Senior Director, Managed Organizations job in Washington

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.

We seek a leader with a passion for improving and advancing the social sector. You will help quickly launch, scale, and manage operations for a variety of client philanthropic initiatives, including donor collaboratives, advocacy campaigns, and new nonprofit organizations. You will support client initiative across multiple issue areas. You will also help our team continue to grow and improve: you will use your skills to quickly build internal capacity, systems, and technologies that enable us to more effectively serve the sector. We seek a leader with experience growing teams and developing team members, a person who combines entrepreneurial spirit with an eagerness to help clients accomplish greater good. If you want the opportunity to help lead a fast-growing team that is reshaping the charitable sector, then this job is for you.

Essential Responsibilities

Marketing and Business Development (~25%)

Work closely with Managing Directors and other team leaders to inform and support business development
Maintain familiarity with ongoing relevant sector research and share with team and clients
Contribute to thought leadership
Represent the firm at conferences and events

Client Services (~30%)

Oversee the delivery of excellent client services for a broad portfolio of grant-making, incubation, and fiscally-sponsored projects
Provide expert guidance to clients in the areas of donor and grant/contract management, capacity building, and financial and legal compliance. Help projects solve problems even as they implement.
Cultivate strong relationships with clients, donors, and philanthropic partners
Oversee our efforts to provide clients with excellent and responsive service while instilling a culture of compliance
Develop agreements, relationships and processes that enable us to provide service to the non-profits we manage

Management (~25%)

Supervise mid-level team members, including an extensive focus on developing, motivating, and mentoring direct reports
Identify rising stars on the team, and support strategies to retain them
Identify, recruit, coach and support staff across the team
Provide visible leadership to the DC office

Strategic Leadership and Organizational Growth (~20%)

As a member of the Managed Organizations leadership team, contribute to team and organizational strategy, and oversee the achievement of important team objectives
Contribute to the team and organization’s significant year-over-year growth by innovating our systems, operations and processes
Contribute to the development and management of the team’s ongoing structure, annual objectives, and key business performance metrics
Develop and share relevant and valuable expertise
Oversee our team’s learning and development opportunities

To be successful in this role you’ll need:

Graduate degree in relevant field (e.g., business administration, nonprofit management, or public administration) or equivalent experience
Deep knowledge of and experience in the social sector. The ideal candidate has philanthropic or nonprofit experience, and has worked closely with donors in a foundation or in a fundraising role
Significant experience with business development and providing high-quality customer service in fast-paced, sophisticated environments
At least 12-15 years of work experience with steadily increasing job responsibility, including extensive people management experience
Excellent communication skills, including writing skills, and demonstrated ability to structure large amounts of information into written documents that are clear and easy to understand
Ability to manage and lead complex projects, to oversee and delegate to others on the team, and to meet deadlines
Experience with or understanding of advocacy compliance and/or fiscal sponsorship a significant plus

Our Core Competencies:

The ability to provide excellent service, including being able to effectively guide teams to achieve service standards and carry out strategy, and identify service offering gaps and recommend and/or drive improvements.
The ability to manage resources across team to ensure projects and goals are achieved, approve work plan changes and final deliverables, and communicate projects’ progress with critical stakeholders
The ability to establish and manage effective relationships with diverse stakeholders across the firm, including executive-level colleagues, and to foster a culture of courteous professional interactions
The ability to effectively communicate critical firm-wide messages, and to lead others in managing challenging conversations and developing complex communication skills
The ability to model and foster a team-wide culture of inclusion, collaboration, and knowledge sharing; to demonstrate and model appreciation for significant team contributions; and to mediate challenging interpersonal conflicts
The ability to regularly engage in leadership development activities, and lead firm-wide initiatives that improve firm-wide learning
The ability to foster a team culture that encourages creative problem solving, and to ensure teams have resources and training to overcome complex challenges

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 page to learn more.

To encourage work/life balance, we offer flexible work options. Our office is an open space with cubicles 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 seven 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 letter 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.