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PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT

As a Principal Consultant, you will play an essential role in helping EA achieve our mission of creating more equitable educational and workplace settings by bringing in new engagements as well as leading engagements with higher education and workplace clients seeking to utilize Equity Accelerator’s evidence-based practices to advance Cultures of Growth. Principal Consultants are full-time employees who report to our Director of Technical Assistance (TA) and Consulting and work closely with internal project teams and client-side points of contact to ensure the successful shaping and delivery of client engagements in alignment with EA’s subject matter expertise and values and client’s desired outcomes.

Our Principal Consultants manage complex engagements ranging from shorter term standalone assessment or professional development training work to multi-site, multi-year transformational work. Principal Consultants are the primary client-facing team member in these engagements, leading the engagement’s delivery as the subject matter expert in organizational change management and collaborating with other EA subject matter experts where needed to bring in additional project management and research expertise.

The Principal Consultant will be the first hire joining the Director of TA and Consulting and will be a full-time employee building out EA’s consulting services, internal consulting processes, and advising internal and external partners.

REMOTE

FULL TIME POSITION

Duties & Responsibilities

Principal Consultants report to EA's Director of Technical Assistance & Consulting.

Client Engagement & Relationship Management

Serve as a key point of contact with clients across workplace and higher education markets, liaising with senior and executive members of client teams to advance clients’ desired outcomes and scope of work with EA. Coordinate with other EA team members to create and leverage EA's research expertise and tools and resources to provide cutting-edge, evidence-based support to clients.
Translate strategies into concrete, actionable plans within the TA and Consulting service line and in consulting work across other service lines, as applies. Working with the Director of TA and Consulting, scope projects and coordinate efforts of additional team members.
Manage client relationships directly and work cross-functionally across teams to ensure project timelines are met and deliverables are successfully achieved for clients.
Communicate to a variety of audiences, including corporate leaders, faculty, and university administrators, as an effective spokesperson for EA's approach, process, and evidence base. Foster relationships at all levels, including with external executives at leading universities and companies. Clearly articulate the what, why, and how of the evidence-base to relevant parties, effectively and appropriately integrating EA evidence into consulting services.
Lead client delivery - Create aesthetically pleasing and informative deliverables to convey EA’s evidence base and outcomes of our work. Facilitate client meetings of various types, including alignment meetings, informational meetings, focus groups, professional development and interviews, etc.
Utilize subject matter expertise in organizational change management to shape and deliver EA’s evidence base to advance client goals. Use specialized knowledge to make recommendations regarding the way the work should be performed and can tailor change management approaches to meet the needs of individual(s) or context(s).
With the Director of TA and Consulting, lead efforts to continuously improve customer satisfaction, delivery design, and delivery efficiency with respect to resource allocation and cost effectiveness toward project outcomes.
With the Director of TA and Consulting, consult with and provide guidance to senior management and others working in/with EA on matters of technical assistance and consulting.

Project Planning & Management

In Projects without an additional Project Manager:

Serve in a project manager capacity by leading an interdepartmental team to complete an assigned project on time, to specifications, and with accuracy and efficiency. Assign and monitor completion of tasks executed by project team members including EA staff, senior leaders, and contracted experts, as applied.
Develop work plans with a timeline for project milestones and deliverables, map backwards to ensure all project activities can be accomplished on time.
Manage project budgets and make recommendations on engagement pricing and optimal ways to manage engagements.
Set interim deadlines for subtasks as needed to ensure project progress is consistent with overall timelines. Schedule and implement internal meeting schedules (project check-ins, monthly leadership-team updates) and prepare agendas, meeting notes, and project summaries.
Integrate tasks for completion by project team members into work plan / project management system (e.g., Clickup).
Monitor task progress and completion, keeping all EA project team members and stakeholders apprised of approaching deadlines for project milestones and deliverables.
Conduct risk assessments; report identified risks to management; provide recommendations for mitigation of risk (including termination of the project if appropriate).
Prepare and maintain full set of tasks, status, owners, timelines and deliverables to track decision making, preserve learning, and ensure effective knowledge sharing over time and across projects.
Model clear and transparent communication, ensuring that all EA collaborators (e.g. staff, independent contractors) have appropriate and explicit information necessary to execute their roles and client points of contact are kept apprised of key milestones and updates for their role.

