Senior Director, Client Services

Aperio Philanthropy LLC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off (PTO) 4 weeks+ years

Summer Fridays

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401K with 3% nonelective company match

Monthly mobile reimbursement

Job summary

Aperio Philanthropy LLC seeks a Senior Director of Client Services to lead partnerships and drive impact across a portfolio of major donors. You will steer account teams, mentor staff, and serve as the external face of Aperio in philanthropy circles.

The role blends high-level client leadership with hands-on service delivery, practice development, and cross-functional collaboration to grow revenue and deepen mission alignment. Remote work with travel to client sites is expected.

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience in relationship-based fundraising and leading large teams.
• Proven ability to generate philanthropic revenue from a portfolio of donors and foundations.
• Strong communication, storytelling, and public speaking skills; adept at influencing diverse stakeholders.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership on donor relationships and strategy.

Responsibilities

• Lead client services with a focus on delivering exceptional client experiences and sustaining partnerships.
• Develop strategies for account teams to meet client goals and drive revenue growth.
• Mentor staff through formal and informal programs and advance talent development.
• Represent Aperio externally and cultivate a personal thought-leadership profile in philanthropy.
• Oversee a portfolio of 50–100 strategic relationships and manage complex partnerships.

Skills

Relationship management

Leadership

Fundraising strategy

Donor relations

Public speaking

Data analysis

Team management

Storytelling

Tools

Salesforce

Raiser's Edge

Job description

The Senior Director, Client Services serves as a leader at Aperio, with responsibility for creating a sustainable pipeline of partnerships and delivering on promises to clients. In collaboration with Aperio’s senior leadership team, the Senior Director optimizes the impact, health, vibrancy, and sustainability of Aperio’s client services through the full development of our team’s talent and potential. Day-to-day, the Senior Director spends the majority of their time on direct client services, leading partnerships, contributing to work products, and guiding account teams. In addition, the Senior Director serves as a leader and mentor to staff through the formal mentorship program and informal interactions. The Senior Director manages a portfolio of relationships with prospective partners, serves as the face of Aperio externally, and proactively cultivates a personal thought‑leadership role in our community and industry. The Senior Director advances and operationalizes our core values and models an open, growth‑orientation every day.

Client services responsibilities (75%)

• Adopt a client‑centric approach and provide each client with an exceptional experience
• Continually seek to understand the client’s end goals, business models, and definition of success for the partnership
• Create strategies for the account team to deliver on promises to clients, using all available resources, aligning with Aperio’s model and methodologies, and investing time/energy to highest and best use
• Foster alignment and collaboration among the account team
• Optimize partnership impact and relationship quality, thinking and working beyond the current scope of work to future opportunities
• Optimize project efficiency and profitability
• Leverage each client project to develop Aperio’s talent by providing shadowing, coaching, and other learning opportunities and providing clear, real‑time feedback
• Leverage each client project to build the capacity of the company by enhancing, templatizing, and cross‑pollinating resources in collaboration with Strategic Services
• Establish clear roles and responsibilities for account team members
• Meet with account teams regularly in accordance with Aperio’s governance model
• Direct staff to samples, tools, templates, training, coaching and other resources available through Strategic Services, peers, and other account teams
• Support staff in removing barriers and resolving conflicts
• Lead or participate in leadership- and board‑level meetings
• Lead or participate in strategic and major capacity‑building work sessions
• Serve as the strategic partner for the client’s senior leadership
• Contribute strategies for revenue growth and complex initiatives
• Review and contribute to major deliverables to align with client needs and expectations
• Ensure that external subject‑matter experts and partners are used to highest and best use

Leadership & mentorship (10%)

