Description
The Director, DAF Solutions & Strategic Engagements is a senior individual contributor role for someone who thrives at the intersection of people, purpose, and problem-solving. This role sits across sales, product, partnerships, and implementation, serving as a trusted connector who helps turn complex philanthropic goals into practical, high-impact donor-advised fund (DAF) solutions.
In this role, you will lead thoughtful, consultative conversations with prospective and existing clients, helping them navigate nuanced DAF opportunities and design program structures that align with their values, constraints, and long-term objectives. You’ll collaborate closely with internal teams, the Charityvest board, key donors, and third-party partners to shape partnership models and special service engagements—such as recoverable grants, impact investments, and international giving—guiding ideas from early exploration through successful execution.
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys adapting to different stakeholders and situations, bringing clarity and momentum to complex, multi-party initiatives. You’ll be trusted to balance structure with flexibility, tailoring solutions while keeping implementation practical and sustainable. Along the way, you may step in to provide strategic support during critical client success moments, helping ensure strong relationships and positive outcomes.
The ideal candidate brings deep familiarity with DAFs and philanthropic structures, paired with strong solution design skills and executive presence. Just as important, they bring a collaborative mindset, a genuine interest in helping donors and partners succeed, and the ability to build trust across diverse perspectives. This is a role for someone motivated by impact, energized by partnership, and comfortable serving as both guide and catalyst in a dynamic, mission-driven environment.
DAF Solution Design & Strategic Sales Support (40%)
- Lead collaborative, structured discovery conversations with prospective clients and partners (corporate, advisor, institutional, and nonprofit) to understand their goals, values, governance needs, risk appetite, economics, and operational realities.
- Translate complex needs into clear, practical DAF program options (typically 1–3), helping stakeholders understand roles, tradeoffs, risks, and implementation considerations so they can make confident, aligned decisions.
- Design end-to-end DAF program architectures that balance ambition with feasibility, including sponsor and platform roles, contribution and distribution flows, custodial and investment design, fee structures, and operating workflows and SLAs.
- Create client-ready narratives and materials (decks, memos, term outlines) that tell a compelling story, build trust, and move conversations toward action.
- Serve as a trusted DAF subject-matter partner in later-stage sales conversations, bringing clarity, credibility, and momentum to complex decision-making.
Special Services & Complex Structuring Engagements (25%)
- Partner closely with the Charityvest board, major donors, and specialized third parties (legal and tax counsel, impact intermediaries, international grantmaking partners) to co-design bespoke philanthropic solutions.
- Lead or coordinate the design of innovative capital structures, including recoverable grants, repayable philanthropic capital, impact investments (PRIs/MRIs), guarantees, and other catalytic approaches.
- Work collaboratively with Legal/Compliance and Operations to assess feasibility, manage risk, and ensure alignment with sponsor policy and regulatory requirements.
- Identify opportunities to translate successful one-off solutions into repeatable patterns or offerings, increasing scalability and reducing friction over time.
Implementation Leadership & Strategic Client Success Support (20%)
- Stay engaged through early implementation and launch for complex or strategic wins, helping translate solutions into clear, executable plans with defined owners, milestones, and communication rhythms.
- Align Sales, Client Success, Product, Legal/Compliance, and Operations around shared expectations, dependencies, and delivery responsibilities to support a smooth handoff and strong client experience.
- Provide high-touch, relationship-oriented support for critical donors and strategic partners as an escalation point on complex service needs, in partnership with the Client Success team.
- Surface recurring themes and insights, feeding recommendations into product roadmaps, process improvements, and policy evolution.
Internal Enablement, Playbooks & Market Insight (15%)
- Develop and maintain reference architectures and playbooks for DAF programs across key segments (corporate, workplace, advisor-led, nonprofit, etc.).
- Build practical internal enablement tools (solution maps, decision trees, FAQs, one-pagers) that empower Sales and Client Success teams and reduce reliance on ad hoc executive involvement.
- Stay attuned to trends in DAFs, impact investing, corporate giving, and advisory-led philanthropy, sharing insights to inform strategy, partnerships, and product direction.
Requirements
- Deep, hands-on familiarity with donor-advised funds and philanthropic structures, developed in environments such as a DAF sponsor, financial institution, family office, advisory firm, or philanthropy / impact consulting organization.
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience required; advanced training or credentials (MBA, JD, or specialization in philanthropy or impact investing) are a plus.
- Willingness to travel occasionally (approximately 5–10%) to support key clients and partners.
- Experience navigating and shaping complex or non-standard philanthropic engagements, either directly or in close partnership with specialists, including recoverable grants, PRIs/MRIs, impact investments, guarantees, and international grantmaking.
- A proven ability to lead nuanced client and stakeholder conversations, synthesize diverse perspectives, and guide groups toward clear, well-reasoned recommendations and decisions.
- Strong solution design and systems-thinking skills, with a track record of turning ambiguity into structured options, transparent tradeoffs, and practical implementation plans.
- Clear, confident communication skills, including executive presence and the ability to translate complex concepts into simple, accessible language for a wide range of audiences.
- A highly collaborative working style, with comfort partnering across Sales, Client Success, Product, Legal/Compliance, and Operations, as well as coordinating external advisors and partners.
- An ownership-oriented mindset, with the judgment and follow-through to stay accountable from early solution design through initial implementation and launch.
- Comfort and curiosity in a dynamic, growth-oriented environment, where products, processes, and priorities continue to evolve and improve.
Job Requirements for Remote Work Environment:
Dedicated Workspace: Must have a home office or workspace that is free of distractions and interruptions to ensure productivity and focus during work hours.
Reliable Internet Connection: High-speed internet is required to support video conferencing, file sharing, and other work-related technology needs.
Travel: Must be able to travel occasionally for key client, partner, or internal meetings as needed.
Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.
Salary Description
$150-185k
An Equal Opportunity Employer
We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by law or regulation. It is our intention that all qualified applicants are given equal opportunity and that selection decisions be based on job-related factors.
