Consultant

Department: Executive Administration

Classification: Administrative Faculty

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

University Business Consulting (UBC) is a management consulting practice reporting to the Chief of Staff in the Office of the President with a dotted line to the Executive Vice President for Finance & Administration at George Mason University (Mason). UBC was created to assist Mason executive, academic, and business leadership in identifying and capitalizing on opportunities for bold innovation, turning data into insights, and achieving increased effectiveness and efficiency, all in pursuit of the University's overarching strategic goals.

About the Position:

The Consultant for University Business Consulting (UBC), aids projects and programs that directly support the goals of Mason and the strategic goals of the UBC Office. Projects may include business and strategic planning, data analysis and visualization, financial modeling and budgeting, business process redesign and implementation, policy redesign, implementing new initiatives, and/or conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis on business functions at the university.

Responsibilities:

Performs core consulting-style functions. This is expected to include, but not be limited to, gathering data, as well as developing thoughtful, detail-oriented, and high-quality qualitative and quantitative analyses. Includes creating written documents, flow charts, presentations, and/or spreadsheets.

• Conducts data gathering in a thorough and timely manner, with sources documented and data sets stored and annotated for future use;
• Creates models and conducts analyses that are complete, data-based, and logical, with data sources clearly referenced and assumptions/caveats clearly stated;
• Develops core analytical capabilities or model libraries, using advanced statistical and quantitative techniques;
• Employs financial models to develop solutions to financial problems or to assess the financial or capital impact of projects;
• Develops written documents, flow charts, presentations, and/or spreadsheets that are mostly error free, clear, and compelling; and
• Draws insights from gathered data and is able to summarize findings in a clear and concise language.

Assists UBC senior consultants, managers, and leadership with work, as needed. Conducts benchmarking research, both internal and external. Provides written and verbal updates to UBC leadership. Performs related responsibilities as required.

• Shows responsiveness to requests for work from UBC leadership;
• Conducts research with a sound approach and documented methodology;
• Provides regular, concise updates to UBC leadership that clearly identify progress and issues and proposes next steps;
• Displays a willingness and ability to complete other duties to support UBC leadership; and
• May lead some client meetings/working groups, small projects, or sub-tasks of larger projects.

Develops near-final deliverables for UBC working groups, steering committees, and other key stakeholders across campus, as necessary.

• Produces deliverables that, in both content and form, directly answer client questions and address client needs;
• Produces deliverables that reflect the consensus conclusions and recommendations of the UBC team;
• Produces deliverables that are complete, well-formatted, and mostly error free;
• Produces deliverables according to agreed upon timelines;
• Incorporates feedback into deliverables in a thorough and timely manner; and
• Creates models to analyze gathered data.

Represents UBC projects and the UBC office within the Mason community. Interfaces with Mason schools and business units regarding UBC initiatives.

• Maintains an appropriate level of professionalism at all times;
• Coordinates with UBC leadership regarding communication to Mason schools and business units; and
• Provides regular updates to UBC leadership regarding all communications and encounters with Mason schools and business units.

Focuses on process improvement for clients and internal to the office.

• Assesses and documents the current state;
• Develops and designs the future state of department and university functions or processes for greater efficiency or improved service; and
• Develops visual representations of department and university functions, to include, but not be limited to, process flow diagrams.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Experience working at a consulting firm or on consulting projects, or similar project work at other organizations;
• Financial modeling, data analysis, and/or budgeting experience;
• Experience providing effective support to clients;
• Demonstrated skill in effective project management;
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills;
• Advanced proficiency with MS Office applications critical, particularly Microsoft Excel (e.g., pivot tables, advanced formulas, financial modeling), Microsoft Word (e.g., creating templates and tables), and Microsoft PowerPoint (e.g., advanced presentation creation skills including importing data, animation, etc.);
• Advanced problem solving and analytical (qualitative and quantitative) skills;
• Demonstrated ability to find insight and meaningful conclusions in analyses and project work; and
• Ability to perform independent research and initial analyses with limited oversight from management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in related field;
• Experience designing process flows, writing policies and procedures, and interviewing stakeholders;
• Experience with data visualization techniques/software such as PowerBI, Tableau, or other dashboarding software;
• Higher education, healthcare, or not-for-profit experience; and
• Ability to take direction from leadership on projects and also self-direct work streams as needed to move projects forward on tight timelines.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Consultant at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume.

Posting Open Date:  March 31, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  April 16, 2025

Open Until Filled:  Yes