Change Management Consultant

Northwestern Mutual•Franklin, WI

1d•$89,360 - $154,200

About The Position

Leads small to medium change management efforts. Focuses on the people side of change and influencing behavior, including efforts that involve changes to people, processes, technology and/or culture, to realize business outcomes and benefits. Creates an integrated approach and implements change management, communication, and training plans that minimize employee/field resistance and maximize engagement to drive adoption of change. Collaborates with leaders, stakeholders, sponsors, and project teams to develop overall plans for navigating change, identifying the scope and impact of change.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Communication, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience, with at least 2 years' experience leading medium to large change management efforts.
In-depth understanding of how people go through change and the change process.
Experience and knowledge of change management principles and methodologies.
Strong communication and stakeholder management skills to influence others and ability to articulate vision, strategy and solutions that best meet business objectives.
Familiarity with project management approaches, tools, and phases of the project lifecycle.
Entrepreneurial mindset that supports the ability to lead in new and ambiguous situations.
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams on transformation efforts and projects of significant scope required. Ability to build relationships and effectively execute in a collaborative and matrixed environment.
Excellent active listening, root cause identification, and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

Applies NM change methodology and process to deliver the people side of change that is required to achieve our desired business outcomes.
Identify potential people-related risks and anticipated points of resistance and develop and recommend specific plans to mitigate or address the concerns.
Develop change management plans and activities, including training, communication, and sponsorship. Design and implement actionable and targeted change plans to meet deliverables and achieve stated objectives, using established tools and techniques. Guide others to execute the plans, to drive adoption and optimize business benefits.
Manage potential impact of changes to people, process, technology, organization, and culture.
Partner with project and business leadership to identify scope and impact of change.
Identify and escalate change plan gaps or deficiencies within projects or business group and provide updates to leaders as needed.
Educate, influence, align, and coach sponsors, leaders, and project teams to drive effective change, manage resistance, and optimize the success of the project.
Ensure change strategy and ownership is in place and functioning for the full duration of the change adoption phase to realize stated business outcomes.
In partnership with the enterprise change COE, be an active member of the change community to advance change competencies of the company.
Adopt and promote common NM enterprise-wide change process, methodology and language.
Create and manage measurement systems for change success, e.g., adoption, utilization, performance standards, etc.