Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives

ILO Group

1d•$145,000 - $160,000•Remote

About The Position

ILO Group is a women-owned education strategy and policy firm that supports school districts and states in executing their highest-priority efforts. They work as strategic partners, operating side-by-side with educators, experts, and government partners. Their work spans leadership development, project management, and systems transformation, enabling education leaders to drive change. In addition to technical assistance, they power partnerships like Women Leading Ed and The Forum for Educational Leadership. This role seeks a Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives to serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and senior leadership. The individual will lead high-priority strategic initiatives, drive complex cross-functional projects, and provide executive-level problem-solving and analytical capacity. As part of the Office of the CEO, this role will advance strategic initiatives, support executive decision-making, and contribute to the organization's growth. The ideal candidate combines analytical rigor with an entrepreneurial mindset, is willing to shape strategy, and produce necessary analyses and deliverables. This person brings structure to ambiguity, translates complex challenges into actionable plans, and drives work from concept through execution.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, business operations, strategic planning, or similarly rigorous and fast-paced environments.
Demonstrated ability to move seamlessly between strategic analysis and hands-on execution, translating recommendations into measurable outcomes.
Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex strategic projects from problem definition through implementation.
Exceptional executive communication skills, including development of executive- level presentations, recommendations, and decision-making materials.
Strong business judgment and ability to quickly understand complex organizational, financial, and strategic issues.
Exceptional organizational, project management, and prioritization skills.
Experience influencing senior leaders and driving execution without direct authority.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, including the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources and translate it into actionable insights.
Comfort operating in ambiguity, navigating competing priorities, and adapting to evolving organizational needs.
Strong judgment, discretion, and professionalism when handling confidential and sensitive information.
Experience building systems, processes, trackers, and operating mechanisms that improve visibility, accountability, and organizational effectiveness.
Comfort using AI tools to support drafting, synthesis, analysis, research, planning, and productivity.

Nice To Haves

Experience at a top-tier consulting firm strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Serve as a trusted thought partner and strategic advisor to the CEO and senior leadership team, translating the CEO's priorities and strategic initiatives into clear workflows, decision points, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
Produce executive-level presentations, strategy documents, research, and financial analyses that synthesize complex information into clear recommendations, decision points, and actionable next steps.
Prepare briefing materials, meeting agendas, talking points, and follow-up plans to support executive decision-making and stakeholder engagement.
Lead special projects that require high judgment, discretion, and rapid execution, especially those that cut across functions or do not sit neatly within one department.
Support strategic partnerships, business development, fundraising, and growth initiatives by coordinating priorities, tracking opportunities, and ensuring follow-through on key commitments.
Lead execution of the organization's strategic plan by translating priorities into actionable workplans, coordinating implementation across teams, tracking progress against milestones, and ensuring sustained focus on the highest-impact goals.
Anticipate risks, dependencies, and capacity constraints, proactively surfacing issues and recommending practical solutions before they affect execution.
Represent senior leadership in internal and external meetings as appropriate, ensuring alignment, follow-through, and clear communication across stakeholders.
Translate ambiguous problems into structured workplans, analyses, recommendations, and measurable outcomes.
Conduct market research, competitive assessments, stakeholder analyses, and strategic planning exercises.
Draft, revise, and refine deliverables through multiple iterations, incorporating stakeholder feedback and ensuring final outputs are high quality and actionable.
Independently manage complex cross-functional projects that may not have a natural organizational owner.
Step into underdeveloped or under-owned workstreams, quickly assessing needs and creating a path forward.
Own critical workstreams during periods of growth, change, or heightened organizational demand, ensuring momentum and execution against key priorities.
Drive accountability and execution across critical initiatives while maintaining a focus on outcomes and impact.
Own and strengthen the operating rhythm of executive leadership, including strategic planning processes, leadership meetings, and organizational priority setting.
Build and maintain scalable systems, processes, and tools that provide visibility into organizational priorities, key decisions, strategic initiatives, and critical commitments and reduce friction as the organization grows.
Anticipate risks, dependencies, capacity constraints, bottlenecks, and implementation challenges, proactively surfacing issues and recommending practical solutions before they affect execution.
Move fluidly between strategic thinking and hands-on execution, translating ideas into action and owning outcomes from concept to completion.
Serve as a connector across teams and leaders, ensuring alignment, communication, and execution across high-priority initiatives.
Ensure leaders have the information, context, and visibility needed to make informed decisions.