Position Description

The Director represents Arabella throughout the particular US region’s philanthropic communities, building and managing client relationships and overseeing the expansion of our various lines of service in the area. These positions – based in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago – will play a significant role managing business development activities, with a keen focus on enabling the activities of one or more Managing Directors. This role will be a member of the Marketing and Business Development team – reporting to the Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer – with a matrixed reporting relationship to our Managing Directors. This role will require substantial travel (up to 40% of time) to include client and prospect meetings, attendance at conferences and convenings, and training and management meetings.

This person should have deep industry experience, market knowledge, and a strong understanding of strategic philanthropy, as well as an interest in issues in philanthropy and helping institutional, corporate, family foundations, and individuals achieve their philanthropic goals.

About Arabella Advisors

Arabella Advisors helps foundations, philanthropists and investors who are serious about impact achieve the greatest good with their resources. We help our clients imagine what’s possible, design the best strategies, learn what works best, and do the work necessary to realize their visions. 

Our staff is a team of passionate problem-solvers—mission-driven and action-oriented—with 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. Our leadership team, advisors, colleagues, and staff are fundamentally concerned with social change. We share a desire to make a difference and apply an outcomes-focused approach. Our internal culture supports employee passions, enables continuous learning, and fosters innovation, risk taking, and fun—even as it emphasizes excellence. 

Essential Responsibilities

Business Development (~30-60%)

• Generate annual revenue from regionally based prospects according to the revenue targets mutually developed and agreed upon for this position
• In close coordination with Arabella’s senior leadership and in support of one or more Managing Directors, help manage the growth of the client portfolio of the Eastern US region.
• Support and occasionally lead business development activities with other Arabella team members, including relationship mapping on key strategic accounts, development of presentations and proposals for new business
• Develop channel relationships in the New York region and lead on opportunities from those relationships
• Lead the relationship development of assigned affinity groups and associations
• Represent Arabella in industry settings
• Provide leadership and guidance for the growth of the firm’s presence in the region Client Services (~30-40%)
• Serve as a senior strategist for client relationships and their project engagements as needed
• Participate in key project meetings as part of the strategic oversight of clients
• Ensure client standards are met on engagements
• Facilitate client meetings as necessary

Marketing (~10-25%%) 

• Engage in public speaking in support of Arabella, our clients, and as part of our thought leadership
• In close coordination with the Editorial and LOB teams, develop workshops and seminars for use at conferences, etc.
• Contribute to Arabella Advisors’ written content, such as articles, issue briefs and analytical reports
• As required, conduct research and develop plans to reach new marketing channels
• Assist in developing marketing collateral for the regional base of clients

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Graduate degree in a relevant field or equivalent work experience strongly preferred; BA/BS required
• At least 7 years of demonstrated work experience with steadily increasing responsibility
• Experience in philanthropy, nonprofit management, and/or consulting required
• Deep professional networks within the Eastern and Central United States region’s philanthropy communities
• Experience with business development, fundraising, or other revenue-generating responsibilities
• Success in achievement of revenue/growth targets
• Experience and comfort with a variable compensation schedule tied to business development goals
• Process expertise, such as strategic planning, program evaluation, and/or nonprofit due diligence preferred
• Expertise in areas of philanthropic interest such as education, the environment, human services, and/or international aid preferred
• Experience successfully designing and facilitating workshops, seminars, client meetings, and retreats in both small and large group environments
• Experience with Customer Relationship Management – CRM platform (preferably Salesforce) required
• Excellent communication skills including public speaking, writing and demonstrated ability to structure large amounts of information in a written document that is clear and easy to understand
• Experience marketing a product or service
• Strong business development and relationship development skills
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic guidance to project teams and clients
• Demonstrated leadership and team management skills, including direct supervision
• Ability to work in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Desire to work in a high-energy, growing company

A Career with Arabella Advisors 

We are committed to having a passion-driven, inclusive, fun, transparent, collaborative, and healthy culture. We invite you to visit our careers website to learn more about our people, culture, and work. However, we thought you should know that Arabella is committed to providing excellent benefits to our employees. For you and your eligible dependents, we provide a competitive package that includes health, vision, dental, and prescription insurance. We also provide you disability coverage; life insurance; personal and volunteer leave time; a 401K match that you are eligible to receive when you start; funds for professional development; and a fitness benefit.

We also are committed to building a firm that is diverse and inclusive. We invite our clients and employees to be fully themselves. By integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work, we benefit from increased knowledge, creativity, flexibility, and organizational and individual growth. We expect all Arabella staff to share this commitment,