Vice President, Consulting
Department: Learning & Strategic Advisory
Reports To: Senior Vice President, Learning & Strategic Advisory
Location: Virtually in the US
Summary of Responsibilities
Under the direction of the Senior Vice President, the Vice President is responsible for the strategy, staffing, operation, and growth of the global consulting practice. As a core Catalyst offering, Consulting generates revenue, and attracts and retains supporters. The Vice President ensures the Consulting practice provides a sustainable revenue stream, supports retention, and furthers the Catalyst mission.
Essential Functions
Operations and Knowledge Building:
- Shape and execute the Consulting Services strategy, annual business plan, and meeting of global revenue goals.
- Develop and implement systems for collecting Consulting analytics to assess external impact and internal efficiency; monitor and address findings.
- Provide focus and structure to consulting “product” delivery in pre-defined service areas that support the organizational and departmental strategy.
- Collaborate cross-departmentally to ensure that consulting is strategically positioned and communicated within a holistic framework of Catalyst solutions.
- Build and contribute to broader Catalyst proposals that meet clients’ enterprise needs, presenting an integrated solution across departments to ensure efficiency and collaboration.
- Build the capacity of Catalyst staff to represent consulting and create business development opportunities.
- Manage a lean FTE department for efficiency. Identify and manage potential organizations/partnerships to serve clients, including individual sub-contractors.
- Upskill regional executive directors, ambassadors, and staff to sell and support regional consulting and train sub-contractors to provide consulting in a consistent format across the regions.
- Ensure consistency of approach and quality in consulting delivery across individual consultants and the regions.
- Identify emerging trends of supporter needs for learning content and, in collaboration with LPP, incubate workshop and tools to address those needs through fee-based client engagements that have significant potential to benefit other supporters.
- Develop and/or monitor cross-project staffing plans for department.
- Advise the SVP on departmental progress, challenges and talent management (employee development, advancement, and other personnel matters)
- Lead Consulting recruitment, selection, onboarding, and retention activities.
- Supervise Consulting Services staff and foster an inclusive team culture.
- Ensure the team has effective knowledge systems, administrative tools, talent management and development processes and other procedures.
- Ensure the team follows department and organizational policies and processes.
- Ensure insights from Consulting engagements contribute to Catalyst knowledge through Consulting: Research feedback loop and other means.
- Consult with Marketing/Communications in their development and execution of the Consulting Services marketing plan.
Consulting Services Client Engagement Teams:
- Lead and expand the global consulting services practice with a core team and a matrixed reporting structure across regions and departments.
- Oversee business development processes and activities by advising consultants and Executive Directors/regional leaders on the shaping of client engagements, and oversee or contribute to proposal development as needed, including determination of fees.
- Monitor the business development process; client and external provider contracting and invoicing processes; and engagement delivery to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
- Act as an engagement manager for large-scale projects and a high-level strategic advisor and thought partner to clients in shorter, focused engagements.
- As engagement manager, build client relationships, ensure project quality, and, as necessary, oversee project managers and provide training, coaching, problem solving, and staff support at all levels, including independent contractor consultants.
- Ensure high-quality client deliverables ranging from data collection, analysis, and synthesis to final reports and handover documents to facilitated executive sessions and strategy advisement.
- Present on a variety of topics including Catalyst Consulting Services analytic insights on client data and diversity and inclusion practices to client senior-level executives.
Catalyst Leader:
- Serve as internal and external expert and speaker for knowledge and perspective on the Catalyst consultative approach, culture change processes, and other areas of expertise.
- At the direction of or in collaboration with the Senior Vice President, support design of strategies to develop new supporters and better serve existing supporters, especially in target geographies and industries.
- Provide thought partnership and decision support to Catalyst leaders and Boards on operational and strategic matters related to Consulting, the holistic services model, and/or other areas of expertise.
- Role model inclusive leadership and the Catalyst values.
- Champion Catalyst-wide priorities and create synergies across departments, functions, and geographies.
Knowledge and Skills
- Strong management abilities, including leadership orientation, project planning, staff development, and problem-solving ability.
- Ability to lead and participate in a highly team-oriented environment and matrixed organization.
- Ability to influence and work collaboratively internally and externally.
- Strong analytic skills and ability to work with qualitative and quantitative data.
- Ability to conceptualize systems/processes/products.
- Strategic thinking and the ability to recognize and leverage opportunities related to Catalyst’s mission.
- Ability to convey expert knowledge within several areas of relevant diversity and inclusion expertise.
- Change management and business knowledge and experience.
- Personal computer literacy in a networked Windows environment.
Working Conditions
- Tight deadlines and multiple priorities.
- Travel (up to 40%)
- Work with confidential issues and data.
- Team structure.
- Multiple reporting relationships.
Education and Experience Requirements
This position requires a Master’s degree or other advanced degree and at least ten (10) years of internal or external consulting or human resources, including a minimum of three years of diversity and/or inclusive talent management experience. This position requires an accomplished executive who can work effectively with Catalyst’s corporate and community constituencies, and is skilled at strategic planning, applied research, product management, and market development.
How to Apply
Please email your resume, cover letter and desired salary to jobs@catalyst.org with “Vice President, Consulting” in the subject line. Due to the large number of applicants, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.