Change Management Lead

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)•Atlanta, GA

About The Position

CLA is a top 10 national professional services firm dedicated to creating opportunities for clients, employees, and communities. We are seeking a dynamic and forward-thinking Change Management Lead to spearhead change management strategy and execution for CLA's transformation initiatives. This role is crucial for preparing the firm for, adopting, and sustaining change by aligning change strategy, stakeholder engagement, communications, readiness, training, adoption, and sustainment activities with business outcomes. The Change Management Lead will partner with various leaders and teams to ensure change impacts are understood and managed throughout the transformation lifecycle, requiring strong leadership, business acumen, change management expertise, stakeholder influence, and the ability to guide teams through complex, cross-functional change.

Requirements

7 years' experience in project management and/or change management
Bachelor's degree is required. Combination of relevant experience, education, and training may be accepted in lieu of degree.
Strong knowledge of change management principles, methodologies, tools, and best practices.
Strong business acumen and ability to connect change strategy to firm priorities and transformation outcomes.
Ability to lead through ambiguity and guide teams through complex, cross-functional change.
Strong stakeholder management, influence, facilitation, and executive communication skills.
Ability to assess change impacts, readiness needs, resistance risks, adoption barriers, and sustainment needs.
Ability to develop change strategies that are practical, business-focused, and aligned to project and transformation goals.
Strong leadership, coaching, feedback, and team development skills.
Ability to prepare clear, leadership-ready updates, recommendations, and decision-support materials.
Ability to manage multiple initiatives, priorities, stakeholders, and timelines.
Strong judgment, accountability, follow-through, and ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, organizational development, change management, human resources, project management, strategy, or related field preferred.
8+ years of experience in change management, transformation, organizational development, business readiness, strategy, or related work preferred
Experience leading change management for complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives preferred
Experience developing change strategies, stakeholder impact assessments, communication plans, readiness plans, training support plans, adoption plans, and sustainment approaches preferred
Experience coaching or leading change professionals, project teams, or cross-functional stakeholders preferred
Experience partnering with senior leaders and business stakeholders to influence decisions, manage risks, and support adoption preferred
Experience working in a professional service, matrixed, or enterprise transformation environment preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead change management strategy for transformation initiatives, including stakeholder impact, readiness, communications, adoption, training, resistance, and sustainment planning.
Partner with business navigation and transformation leaders to identify change impacts, risks, stakeholder needs, and readiness considerations early in the process.
Guide project teams and business leaders in understanding the people-side impact of change and what is needed to support adoption.
Develop and oversee change plans, communication strategies, readiness plans, stakeholder engagement approaches, and adoption support.
Lead and coach change seniors and change associates in building change capability and delivering high-quality change work.
Provide direction, feedback, and action plans to support team member development and performance.
Partner with service line and functional leaders to align change activities to business priorities, timing, capacity, and readiness.
Identify change saturation, competing priorities, resistance themes, adoption risks, and stakeholder concerns that may impact success.
Prepare leadership-ready updates, recommendations, and decision-support materials related to change readiness, adoption, risks, and business impact.
Support governance, roadmap, and transformation discussions by bringing a change management lens to planning and decision-making.
Monitor change effectiveness and recommend adjustments to improve readiness, adoption, sustainment, and value realization.
Strengthen change management processes, tools, templates, and ways of working across the team.