Position Summary: MI’s work includes conducting needs assessments, facilitating planning, and supporting partners to implement and continuously improve strategies that increase equitable experiences and outcomes for all students. We also support the development and implementation of district school improvement zones, cross-district school improvement networks and state-wide school improvement strategies.
At Mass Insight, a Senior Consultant leads client engagements which will require interacting with leaders at multiple levels - school, district, and state. This position will be an integral member and leader of the School Improvement team and expected to take on major responsibilities quickly. As most secured client engagements focus on transformational efforts at both a school and systems level, this position may manage a team that will play a significant role OR play a significant individual contributor role in implementing several school-wide improvement efforts targeted at the school level but also the larger infrastructure of a school system. We also often partner with state education agencies to assess, articulate, and improve strategy for supporting district and school-level effectiveness and improvement.
Within 12 months in the role, a new Senior Consultant on the MI team will typically be able to take on the buckets of work listed below:
Project and People Management
● Manage a team or play a role as a significant individual contributor on major client engagements
● Hold decision-making over most elements of a client engagement from the scoping phase to completion
● Navigate nuances across stakeholders, advocate for and allocate the appropriate team resources, and manage the overall success of projects
● Leverage internal organizational resources to strategically drive results towards contract and organizational outcomes
● Develop, manage, and report on project budgets
Client Engagement & Satisfaction
● Manage the most executive relationships in the client space (superintendent, commissioner, other C-suite)
● Co-lead the management of all scope and consulting deliverables and projects which includes:
○ Build, lead, and/or sustain strategy development
○ Execute research and analysis to support strategic and tactical decisions
○ Design, implement, and/or execute support in a wide variety of projects, including but not limited to leadership recruitment and onboarding, design of new district processes and business systems, communication strategies, policy development, etc.
● Secures client engagement renewals and proposes/positions new services to existing clients (when appropriate)
Internal Leadership
● Design and facilitate significant components of staff learning and meetings (e.g. team step backs, Quarterly, all staff, department meetings, etc.)
Qualifications
Top candidates for this role must have:
● 7+ years relevant experience
● Bachelor’s degree
● Willingness to travel 1-2x per month on average
● Experience working in or with schools and/or school systems and/or the orgs that support schools (districts, state agencies, nonprofits, charter management orgs, etc.)
● Significant subject matter expertise in school leadership, instruction, and/or facilitating growth of partners with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion
Preferred candidates will:
● Possess consulting experience
● Hold an advanced degree in related field
● Have 3+ years of management experience
Mass Insight Development Framework
Mass Insight has identified a set of Core Competencies that it expects to see in all staff members. Candidates for the analyst position will have multiple opportunities to showcase their skills and mindsets and how they align with the expectations for someone in this role. We commit to using what we learn during the interview process to co-create an onboarding and development plan with our new team members.
Core Competencies
Senior Consultant Skills and Mindsets
Champions our theory of action
● Understands and helps others to understand how our work can advance each element of the T of A with both Mi staff and partners
● Organizes and leads work to implement all elements of our theory of action
Believes in and grows people
● Energizes others through a sense of optimism and commitment to the work
● Intentionally builds the skills and knowledge of both Mi staff and partners
● Empowers staff to lead their work with autonomy
● Effectively coaches Mi staff to meet individual developmental goals
● Provides feedback to other staff in a positive and constructive manner
Promotes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness
● Interacts in both internal and partner relationships with a high level of self-awareness, recognizing how identity can impact perception and action
● Uses facilitation techniques to promote honest dialogue and expression of diverse, at times dissenting, perspectives to advance the work
● Supports an inclusive team culture that encourages diverse perspectives and innovative thinking
● Cultivates, develops, and retains diverse and skilled staff
● Identifies and challenges cultural assumptions at the individual, team, and organizational levels
Establishes partner trust
● Develops trusted advisor relationships with partners that extend beyond individual projects
● Understands partner challenges and anticipates partner needs
● Consistently balances candor and transparency without antagonizing the partner
● Able to negotiate scopes of work/contracts that are true to both the theory of action and our commitment to use a design-based approach to meet partner needs
Manages projects to impact in spite of ambiguity
● Makes effective decisions and prioritizes the work of self and/or team members based on partner and contract needs.
● Comfortable adapting to change and helps teammates manage their response.
● Responsible for assisting both project team and partner site with maintaining focus on key objectives, while being responsive to on the ground complexities
Effectively Works as a Team Player
● Effectively manages both team process and products to meet MI and partner goals
● Energizes others through a sense of optimism and commitment to the work.
● Provides recognition to teammates for behaviors that support and advance the work
● Establishes positive and productive team norms, models those norms and holds team accountable for adhering to them
Solves Complex Problems Systematically
● Organizes projects to identify and address root causes
● Provides strong solutions to all problems related to contract
● Leads processes that solve partner and team problems
Continuously Builds Both Education & Specific Subject Matter Expertise
● Has a solid and growing understanding of education reform (history, current research, emerging topics) and draws connections to Mi’s work
● Able to make comparisons and place Mi’s work in national context for partners and team members
Communicates Effectively
● Actively listens and efficiently gathers and organizes relevant information
● Adjusts communication style depending on the audience and purpose
● Contributes to Mi’s knowledge and outreach through publications and speaking
● Capably represents Mi with partners and other stakeholders
Facilitates Effectively
● Effectively facilitates problem-solving, decision-making, and action-planning meetings with partners.
● Appropriately uses team members in facilitating partner meeting
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