• Serve as a Mentor to Aperio team members
• Facilitate regular gatherings and conversations among cohort members (as outlined in the mentorship program governance model) to contribute to a welcoming, supportive environment where staff can growth and thrive
• Lead implementation of select strategic/capacity‑building projects, such as developing a ‘focus area’, developing service delivery methodologies, and/or defining ‘playbooks’
• Proactively identify capacity‑building opportunities and collaborate with other members of the Aperio team to advance them
• Leverage project‑management best practices to advance special initiatives and projects
• Contribute to Aperio’s efforts to fight racism and discrimination, especially in nonprofits, fundraising, and philanthropy
• Provide feedback openly, constructively, and regularly
• Receive feedback openly, constructively, and regularly

Business development (15%)

• Personally build and engage a portfolio of 50-100 strategic relationships, sourced from personal networks and cold outreach
• Manage extension, upgrade, and referral conversations with current clients, optimizing opportunities for partnership growth
• Participate in and/or lead new partnership conversations
• Represent Aperio leadership during proposals presentations, as requested
• Build a personal brand as a thought leader in the nonprofit and fundraising community, proactively seeking opportunities to present and participate in conferences, workshops, and webinars hosted by Aperio and other industry groups
• Create articles and videos that educate, equip, and inspire nonprofit leaders and fundraisers
• Promote and engage with Aperio content across social media channels

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience in relationship‑based fundraising (major gifts, foundations, or corporate partnerships), including 5+ years’ experience focusing full‑time on generating philanthropic revenue from a portfolio of individuals, foundations, and/or companies
• Demonstrated ability to lead, manage, develop, and grow large and complex teams
• Diverse nonprofit experience—including experience in organizations with $50 million+ in annual revenue—preferred
• Demonstrated ability to efficiently manage a portfolio of relationships and grow revenue from that portfolio year‑over‑year
• Experience soliciting $100,000+ gifts
• Experience managing complex projects to successful completion
• Outstanding organizational and time‑management skills and ability
• Ability to inspire and hold accountable diverse internal and external stakeholders
• Experience partnering with volunteer and staff leadership on donor relationships and/or projects
• Ability to analyze and interpret data and apply insights to strategy
• Demonstrated ability to leverage metrics to improve the donor experience and fundraiser performance
• Superb relationship management, interpersonal, and communication (written and oral) skills
• Strong storytelling and public speaking skills
• Strong understanding of technology systems pertinent to major gifts (Salesforce and Raiser’s Edge a plus)
• Openness to the ever‑changing, dynamic environment of a start‑up company
• Eagerness to learn new knowledge and skills
• Ability to travel for assignments, as needed, up to 50% of time

Location & Compensation

Currently, this role combines remote work‑from‑home and frequent travel to spent time onsite with clients and meet with Aperio team members.

To facilitate work‑from‑home, Aperio provides essential technology equipment and a monthly mobile phone reimbursement of $75 per month.

Benefits include:

• Paid time off (PTO) starting at 4 weeks per year, which includes 10 days of sick time and 10 days of vacation time
• 10-18 holidays per year, including closure over the year‑end holidays
• Summer Fridays observed between the Friday before Memorial Day and the Friday before Labor Day
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401K with a nonelective company contribution of 3% of your compensation, regardless of whether you make employee contributions

Evergreen Recruiting

At Aperio Philanthropy, we practice evergreen recruiting, which means we accept and review applications on a rolling basis all throughout the year, even if we don’t have a specific role open at the moment. This approach allows us to build relationships with talented candidates in advance, so we can move quickly when the right opportunity becomes available. Our hiring team reviews applications on a regular basis. If your skills and experience align with a current or anticipated need, someone from our team will reach out to schedule an initial conversation. While we may not have an immediate opening, we encourage you to apply if you're interested in working with us. Your application helps us keep you in mind for future roles.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Aperio is pleased to offer competitive compensation and benefits, as well as accelerated career development opportunities.

Base compensation for this role is $120,000 - $135,000 commensurate with experience in executive leadership, business development, and portfolio‑focused, relationship‑based fundraising. Bonus and promotion opportunities available.