Business Development & External Communications

Serve as an ambassador for Equity Accelerator in the community to grow EA’s client portfolio and support clients broadly in their efforts to create and sustain a culture of growth.
Working with the Director of TA and Consulting, support market research and proposal development for prospective engagements.
Contribute to external facing communications including project materials (flyers, memos, resources), project reports, and academic presentations or publications as needed.
Identify and support strategic opportunities to promote EA’s brand, and share EA’s subject matter expertise through writing, speaking engagements, and social media. Present/facilitate and participate in conferences, workshops, and webinars hosted by Equity Accelerator and other industry groups.
Support follow up communications with potential clients to develop client relationships.

Mentorship & Influence

Influence consultative culture across the organization and responsible for contributing substantially to vision around consulting in the organization, in coordination with the Director of TA and Consulting.
Find ways to scale their impact across the team (via documentation, mentorship, training, tool/process creation, etc.) and to scale the ability of the organization to manage more engagements while maintaining quality.
Use knowledge of organizational strategy and goals, trends in the industry at large, and relevant competition to identify opportunities for the organization to take on new work or significantly streamline existing work.
This role is currently an individual contributor (IC) role, without direct people management responsibilities. Over time, the Principal Consultant may manage hiring and performance of direct reports. In these cases, develop a high-functioning and successful team. Lead team goal-setting and define deliverables and timelines.
A career mentor for other people, sought after for advice. Strong influencer of team culture through the enforcement and modeling of organizational values. Give actionable constructive feedback to help make the cross-functional teams working on consulting engagements better.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time.

Key Competencies

Equity at the center: Willing to engage with and help dismantle the role of social structures, systems, and environments in producing educational and workplace disparities by race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other identities. Willing to examine and identify potential for bias and actively works to minimize inequities in research, product development, team decisions, policies, and processes.

Initiative & Ownership: Plans ahead and finds alternative paths, when needed, to get to the finish line. Bounces back from setbacks. Holds a high bar even when things are hectic. Consistently consults with others, but can also propose solutions in the best interest of the project and get things rolling without much guidance. Delegates skillfully.

Interpersonal Relationships: Finds (and creates) opportunities to deepen connections and build authentic, mutual relationships with team members and project partners across lines of difference. Welcomes viewpoints that differ from one’s own, and is able to “sit with” discomfort when people express themselves in ways that are unfamiliar. Transparent and genuine. Seeks and engages well with feedback. Demonstrates enthusiasm for engaging with people, and meeting them where they are at. Empathizes with the communities we serve and work with, listens closely to understand needs or concerns, and collaborates with the project team to take steps based on that input. Responds to people in a timely manner. Takes pride in providing clear, helpful information. Follows through on commitments.

Manages a high volume of work with efficiency: Utilizes EA systems (or creates systems as needed) for keeping tasks from slipping through the cracks. Demonstrates strong time management skills and is able to juggle competing demands and prioritize without sacrificing quality. Plans ahead to make deadlines, and finds alternative paths, when needed, to get to the finish line. Bounces back from setbacks. Holds a high bar even when things are hectic. Asks for help when needed.

Organizational and Strategic Planning: Sees the EA TA and Consulting program at a high level and thinks strategically about how particular projects engage with our overall body of work and the field. Quickly grasps subtleties of complex client challenges and opportunities.

Adaptability and Problem Solving: Proactively asks for help, anticipates problems, and course-corrects where needed. Stays on top of multiple projects, plans backwards, anticipates obstacles, seeks solutions, identifies and involves stakeholders appropriately, uses resources wisely. Ready to take advantage of unexpected opportunities and address obstacles. Approaches work with a spirit of “yes” and readiness to adapt as things change, which they often do.

