Senior Consultant (Strategy)

Potomac Haven Inc • Mclean, VA

10d • Onsite

About The Position

Potomac Haven is a purpose-driven professional services firm dedicated to providing digital transformation and program support services for a range of diverse federal program missions. Our focus extends across the intersections of national security, healthcare financial services and logistics programs.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Consultant to serve as the principal high-level advisor for a multiyear federal contract. The purpose of this contract is to serve the DHS Coast Guard, Business Operations Division and its associated business lines, which include Business Operations, Pay and Personnel Center, Community Services Command, Enlisted Personnel Management, Officer Personnel Management, Personnel Support, Reserve Personnel Management, and Civilian Personnel Management. The scope of work for this project encompasses a broad range of activities to facilitate organizational objectives, including but not limited to change management, strategic communications, strategic planning, business transformation, initiative management, governance support, software maintenance, and analytical services.
This is a Key Personnel role, and the key responsibilities are to keep the overall engagement focused on strategic objectives, mentor the team on best practices, and act as a linchpin between the contractor’s work and the PSC’s leadership vision. In this role, you will “guide executive-level initiatives” and provide overall direction across all project tasks. This includes steering program level strategic planning efforts and ensuring alignment with DHS and Coast Guard leadership directives, advising on major change management and business transformation activities, and overseeing the integration of multiple task areas so that change initiatives, strategic plans, and process improvements all support the Coast Guard Personnel Service Center's (PSC’s) mission and senior leadership priorities. You will often lead facilitation of senior-level strategy sessions and reviews high-level deliverables (such as updated strategic plans or performance reports) before they are presented to PSC leadership, providing quality assurance and executive-level perspective. Additionally, the Senior Consultant offers executive coaching to PSC leaders and the contractor project team, leveraging extensive experience in project management, business processes, and organizational change to advise on decision-making and to ensure that the support services are delivered at a high standard. Additional Responsibilities to include,

Strategic Planning and Analysis
Provide enterprise-level guidance and oversight for PSC’s strategic planning efforts, ensuring that all planning activities align with higher-level Coast Guard and DHS strategies and directives.
Steer the integration of performance management into strategic planning – ensuring that as PSC updates its strategic goals and objectives, accompanying performance metrics and monitoring tools are in place to track progress toward those goals.
Guide and coordinate the involvement of PSC’s various sub-commands in the strategic planning process so that their individual plans and initiatives support the overarching PSC strategy, yielding a cohesive enterprise plan.
Updating the PSC Strategic Plan
Direct the updating of the PSC Strategic Plan whenever significant new guidance or policy directives are issued by DHS or Coast Guard senior leadership, ensuring PSC’s strategy remains current.
Oversee or review environmental scans and analyses of alternatives to inform strategic choices, assessing how changes in the operating environment or policy landscape should be reflected in PSC’s strategic direction.
Ensure that revised PSC strategic objectives and initiatives maintain alignment with higher-level DHS and Coast Guard strategies (e.g., Commandant’s Direction, DHS Strategic Plan), so that PSC’s plan supports broader organizational goals.
Facilitating Senior-Level Strategy Sessions
Organize and lead senior leadership strategy sessions (e.g., off-site workshops, high-level planning meetings), preparing agendas, decision briefs, and after-action reports to guide discussions among PSC senior leaders.
Use these sessions to help leadership refine PSC’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives, ensuring that there is clarity and consensus on the strategic direction and that it is documented for the strategic plan.
Capture outcomes of strategy sessions – including updated goals or new strategic initiatives – and integrate these decisions into the evolving strategic plan and communication materials for broader organizational awareness.
Strategic Planning Support
Ensure all elements of PSC’s strategic framework (mission, vision, goals, objectives, strategies) are cohesively developed and linked. Provide high-level direction to maintain consistency and alignment among these elements in the Strategic Plan.
Advise on aligning PSC’s investments in personnel, technology, and resources with the strategic plan, so that budgeting and resource decisions support the achievement of strategic objectives.
Help articulate the strategic vision in concrete terms by defining corresponding business and performance measures, which will be used to gauge progress toward the vision and goals over time.
Business and Project Management Support
Serve as a senior advisor ensuring that all contractor-provided support (communications, project management, strategic planning, etc.) is closely aligned with Coast Guard Senior Leader and DHS priorities. This involves understanding high-level directives and guiding the team to focus on initiatives that advance those directives.
Oversee the design and initiation of internal PSC communications and program management activities that better align internal PSC efforts with each other and with broader Coast Guard missions. Break down silos by promoting integrated approaches and information-sharing among different PSC departments.
Support the development, measurement, and communication of PSC strategic plans (in coordination with other consultants) and ensure these plans are effectively rolled out. Monitor the execution of strategic initiatives, using performance data to communicate progress and adjust actions as necessary.
Provide high-level project management support in all areas that are not inherently governmental functions – acting as a force multiplier for PSC leadership by handling administrative and analytical tasks, while ensuring that actual decision-making and policy-setting remain with government officials.

