Senior Director, Client Services

The Senior Director contributes to a range of client projects in advisory, project lead, or account team member roles. At any given time, the Senior Director works on a portfolio of 5-10 active clients in one of these roles. When serving as an ‘Advisor’ on the account team, the Senior Director is responsible for leading an account team to success in exceeding client expectations, growing partnerships, and developing Aperio talent; the Senior Director provides strategic direction, day-to-day guidance, and ‘apprenticeship’ opportunities to account team. When serving in other capacities on an account team, the Senior Director brings the highest quality of service in fulfillment of client deliverables, in close collaboration with other staff and partners. 

Throughout all client work, the Senior Director will:

• 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

The Senior Director serves as a leader and resource to the staff, providing both formal and informal mentorship that enhances the professional development and optimization of each team member. Additionally, the Senior Director leads and implements capacity-building projects to support the growth and efficiency of the organization.

• 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

The Senior Director proactively and actively contributes to company growth strategies. As the face of Aperio in the community, the Senior Director will:

• 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

• 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

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.

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.