Senior Associate, Higher Education

About ESG

At Education Strategy Group (ESG), we aim to open doors to economic opportunity for all individuals. We support districts, states, national organizations, and foundations committed to dramatically improving the capacity and performance of the U.S. education system to prepare students for workforce success. Our staff bring deep experience leading policy development, advocacy, and implementation in the K-12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors. We offer a flexible work environment to stay engaged with education leaders nationally and to enable our staff to work where they have built their lives.

Position

The Senior Associate will play an integral role in supporting the execution of high-stakes, multi-sector projects that bridge the gaps between higher education, workforce development, and economic systems. This position requires a sophisticated ability to understand the complex political and operational challenges inherent in supporting state and regional level solutions. The ideal candidate will support multi-year strategic initiatives, manage intricate partner dynamics, and deliver results within disparate policy and funding silos. Central to this role is the capacity to build solutions and provide support for collaborative strategies that prioritize strong economic return for students, policymakers, and citizens.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Associate's primary duties and responsibilities will include providing direct support to higher education project directors and leadership teams while focusing on the following:

• Problem solve on opportunities to efficiently deliver results on key tasks and milestones across the practice area;
• Produce cutting-edge insights regarding state policy innovation and implementation, specifically as it pertains to collaborative strategies between higher education and workforce development;
• Providing communications and analytical support to project leadership teams;
• Design and lead quantitative and qualitative analysis of client work, including gathering information through data analysis, interviews, surveys, focus groups, and desk research;
• Conduct policy analysis and design technical assistance on postsecondary education and workforce issues, including higher education value and return on investment, data systems, enrollment, and academic program innovation;
• Support the responsible use of AI across the project team;
• Produce data analysis, data visualization, and data insights with limited supervision to capture and share project insights for clients;
• Help organize in-state and cross-state convenings of policymakers and practitioners;
• Draft concept papers and proposals, using AI to accelerate research and drafting, to help ESG secure new projects;
• Support grant/award administration and reporting for projects, including to funders and sub-grantees;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

• Proven expertise in contributing to execution of complex, multi-year strategic initiatives that bridge disparate policy and funding silos across sectors, and/or management of less-complex, shorter-term initiatives;
• Sophisticated collaborative skills with a demonstrated ability to navigate high-stakes partner dynamics and build consensus among diverse executive stakeholders;
• Deep operational understanding of the political challenges inherent in implementing state and regional level solutions within the education and workforce sectors;
• Strong track record of providing strategic contributions and support to maintain momentum across multi-sector projects with high economic return goals;
• Extensive knowledge of the intersection between higher education, workforce development, and economic systems to capture and share actionable insights;
• Exceptional analytical skills to lead quantitative and qualitative research that informs collaborative strategies for students, policymakers, and citizens;
• Aptitude for leveraging emerging technologies, such as AI, to accelerate high-quality project delivery while ensuring the integrity of technical assistance;
• A minimum of five years' professional experience in a state education agency, intermediary organization, postsecondary institution, school district, workforce or economic development agency, or national nonprofit organization developing and leading work to build or expand career preparation and postsecondary attainment opportunities for students;
• A master's degree in public policy, education policy, or related fields, or an equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
• Ability to travel to support projects as needed, projected to be around 25%.

Location

Education Strategy Group is a virtual firm with a home base in Washington, DC. We have staff located in cities across the country. Our flexible work environment enables our professionals to live and work in locations where they can be most productive—both professionally and personally.

ESG is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran.