Senior Client Engagement Manager - Private Equity

Senior Client Engagement Manager

Private Equity

Accounting & Finance Solutions

Location: Chicago, IL (90% remote)

On-Target Earnings: $200,000 to $300,000+ (50/50 base/variable with unlimited upside)

Long-Term Incentive Plan: Eligible

Type: Full-Time, Exempt

Reports To: Vice President, Accounting & Finance Solutions

Lane Focus: Private equity sponsors, operating and talent partners, and portfolio company finance leaders

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Uncapped earning potential. Competitive base with no ceiling on commissions.
• Collaborative and competitive culture. High performers thrive here, and wins are shared.
• No bureaucracy, no politics. Real decisions get made fast, without red tape or decks nobody reads past slide three.
• Grow with leaders who've done it. One-on-one mentoring and coaching from leadership committed to your career, not just your quota.
• Built for the future of work. We invest aggressively in AI, automation, and the best technology in the industry, giving you an unfair advantage in how you sell, position, and grow your book.
• 90% remote. Work from anywhere, with in-person team collaboration in Chicago several times per year.
• Robust health benefits. Medical, dental, vision, and more.
• Unlimited PTO. We trust you to take the time you need.
• Cell phone stipend. Stay connected on us.
• Gym or wellness stipend. Because your health matters.
• Minority-owned and women-led. We value and celebrate diversity.
• Philanthropic mindset. We give back and support the communities we serve.

About Advanced Resources

At Advanced Resources, it's personal.

We partner with companies to tackle their most pressing workforce priorities, from staffing and resource planning to project execution and finance transformation. Whether supplementing a team, providing subject-matter expertise, or securing the right talent, we solve the human capital challenges that directly impact today's business leaders.

Our THRIVE values (Thankful, Humble, Resilient, Innovative, Veracious, and Enduring) shape everything we do. We're proud to be one of the most recognized firms in our industry, with a world-class Net Promoter Score (NPS) of over 85 and a culture built on both excellence and humanity.

The Opportunity

We're building our Accounting & Finance Solutions sales team around how work is actually bought, and each Senior Client Engagement Manager owns one buying motion. This role owns Private Equity: the sponsors, operating partners, talent and human capital partners, and portfolio company CFOs who need experienced accounting and finance talent at the moments that matter most.

Private equity moves in events. A deal closes and the finance function has to produce sponsor-grade reporting. An add-on lands and two close processes need to become one. A carve-out needs a standalone finance team before transition services run out. An exit is on the horizon and the numbers have to hold up under diligence. Each of those moments creates urgent demand for project-based and interim A&F talent, and the firm that already has the relationship gets the call.

How this lane scales: One sponsor relationship opens the door to many portfolio companies, and the work comes in waves. This practice is still being built, not a mature machine you're dropped into, which means real input into how it grows.

This is not a transactional sales role. Done right, it is how we become a true partner across a sponsor's entire portfolio. If you have the network and the drive, this is your chance to own your book of business and be rewarded like a partner, not an associate.

Your Lane at a Glance

Who you sell to

Operating partners, talent and human capital partners, deal teams, and portfolio company CFOs, Controllers, and finance leaders

Examples of what triggers the work

Deal closes, add-on acquisitions, carve-outs, recapitalizations, and exit readiness

Why it scales

One sponsor opens many portfolio companies, and the work comes in waves across the fund

Each Senior Client Engagement Manager owns a buying motion. Industry is a talking point, not a territory, so you will follow the work wherever your lane leads.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Other duties may be assigned. The following represent the core areas of accountability.

New Business Development and Pipeline Building

• Win new business by building trust with, and closing, PE sponsors and their portfolio companies for project-based and interim A&F solutions.
• Build and own relationships with operating partners, talent and human capital partners, deal teams, and portfolio company finance leaders across the Chicago and Midwest private equity community.
• Track deal activity (platform acquisitions, add-ons, carve-outs, recapitalizations, and exits) and engage early, before the need becomes urgent.
• Lead with insight, not the ask. Show up informed on what is happening across a sponsor's portfolio and offer a practical point of view on integration, reporting, close readiness, and the finance team needed to get there.
• Position our solutions around the PE value-creation lifecycle: post-close stabilization, 100-day plan support, add-on integration, carve-out standup, and exit and diligence readiness.
• Expand across the portfolio. Turn a single portfolio company win into a sponsor-level relationship that spans multiple companies and funds.
• Cultivate a referral network across the PE ecosystem, including lenders, transaction advisory and quality of earnings providers, PE-focused law firms, and industry groups.
• Use our AI and automation readiness assessments as a door-opener with portfolio finance teams looking to scale without adding headcount.

Client Relationship Management and Consultative Selling

• Build deep, consultative partnerships with CFOs, Controllers, and Finance leaders, understanding their challenges before they do.
• Lead with the problem, not the seat. Diagnose the core pain, recommend the right approach, and then staff it. Most firms quote a bill rate. We tell the client what we would do and why.
• Speak the language of the sponsor: EBITDA, cash, reporting cadence, and the value-creation plan. Translate finance team gaps into risk to the investment thesis.
• Serve as the in-room market SME on A&F consulting talent and solutions, speaking fluently to market rates, delivery models, and realistic timelines.
• Educate clients in real time so they make informed decisions on scope, comp, and timeline, not assumptions.
• Cross-sell with purpose. Introduce clients to our broader human capital capabilities, from HR transformation to executive search.

