboration and in-person interactions
between colleagues. We expect that after their initial onboarding,
all Arabellans will have the choice of two hybrid schedules. Our
hybrid schedule options include Flex, with 1-2 days per week in the
office, or Office-based, with 3+ days per week in the office (or
more if preferred) and the remaining days working at home/remotely.
We will make reasonable accommodations under the guidelines of the
Americans With Disabilities Act. To center the safety
and well-being of its employees, Arabella Advisors requires that
any employee who is required to conduct in-person activities for
their job must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within four
weeks of their start date. This position may require
candidates to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Accommodations may be sought and approved in accordance with the
law. We are committed to having a passion-driven,
inclusive, transparent, collaborative, healthy, and fun culture. We
invite you to visit our careers
page to learn more.
How to
Apply Submit a resume and a one-page cover letter
online. The cover letter should address why you’re excited to work
at Arabella and why you’re qualified for this specific
job. Arabella Advisors is an Equal Opportunity
Employer committed to racial equity. If we can make the application
process easier through accommodation in the recruitment process,
please let us know. We encourage you to read (or
listen to)
our DEI statement prior to applying.
We make a particular effort to recruit people of color and members
of marginalized groups to apply for open positions. Once you have
applied, we welcome your feedback on how you have experienced our
values around DEI in the recruitment process. While
Arabella is open to individuals from various locations applying to
join our team, please note that we generally are unable to pay for
relocation expenses, and, except in rare circumstances considered
on a case-by-case basis, all applicants must already be legally
eligible to work in the United States at the time of application to
be considered for this position. We will review
applications as they are received and look forward to hearing from
you.