Requirements

• Must have at minimum a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field, along with 7 years of relevant experience (or 5 years of experience if the candidate holds a Master’s or higher degree).
• Must have an active Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or a DHS Level II (mid-level) Program/Project Management certification, or an equivalent credential, as evidence of advanced project management expertise.
• Proficient in Microsoft Windows (including the Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Access, Python, Office365 and SharePoint).
• Should possess demonstrated experience in business process re-engineering and high-level project integration.
• Must be stable on the project (serving for the contract’s duration barring exceptional circumstances) and must be readily available to the COR and Government leadership.
• Ability to be on call during working hours and able to respond to technical requests within 4 hours, underscoring the need for strong communication and responsiveness.
• Work Schedule: 8-hour shift during normal business hours of 8:30 am – 5 pm EST Monday to Friday
• Place of performance: Customer site in Washington, DC

Responsibilities

• Provide enterprise-level guidance and oversight for PSC’s strategic planning efforts, ensuring that all planning activities align with higher-level Coast Guard and DHS strategies and directives.
• Steer the integration of performance management into strategic planning – ensuring that as PSC updates its strategic goals and objectives, accompanying performance metrics and monitoring tools are in place to track progress toward those goals.
• Guide and coordinate the involvement of PSC’s various sub-commands in the strategic planning process so that their individual plans and initiatives support the overarching PSC strategy, yielding a cohesive enterprise plan.
• Direct the updating of the PSC Strategic Plan whenever significant new guidance or policy directives are issued by DHS or Coast Guard senior leadership, ensuring PSC’s strategy remains current.
• Oversee or review environmental scans and analyses of alternatives to inform strategic choices, assessing how changes in the operating environment or policy landscape should be reflected in PSC’s strategic direction.
• Ensure that revised PSC strategic objectives and initiatives maintain alignment with higher-level DHS and Coast Guard strategies (e.g., Commandant’s Direction, DHS Strategic Plan), so that PSC’s plan supports broader organizational goals.
• Organize and lead senior leadership strategy sessions (e.g., off-site workshops, high-level planning meetings), preparing agendas, decision briefs, and after-action reports to guide discussions among PSC senior leaders.
• Use these sessions to help leadership refine PSC’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives, ensuring that there is clarity and consensus on the strategic direction and that it is documented for the strategic plan.
• Capture outcomes of strategy sessions – including updated goals or new strategic initiatives – and integrate these decisions into the evolving strategic plan and communication materials for broader organizational awareness.
• Ensure all elements of PSC’s strategic framework (mission, vision, goals, objectives, strategies) are cohesively developed and linked. Provide high-level direction to maintain consistency and alignment among these elements in the Strategic Plan.
• Advise on aligning PSC’s investments in personnel, technology, and resources with the strategic plan, so that budgeting and resource decisions support the achievement of strategic objectives.
• Help articulate the strategic vision in concrete terms by defining corresponding business and performance measures, which will be used to gauge progress toward the vision and goals over time.
• Serve as a senior advisor ensuring that all contractor-provided support (communications, project management, strategic planning, etc.) is closely aligned with Coast Guard Senior Leader and DHS priorities. This involves understanding high-level directives and guiding the team to focus on initiatives that advance those directives.
• Oversee the design and initiation of internal PSC communications and program management activities that better align internal PSC efforts with each other and with broader Coast Guard missions. Break down silos by promoting integrated approaches and information-sharing among different PSC departments.
• Support the development, measurement, and communication of PSC strategic plans (in coordination with other consultants) and ensure these plans are effectively rolled out. Monitor the execution of strategic initiatives, using performance data to communicate progress and adjust actions as necessary.
• Provide high-level project management support in all areas that are not inherently governmental functions – acting as a force multiplier for PSC leadership by handling administrative and analytical tasks, while ensuring that actual decision-making and policy-setting remain with government officials.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health (i.e., medical, dental, vision) insurance via Anthem; Potomac Haven subsidizes 70% of employee healthcare premiums
• Simple IRA and corporate match
• Educational, training, and certification assistance
• Complimentary short- and long-term disability insurance
• Three weeks paid time off; all federal holidays

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior