Managing Consultant, Early Childhood Programs (Remote Eligible

Managing Consultant

Mathematica applies expertise at the intersection of data, methods, policy, and practice to improve well-being around the world. We collaborate closely with public- and private-sector partners to translate big questions into deep insights that improve programs, refine strategies, and enhance understanding using data science and analytics. Our work yields actionable information to guide decisions in wide-ranging policy areas, from health, education, early childhood, and family support to nutrition, employment, disability, and international development.

Mathematica offers our employees competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package, as well as the advantages of being 100 percent employee owned. As an employee stock owner, you will experience financial benefits of ESOP holdings that have increased in tandem with the company's growth and financial strength. You will also be part of an independent, employee-owned firm that is able to define and further our mission, enhance our quality and accountability, and steadily grow our financial strength.

We are seeking a Managing Consultant to lead and support projects focused on early childhood and human services programs. Managing Consultants oversee teams, manage projects and complex tasks, and develop solutions to clients' policy, programmatic, and operational challenges. While responsibilities vary by project assignment, this role requires a combination of early childhood program and policy expertise, project and team management, analytic skills, strategic thinking, and strong client engagement and communication.

The Managing Consultant will support federal early childhood initiatives, including Head Start and Early Head Start, and may lead activities related to program monitoring, technical assistance, grants management, regulatory compliance, program and financial management, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities:

• Builds and maintains collaborative, trusting relationships with federal, state, and other clients and partners and works with them to identify needs, develop solutions, and strengthen program capacity.
• Collaborates with clients to develop and implement program improvement strategies and technical assistance plans based on data, evidence, and subject matter expertise.
• Leads and coordinates multidisciplinary teams to implement, monitor, and advise on federal and state policies and programs, including early childhood initiatives such as Head Start and Early Head Start.
• Supports federal discretionary grants management, program and financial management, regulatory compliance monitoring and oversight, and related technical assistance activities.
• Aggregates, analyzes, and presents information from multiple sources to assess program performance, identify trends and challenges, and develop actionable recommendations for clients and stakeholders.
• Applies change management, continuous improvement, participatory, and human-centered design approaches to develop solutions that address client and program needs.
• Plans and facilitates webinars, meetings, trainings, and small-group discussions with government clients, program staff, and other partners.
• Authors and reviews high-quality technical assistance and client-facing products, including memoranda, standard operating procedures, data dictionaries, implementation guides, presentations, and other materials.
• Uses web-based and other data management and project management tools to support project implementation, monitoring, analysis, and reporting.
• Supervises and mentors staff, delegates and reviews work, and supports the professional development of team members.
• Performs additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Master's degree in early childhood education, human services, public administration, or related field.
• At least 6 years of progressive professional experience directly related to early childhood programs, with a preference for Head Start/Early Head Start programs.
• Experience with federal discretionary grants management, non-profit or for-profit program and/or financial management, and regulatory compliance monitoring and oversight.
• Demonstrated ability to lead activities, manage and coordinate work of multidisciplinary teams through the project lifecycle to deliver high-quality work to our clients on time and budget.
• Demonstrated ability to aggregate, analyze, synthesize, and present data and evidence from multiple sources to support program monitoring, performance measurement, decision-making, and actionable recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to design and facilitate change management and/or continuous improvement processes that use participatory and human-centered design approaches.
• Demonstrated experience using a variety of web-based and off-the-shelf data management software packages.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to develop and review high-quality memoranda, presentations, correspondence, technical assistance materials, and other…