Associate Director, Strategic Consulting

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.

At EAB, we serve not only our partner institutions but each other—that's why we are always working to make sure our employees love their jobs and are invested in their communities. See how we've been recognized for this dedication to our employees by checking out our recent awards.

For more information, visit our Careers page.

The Role in Brief:

Associate Director, Strategic Consulting

EAB is actively expanding its portfolio of technology and service solutions. We are seeking an Associate Director to manage projects and partners within our Strategic Consulting Practice and Moon Shot for Social and Economic Mobility initiative. Collectively, this work focuses on identifying evidence-based practices or structures to improve retention, graduation, and economic mobility for all students. The role involves close collaboration with EAB’s Student Success technology portfolio.

The Associate Director will work with individual institutions and/or regional ecosystems to assess, recommend, and/or implement the following:

• Institution-wide student success practices that improve outcomes for all students or improve time to degree
• Organizational structures that enable cross-institutional collaboration and sustainable student success efforts
• Leadership development and change management strategies that build institutional capacity for transformation
• Student success technology implementation and utilization to drive measurable impact

The Associate Director will report to the Moon Shot Principal Consultant. The ideal candidate demonstrates strong facilitation, writing, and communication skills; experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects; a commitment to promoting equity in education.

This position may be based in Washington, D.C. or Richmond, VA.

Primary Responsibilities:

Serve as the lead consultant for a portfolio of Student Success Consulting projects that could include but are not limited to:

Strategic Consulting (70% of time)

• Develop and execute project plans aligned with impact objectives—covering an array of student success best practices, organizational structure and impact assessment, change management strategies, and/or leadership training
• Set agendas for and facilitate executive-level discussions, conduct a wide array of diagnostics interviews and focus groups to analyze issues and opportunities to ultimately advance institutional and regional student success practices
• Manage all aspects of consulting partnerships, including leadership support and technical assistance

Moon Shot (30% of time)

• Develop and execute project plans aligned with impact objectives— student success strategy assessment and implementation, metric and measurement alignment, and change management support
• Support implementation of best practice teams on a myriad of student success strategies
• Engage partners in cross-ecosystem events and learning experiences, such as webinars, communities of practice, summits, and learning cohorts

Program Support

In partnership with other members of Student Success Consulting teams and the broader Partner Success team at EAB:

• Iterate on current program design to integrate new best practices, change management principles, and research insights
• Support cross-institutional partner experiences through presentations, facilitation, and project management—for example, leading webinars or learning sessions
• Aid in the design and implementation of new student success consulting endeavors

Collaborate with key EAB stakeholders, including but not limited to:

• EAB Principals, Research Strategic Leaders, Enrollment Consultants, Navigate and Starfish Strategic Leaders, Transfer Portal and Edify Consultants, Account Management, and Sales team members

Areas of collaboration may include:

• Aligning data governance and institutional definitions
• Coordinating implementation timelines across institutions to achieve shared goals
• Identifying institutional needs and recommendations
• Developing strategies and priorities related to institutional success and platform utilization
• Sharing regular updates, documentation, and insights across teams

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience
• Willingness to travel up to 30% (valid driver’s license required)
• Demonstrates at least three of the following:

• Interest and experience in higher education student success and workforce development, ideally through an equity lens
• Experience with basic data analysis using tools such as Microsoft Excel
• Proven ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and relationships
• Intellectual curiosity, persistence, and creativity in problem-solving
• Strong verbal presentation and facilitation skills as well as clear and concise writing skills for executive audiences
• Ability to design and manage complex projects with multiple stakeholders
• Strong time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines independently
• Team-oriented mindset with a high degree of self-sufficiency and motivation

Ideal Qualifications:

• Experience working in higher education
• Demonstrates at least three of the following:

• Client management and service experience, preferably in a consulting or partnership context
• Ability to create and present compelling, data-informed stories grounded in best-practice research
• Experience working with data sets in an education or business setting
• Proficiency with tools such as Excel, Tableau, or other data visualization and analysis platforms

• Commitment to embracing a continual learning environment and contributing to a dynamic and welcoming culture of fairness, authenticity, and belonging in support of EAB’s mission, values, and aspiration

If you’ve reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome new perspectives and learn from each other’s unique experiences. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.

Compensation:

The anticipated starting salary (base) range for this role is $77,500 - $99,000 per year. Actual salary varies due to factors that may include but not be limited to relevant experience, skills, and location. At EAB, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the starting salary range for their role.

This hire will additionally be eligible for discretionary bonus or incentive compensation. Variable compensation may depend on various factors, such as individual and organizational performance.

Benefits:

Consistent with our belief that our employees are our most valuable resource, EAB offers a competitive and inclusive benefits package. Our benefits currently include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans; dependents and domestic partners eligible
• 20+ days of PTO annually, in addition to paid firm and floating holidays
• Daytime leave policy for community service and flextime for fitness activities (up to 10 hours per month each)
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with annual discretionary company matching contribution
• Health savings account, healthcare and dependent care flexible spending account, and pre-tax commuter plans
• Employee assistance program with counseling services and resources available to all employees and immediate family
• Wellness programs including gym discounts, incentives to promote healthy living, and family access to the leading app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation
• Fertility treatment coverage and adoption or surrogacy assistance
• Paid parental leave with phase back to work program for birthing and non-birthing parents
• Access to milk shipping service to support nursing employees during business travel
• Discounted pet health insurance coverage for dog and cat family members
• Company-provided life, AD&D, and disability insurance
• Financial wellness resources and membership in a robust employee discount program
• Access to employee resource groups, merit-based advancement, and dynamic professional growth opportunities

Benefits kick in day one; learn more at eab.com/careers/benefits.

This opening is not eligible for visa sponsorship at this time; EAB will thus consider candidates who possess U.S. work authorization that does not require employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

At EAB, we believe that to fulfill our mission to “make education smarter and our communities stronger” we need team members who bring a diversity of perspectives to the table and a workplace where each team member is valued, respected and heard.

To that end, EAB is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we make employment decisions on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. We don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law.