Qualifications & Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

3+ years of professional experience leading client engagements including scoping, delivering, and managing client or partner facing work, working directly with clients in a consultative capacity and overseeing the overall engagement’s success.
Experience overseeing the work of others or managing direct reports.
Superb relationship management, interpersonal, and communication (written and oral) skills. Comfort with engaging 1:1, in small groups, and facilitating large groups.
Experience in conducting consulting and overseeing consulting projects in either corporate and/or higher education contexts.
Experience supporting change management projects.
Ability to identify a diversity of client goals and needs, and develop engagements that support the achievement of those goals and needs.
Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively, both verbally and in writing, including building and delivering engaging, visually-appealing slide decks. EA’s offerings are based in academic research - the Principal Consultant should be comfortable reading peer-reviewed publications, collaborating with internal research staff (PhDs), and translating academic terminology and frameworks into tangible concepts that will resonate with corporate and administrative audiences.
Willingness to take on challenges, learn new subject matter and assume responsibility for major project tasks. Track record of achievement and producing results (rather than getting immersed in process), perseveres despite obstacles.
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail and time management; ability to project manage engagements they lead in the absence of an assigned project manager, prioritizing tasks and delegating where appropriate.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Strong use of and/or ability to quickly learn Google Suite, Excel / Sheets, Powerpoint / Slides, and project management software.
Openness to the ever-changing, dynamic environment of a start-up organization.
Ability to work collaboratively in a virtual setting.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience facilitating high stakes engagements with executives
Experience with technology and banking/finance industries
Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods
Formal change management training (through a related degree or certification) and/or project management certification (such as PMP, CAPM, etc)

Other Requirements

This position requires travel for in-person meetings or events, up to 25%.
Many roles at EA, including this one, will be required to undergo CITI training and certification for human subjects research - this can be acquired on the job. You will also be required to take an equity-focused project management training as part of onboarding and to participate in equity- and inclusion- focused training during the course of employment.
Some partners with whom we contract may require that staff successfully undergo a background investigation or security clearance as a condition of working on certain projects. If you are assigned to such a project, you will be required to obtain the requisite security clearance.

Authorization to Work in the U.S.

As part of employment, you will be asked to complete the US govt’s Form I-9 after hire, which involves presenting certain documents proving identity and employment eligibility.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Equity Accelerator is a project of the National Center for Civic Innovation (NCCI). NCCI and its affiliate, the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY) are equal opportunity employers. NCCI and FCNY do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other category protected by law.

At EA, we welcome and encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds who can bring unique perspectives to the table. If you feel this position would be a good fit for you, please apply even if you don’t meet all of the listed criteria exactly.

Salary & Benefits

This position offers an anticipated annual base salary range of $98,857-$103,780.

Full-time regular employees enjoy:

Fully Remote work - work from anywhere in the US
Flexible schedules that balance autonomy and collaboration
42 days of paid time off (vacation, PTO, and paid holidays) annually
15 days of sick leave, earned at 1.25 days month
Laptop computer for work tasks, plus additional $150 equipment stipend
$500 a year of discretionary professional development funds
Collaborative, genuinely awesome colleagues from a wide range of professional and personal backgrounds
Medical benefits for employees and family members
Dental insurance and vision discount plan
Healthcare flexible spending account
Dependent care assistance spending account
401k with 10% employer match at 5% employee contribution, beginning after 6 months of employment
Employer provided life insurance
EA provides a one-time bonus after 4 years of full-time employment, and a paid sabbatical of 4 weeks after 7 years of full-time employment, based on approval of the sabbatical project

To Apply

Interested? Please fill out the form here.

Note: you will not be able to save your draft so please plan to have a document link for your resume and cover letter ready before starting this application.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This position will remain open until filled. Our anticipated timeline is to conduct interviews in December and January, and make an offer for this position in early February 2025.