Associate Director, Managed Organizations job in Chicago

You are mission driven and action oriented. You love to get involved, and work as part of a team to accomplish something great. Any job is your job if it helps the team succeed, and you thrive on variety. Today, you’re looking for a role where you can use those traits to make a real difference in the world by advancing the most important social issues facing humanity today.

If that sounds like you, Arabella Advisors can’t wait to meet you.

Arabella Advisors seeks an entrepreneurial, socially engaged professional to help our clients launch and manage innovative social sector projects. If you want the opportunity to work with a fast-growing and entrepreneurial team reshaping the charitable sector, then this job is for you. The Associate Director will manage a diverse portfolio of projects focused on affecting national and global change. In doing so, you will work closely with philanthropists, program staff, and other key stakeholders; and rely on your operations and relationship management expertise to ensure programmatic compliance and effectiveness.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Serve as a relationship and project manager for a portfolio of projects, drawing upon skills that include client relationship management, proposal and grant/contract management, and financial and legal compliance
• Act as primary liaison with philanthropic partners to develop, structure and maximize the impact of projects
• Ensure your portfolio of projects adheres to best practices in tracking and monitoring all activities to ensure compliance with IRS, federal, and state regulations
• Support new business development by meeting with potential clients, evaluating projects, and developing collateral, proposals and budgets
• Contribute to the team and organization’s significant year-over-year growth by innovating our operations and processes

Other Responsibilities:

• Develop new services based on donor and client needs
• Develop relevant expertise in philanthropy, grant management, technology and business processes

To be successful in this role you’ll need:

• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s preferred
• 5+ years of work experience with steadily increasing responsibility
• Experience in philanthropy, non-profits, and/or business
• Experience in financial analysis and/or impact investing
• Ability to manage and lead complex projects, oversee and delegate to others, and meet deadlines
• Personal presence and intellectual heft needed to work effectively with sophisticated and demanding partners
• Strong entrepreneurial spirit and resourcefulness that spurs innovation and problem solving
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Highly collaborative working style with strong interpersonal skills

Our Core Competencies:

• The ability to provide excellent service, including being able to address complex service matters, implement and communicate service changes to everyone involved, and to coach teammates on how to apply the firm’s service standards
• The ability to manage large-scale and cross-firm projects, including delegating and managing all resources, identifying and implementing improved processes, monitoring consistency across project teams, and providing direction and support to teammates
• The ability to facilitate and negotiate among stakeholders with conflicting needs and to generate consensus among decision makers
• The ability to help effectively communicate difficult messages; to adapt style, tone, and content to meet various needs; and to coach teammates on crafting content
• The ability to work cooperatively and inclusively with others to achieve shared goals, including encouraging and facilitating effective compromise, drawing on the capabilities of all team members, and leading team-level knowledge sharing
• The ability to use available resources and feedback to continually develop mastery in your role and facilitate team and project-level learning, including coaching others
• The ability to solve complex challenges by identifying innovative solutions and facilitating coordination with others

About Arabella Advisors

Arabella Advisors helps foundations, philanthropists and investors who are serious about impact achieve the greatest good with their resources. We work on issues ranging from the social and economic advancement of women and girls, and conservation of our climate and planet, to reducing poverty and inequity in the United States and around the world. Our staff members are mission-driven and action-oriented, and have a unique combination of experience in philanthropy, business, nonprofits, government, finance, law, and other fields. We combine creative, strategic thinking with knowledge and networks developed through decades of hands-on experience. The fastest-growing philanthropic advisory firm in the nation, Arabella is also a certified B Corporation.

About Arabella’s Managed Organizations Team

Arabella Advisors provides operations and management support to multiple nonprofit organizations, including the New Venture Fund, the Windward Fund, and the Hopewell Fund—all 501(c)(3) public charities—and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4). These managed organizations house new and innovative public interest projects and nonprofits, as well as coordinate collaborative initiatives between donors and administer grants programs. This type of structure is commonly referred to as fiscal sponsorship, and candidates are highly encouraged to research fiscal sponsorship prior to a first interview. The managed organizations provide support to a diverse range of projects, including many focused on conservation, global health and civic engagement.

Working with Us

We are committed to having a passion-driven, inclusive, transparent, collaborative, healthy, and fun culture. We invite you to visit our careers website to learn more.

To encourage work/life balance we offer flexible work options. Our office is an open space with cubicles and standing desks and informal work areas. Our salaries are closer to the range of a nonprofit and our benefits are excellent. You’ll start with three weeks of vacation, 80 hours of personal time, and 20 hours of paid time to volunteer at an organization of your choice. In addition to six federal holidays, you get to pick four more from a list of inclusive religious holidays and your birthday.

We have a competitive health package that includes medical, vision, dental, and prescription insurance. We also provide funds for professional development, a fitness benefit, and cover part of your personal cell phone plan.

How to apply

Submit a resume and a one-page cover online. The cover letter should address why you’re excited to work at Arabella and why you’re qualified for this specific job.

We value diversity and inclusion and encourage all qualified people to apply. If we can make this easier through accommodation in the recruitment process, please let us know.

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.

We will review applications as they are received and look forward to hearing from you.