Associate Director, Advisory Services (AA)

Arabella Advisors - Washington, DC; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Three weeks of vacation

80 hours of personal time

20 hours of paid volunteer time

Competitive health package

Professional development funds

Job summary

Arabella Advisors, located in Washington, DC, is seeking an Associate Director for Advisory Services. This role involves managing client projects, maintaining relationships, and supporting business development.

Ideal candidates will have a graduate degree and 5-7 years of relevant experience, particularly in philanthropy or consulting. Arabella promotes an inclusive culture with flexible work options, competitive benefits, and dedicated time for personal volunteering.

Qualifications

• At least 5 to 7 years of professional experience with steadily increasing job responsibility.
• Experience in philanthropy, nonprofit management, business and/or consulting.
• Ability to manage and lead complex projects.

Responsibilities

• Serve as project manager ensuring client deliverables meet expectations.
• Develop and manage project scopes and teams.
• Maintain strong client relationships.

Skills

Project Management

Relationship Management

Business Development

Communication Skills

Analytical Skills

Education

Graduate degree or equivalent work experience

Job description

Associate Director, Advisory Services (AA)

Posted on March 04, 2019

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.

Associate Directors play an essential role on the Advisory team in managing a portfolio of client projects, maintaining client relationships, supporting business development, and managing aspects of team or firmwide strategy. In some cases, associate directors will specialize in evaluation, program management or impact investing and focus on business development and client service in their area of specialty.

Client Service (60-80%)

• Project Management & Oversight: Serve as project manager on client projects ensuring client deliverables, meetings, and presentations meet or exceed client expectations; specific duties will vary based on the type of project but are likely to include:
  • Developing and managing project scopes
  • Developing and managing project teams
  • Ensuring a project remains on time and on budget
  • Developing high‑quality reports and presentations, including overseeing or leading the research and analysis process leading up to deliverable development
  • Designing and facilitating working sessions with clients and other stakeholders
  • Facilitating client meetings and clearly communicating project progress and findings
  • Understanding compliance needs related to private foundations and donor advised funds, as relevant to project portfolio
  • As appropriate, serve as a technical advisor on multi‑service scopes
• Relationship Management: Maintain strong client relationships
• Project Team Development: In the context of project work, train project team members and help develop their skills and talent

Business Development and Marketing (10-30%)

• Proposal Development: Serve as proposal manager on assigned advisory proposals, including leading on scope design and pricing
• Support Arabella’s business development team in identifying and pitching new opportunities

Internal Projects (5-20%)

• Management: In some cases, supervise local staff at Levels 1, 2, and/or 3 as needed, including flexibly providing leadership styles that support their continued growth and development
• Internal Strategy & Team Objectives: Contribute to the development, implementation, and management of key components of the team and firm’s strategic plan, annual objectives, and key business performance metrics
• Participate in training and learning activities throughout the year
• Contribute to professional growth and satisfaction of junior staff by providing SLII‑appropriate direction, support, guidance and mentorship on project work and by promoting firm culture; develop and share relevant skills and issue‑area expertise

To be successful in this role you’ll need

• Graduate degree or equivalent work experience in relevant field (professional services, philanthropy, public policy, nonprofit management, etc.)
• At least 5 to 7 years of professional experience with steadily increasing job responsibility
• Experience in philanthropy, nonprofit management, business and/or consulting
• Ability to manage and lead a complex project, to oversee and delegate to team members, and to meet deadlines
• Strong organization and research skills and an understanding of how to gather, analyze, and synthesize diverse information from written documents and interviews
• Excellent communication skills, including strong writing skills and demonstrated ability to synthesize large amounts of information on the page
• Proven ability to work with diverse audiences and stakeholders, including excellent customer service and strong facilitation skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

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

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.

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.