Engagement Delivery and Account Growth

• Partner with delivery and Consultant Engagement teams to match top consultants and interim professionals to client needs.
• Build teams, not just seats. Where the scope supports it, position multi-consultant engagements that solve the whole problem rather than filling one role at a time.
• Turn every placement into a relationship. Join client kickoffs, 30-day post-placement check-ins, and engagement reviews. Our consultants see what is happening inside the client before anyone else does, and the next opportunity usually starts there.
• Surface upsell and extension opportunities by staying close to consultant-client dynamics on active engagements.
• Collaborate with Marketing to develop case studies and references that support business development.

Operating with Autonomy and Ownership

• Operate with real autonomy. This is a builder's seat. You will assist in the strategy, shape how the practice goes to market, and run your book with leadership that trusts you to do it, not one that requires sign-off at every turn.
• Impact the bottom line. Deliver measurable results for your clients and yourself.
• Maintain accurate pipeline, account, and activity records in our CRM, including meeting notes, so the whole team can act on what you learn.
• Contribute to the design and continuous improvement of sales processes, tools, and KPIs.

KPIs

The activity-based KPIs below represent the building blocks of success and are intended to provide clarity and structure to ensure that each individual is executing the behaviors that drive outcomes.

These expectations are intentionally structured to provide transparency, enable coaching, and allow leaders and team members to objectively assess progress. They are not designed to create pressure. They are designed to create clarity.

Weekly KPI's

• 2 Leads: Candidate
• 125 Sales Outreaches : Calls/Emails
• 10 Sales Visits (virtual or in-person)
• 2 Job Orders
• 1 Job Start

In this lane, sales visits will weight toward sponsor and operating partner meetings alongside portfolio company finance leaders.

Qualifications

The requirements below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Required

• 7 to 12 years of consultative sales, business development experience in professional services, consulting, staffing, or a PE-adjacent environment.
• An active, established network across the Chicago-area private equity community, including operating partners, talent and human capital partners, deal teams, and portfolio company CFOs. This is the core requirement for the lane, and in interviews we will ask you to walk us through who in that network would take your call this week.
• Working fluency in the PE deal lifecycle and what it demands of a finance function, from post-close reporting through add-on integration, carve-outs, and exit readiness.
• Proven ability to build trust with executive-level decision makers (operating partners, talent partners, CFOs, Controllers).
• Strong working knowledge of Accounting & Finance functions and the interim and consulting delivery model.
• A competitive, entrepreneurial drive with a knack for reading people and closing deals.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Preferred

• Background in private equity (portfolio operations, deal team, or portfolio company finance), transaction advisory or quality of earnings, investment banking, or public accounting serving PE-backed clients, followed by time in a sales, recruiting, or business development seat.
• CPA or prior experience as an accounting or finance practitioner.
• Familiarity with consulting delivery models, including project-based and interim engagements.
• Proficiency with Bullhorn or a comparable CRM, plus general comfort with modern AI and automation tools.
• Exposure to ERP platforms (NetSuite, Dynamics 365, SAP, Oracle, Workday) and modern FP&A and automation tools.

Behavioral Traits of the Ideal Candidate

• Entrepreneurial mindset. Comfortable building in white space. Creates structure where none exists and finds a way to win when the playbook hasn't been written yet.
• Competitive closer. Driven by winning, not just participating. Measures themselves against a number and wants to beat it.
• Outgoing and engaging. Communicates in an uninhibited, lively, and adaptable manner. Draws others into the conversation.
• Relationship-focused. Genuinely interested in people, trust-building, and long-term partnership over the quick close.
• Goal-oriented. Focused on outcomes and the people needed to get there, not on details or rigid plans.
• Proactive connector. Connects quickly to others. Open, sharing, and willing to leverage relationships to get work done.
• Persuasive communicator. Enthusiastically persuades and motivates others by considering their point of view and adjusting delivery.
• Resilient under rejection. Treats a no as information, not a verdict. Keeps prospecting without needing constant external validation.
• Calculated risk-taker. Daring and focused on future goals. Adaptable, flexible, and comfortable making decisions with imperfect information.
• Confident decision-maker. Takes action even with limited proof. Confident in their own ideas and unimpressed with tradition for tradition's sake.

Why Advanced Resources

• Culture that wins. We live our values and celebrate success together.
• Unlimited earnings. Base salary plus uncapped commissions and growth opportunities.
• Flexibility first. Work remotely, with quarterly in-person collaboration weeks.
• Purpose-driven work. Help shape careers, teams, and organizations in meaningful ways.
• People-first mindset. We prioritize well-being, family, and community impact.
• Built for builders. Our A&F Solutions practice is scaling, and you'll have real influence on how it grows.

If This Sounds Like You...

If you've spent years in or around private equity, know the operating partners in town, and are done grinding through models and diligence, this is where your network becomes your book.

If you love what you do but not who you do it for, you'll feel at home here.

If you're done chasing a few percentage points in annual raises, come build something that rewards you like a partner. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we take our commitments very seriously.

Advanced Resources is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.