Associate Consultant

Education First Consulting

11h•$81,000 - $87,600•Remote

About The Position

Education First is seeking an early- to mid-career professional to join our consulting team as an Associate Consultant. As a member of the Accelerating Academic Coherence home team, the Associate Consultant will support clients in implementing high-quality, rigorous instructional systems (e.g., materials and professional learning) and aligned, coherent assessment practices that provide clear, actionable data. In this role, the Associate Consultant will lead research workstreams, manage research project plans and conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses that inform high-impact client deliverables. Associate Consultants synthesize complex findings into clear, compelling insights for internal and external stakeholders and often serve as content leads on key topics that shape client-facing materials. Reporting to the Principal and Senior Director of Consulting Practice, Associate Consultants manage discrete workstreams within projects and are accountable for delivering high-quality, client-ready products.

Requirements

You have experience with research, project management and/or program management in a research, policy, organizational development, philanthropy, nonprofit, government, education consulting, public affairs, or other relevant role
You are committed to the vision of a more equitable education system in the U.S. and have demonstrated understanding of current K12 education reform issues, particularly assessments and the use of high-quality instructional materials
You are a strong, confident communicator with excellent written and verbal communication skills and are highly-skilled in translating and synthesizing complex topics such as technical literature and quantitative research into a clear storyline for varied audiences
You have strong qualitative research skills and experience, including interview and focus group analyses, landscape scans, literature reviews, legislative/policy analysis and/or synthesis
You enjoy leading convenings, collaboratives, communities of practice, networks or member services with varying groups of stakeholders to help them seek strategic common ground and learn from one another
You have strong problem-solving skills, can lead through ambiguity and are willing to ask difficult questions
You are a strong project manager with excellent time-management skills who is self-motivated and results oriented

Nice To Haves

Understanding of equitable design processes

Responsibilities

Serve as lead researcher on project teams
Develop research work plans and serve as research lead on project teams, ensuring client deliverables meet basic research standards and Education First’s style guide
Develop interview protocols, administer and analyze surveys, and facilitate interviews and focus groups
Gather, organize and synthesize data from surveys, desk research, interviews and focus groups utilizing equity-centered practices to bring diverse perspectives and a broader range of data from multiple sources in order to generate ideas and narratives for landscape scans to advance team and client decisions
Leverage research tools such as Qualtrics, Atlas.ti, Gemini and other AI tools to execute research activities and produce high-quality deliverables
Lead key portions of projects such as particular work streams or work groups
Develop and collaborate with project managers to create and finalize “client-ready” PowerPoint presentations, policy memos, briefs, reports, strategy documents and other products drawing from documentation and research work
Coordinate client and project commitments
Design and facilitate client meetings and internal project team meetings
Cultivate relationships with clients and your professional network on behalf of the firm
Engage and build on ongoing strategy
Build advanced knowledge of P-16 education policy issues by staying up-to-date on legislation and research impacting the field, particularly related to assessments and high-quality instructional materials
Mentor and create shared learning experiences for project team members to build their content expertise
Engage in team problem solving by generating new ideas and sharing evolving trends and best practices