Principal - Active Secret/Top Secret Clearance Required

The Clearing, Inc. • Washington, DC

105d • $120,000 - $162,000

About The Position

Principals at The Clearing lead complex, medium to large-scale projects or portfolios, owning responsibility for overall project outcomes, client satisfaction, and their team’s experience. They demonstrate strong business development capabilities, driving both organic growth and net new business growth. Principals actively contribute to building internal capacity, including mentoring consultants across all levels and strengthening the firm’s consulting capabilities. Recognized as organizational leaders, they provide subject matter expertise and strategic guidance across engagements. Principals cultivate trusted client relationships and ensure project and portfolio growth align with The Clearing’s corporate strategy and annual priorities.

Requirements

• An active DoD Secret clearance (or higher)
• Bachelor’s degree
• Eight (8) + years of experience in management consulting or another professional service or client-facing environment
• Proven success leading medium to large-scale, complex projects, including client relationship management, team leadership, talent development, and resource management responsibilities
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated attention to detail, organization, and time management
• Exceptional communication skills, including strong business writing and verbal communication; experience with strategic communications is highly desirable
• Flexible, adaptive mindset with the ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-stakes, and often ambiguous client environments
• Willing and able to travel to client sites within the Washington, DC, and Baltimore metro areas; occasional travel beyond these regions (up to 5%) may be required
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States, now and in the future, without the need for current or future visa sponsorship

Nice To Haves

• Change management experience
• Strategic planning experience
• Program management experience
• Organizational design experience
• PMP certification
• Change Management certification (ex.: Prosci)

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage complex, medium to large-scale projects, or a portfolio of projects, ensuring timely, on-budget delivery aligned with scope and quality expectations
• Own accountability for project outcomes, aligning work to client goals, offering strategic guidance, and building trust-based client relationships
• Oversee project financials, ensuring project financial targets are met or exceeded; guide team members managing task-level budgets to support company profitability
• Design and implement both short- and long-term project plans, aligning with client needs and strategic objectives
• Kickoff, manage, and close contracts, ensuring compliance with all contractual requirements; Coach others in navigating government contracting processes, accelerating the path from contract award to project execution
• Produce high-quality, client-facing deliverables, applying attention to detail, strong written communication, and project quality standards; provide content review and feedback using past experiences, expertise, and understanding of client environment to guide teammates
• Facilitate client meetings, effectively guiding discussions to achieve desired client and project outcomes
• Navigate challenging team or client dynamics, driving teams toward high performance by managing risk, adapting to change, and making critical course corrections
• Lead high-impact proposals, serving as lead writer or proposal manager while mentoring junior staff in capture strategy and proposal development
• Drive market visibility, producing external-facing thought leadership (e.g., blogs, one-pagers) and engaging in strategic industry events
• Lead and support business growth efforts, generating and closing new business opportunities while managing the full capture, proposal, and contracting lifecycle
• Advance The Clearing’s methodologies and solutions, continuously improving offerings and developing scalable, high-demand solution packages across delivery, marketing, and sales
• Provide clear team direction and accountability, establishing performance standards, supporting goal setting, and actively managing team performance
• Foster inclusion and belonging, recognizing and leveraging individual strengths to create a collaborative and high-trust team environment
• Mentor junior project leads, helping them build and sustain high-performing teams that balance client satisfaction, team health, and financial outcomes
• Translate firm strategy into actionable goals, guiding teams to align daily work with The Clearing’s broader vision and priorities

Benefits

• The projected annual salary range for this position is between $120,000 and $162,000
• Employees are eligible to participate in The Clearing's robust benefits programs, including our incentive compensation (bonus) programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees