Consulting Director

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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

Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Salary: Salary range $170,000 - $195,000, commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

University Business Consulting (UBC), part of George Mason University's Executive Administration Division, provides internal consulting services to support innovation, operational effectiveness, and strategic alignment across George Mason schools and administrative units. UBC partners with campus leaders to enhance efficiency, strengthen organizational performance, and advance the university's long term strategic objectives.

About the Position:

Reporting to the Executive Director of UBC, the Consulting Director independently leads large projects and programs that directly support the goals of George Mason University (GMU) and the UBC Office. The purpose of this Consulting Director role is to serve as the main UBC representative for certain GMU units, lead and implement projects focused on strategic planning implementation, budget and fiscal transformation, organizational assessments, stakeholder facilitation, implementing new initiatives, and/or conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis on business functions at the university. The Consulting Director is responsible for running strategic and high-visibility university projects from start to finish with little supervision required and helping UBC leadership present a positive image of UBC to the George Mason community. The Consulting Director will also supervise and mentor other consulting staff.

Responsibilities:

Staff Supervision

• Responsible for setting goals for performance and deadlines in ways that comply with the university's plans and vision and communicate them for at least 3 direct reports;
• Organizes workflow and ensuring that employees understand their duties or delegated tasks;
• Monitors employee productivity and providing constructive feedback and coaching;
• Receives complaints and resolving problems;
• Maintains timekeeping and personnel records;
• Passes on information from upper management to employees and vice versa;
• Prepares and submits performance evaluations;
• Decides on rewards and promotions based on performance;
• Hires and trains new employees; ensuring adherence to legal and university policies and procedures and undertaking disciplinary actions if the need arises; and
• Responsible for overseeing the UBC internship program, including hiring, training, and assigning intern projects.

Management of Daily Activities and Overall Project Efforts

• Project Leadership
  
  
  
  • Leads project work directly with university senior leaders across various departments focused on major strategic initiatives impacting large stakeholder groups;
  • Manages UBC senior consultants, consultants, and other staff on projects. Is responsible for overall high-quality performance in assigned UBC projects;
  • Drives the development of project work plans and goals;
  • The Director uses expertise and best practices to help assess how alternatives will impact business processes and develops communications plans, training, change management strategies, and resource planning amongst other tasks;
  • Leads development (mostly direct, also through supervision) of thoughtful, detail-oriented and high-quality qualitative and quantitative analyses to include in written documents, flow charts and/or spreadsheets;
  • Reviews, edits, and prepares documents for clients and UBC working groups, project meetings, and leadership meetings.;
  • Consistently ensures excellent, high-quality outcomes for all projects. Expected to consistently develop insightful, robust, and information driven solutions to complex problems;
  • Applies and consistently provides opportunities for improvements on agreed-upon project management approaches to UBC projects;
  • Develops and maintains project charters, work plans, schedules, and budgets, guiding various working teams in project management, process mapping and best practices in automation, change management and process review;
  • Provides thought leadership and strategic insight to further each project with a view of the impact on the unit/department/university;
  • Takes direction from leadership on projects and also self-directs work streams as needed to move projects forward on planned timelines;
  • Works successfully on multiple projects without significant oversight from leadership. Works collaboratively to meet mutual goals when executing projects with other university departments and facilitate cross-department cooperation and buy-in.;
  • Facilitates project working groups and/or retreats of leaders from across the university, which typically include faculty and staff from schools and business units;
  • Draws on extensive professional experience and/or research of higher education practices to advise units on alternatives to consider when evaluating potential changes or recommendations;
  • Takes initiative on project assignments to get the job done, while keeping leadership informed of progress and any project or stakeholder issues that may arise; and
  • Provides thorough written and verbal updates on projects to leadership, project Executive Committees, project sponsors, as well as other leaders and stakeholders across campus as necessary.
  
  
  
  

• Client Management
  
  
  
  • Serves as the senior UBC representative with various university departments and senior leaders, including VPs and Deans, across the university to ensure strategic alignment of initiatives and process improvements, serving as the project subject matter expert when appropriate;
  • Cultivates and manages overall client relationships to form and develop lasting and impactful connections;
  • Demonstrates UBC value through innovative project execution and provides connections across George Mason based on UBC's unique knowledge base. Effectively presents summary results to George Mason senior leadership;
  • Uses a variety of techniques to effectively manage a wide range of stakeholder behaviors and handle politically sensitive issues.
  
  
  
  

Practice Development

• Strategically drives meaningful new work for the UBC practice, either through sourcing new client engagements or securing add-on work from existing projects;
• Interfaces independently with university leaders and develops complimentary relationships of those the UBC Executive Director holds to help develop and expand the UBC practice; and
• Expected to advise the UBC Executive Director on potential new funding sources/revenue streams and growth potential for the UBC practice.

Other Related Duties

• Represents UBC's projects and the department within the Mason community;
• Displays a willingness to complete other duties to support UBC leadership and the judgment to know when such duties should be delegated; and
• Proactively offers suggestions for activities UBC should undertake to improve processes or efficiencies that will support transformation across the university.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree, MBA, MPA, or other graduate degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Substantial business process improvement design and implementation, project management, communications and change management, or related experience; OR an equivalent combination of education, training and experience;
• Demonstrated project management and oversight experience is required, including the ability to lead multifunctional projects and teams;
• Experience managing direct reports and multidisciplinary project teams;
• Demonstrated experience leading or participating in business transformation, change management, and/or communications management projects or initiatives;
• Experience managing politically sensitive efforts;
• Demonstrated skills and abilities in project management, consulting, and facilitation;
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory skills & abilities;
• Expert-level skill in communication with the ability to communicate effectively with various levels of management and staff;
• Expert-level leadership and advisory skills with the ability to maintain an appropriate level of gravitas for interacting independently with university senior leaders;
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain project work plans, schedules, and budgets;
• Demonstrated ability to lead successful projects independently as well as part of a team;
• Ability to take direction from leadership on projects and also self-direct work streams as needed to move projects forward on tight timelines; and
• Proficiency with MS Office applications.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in related field;
• Prosci Change Practitioner, PMP, Lean Six Sigma, or ScrumMaster;
• Experience at a university, government, or non-profit organization;
• Extensive experience in business process redesign, project management, or related experience (typically eight or more years);
• Ability to develop insightful, data-driven solutions to complex organizational challenges;
• Demonstrated quality management and oversight skills with the ability to review, assess, and ensure the accuracy and quality of project deliverables and analyses;
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching, and staff development skills with the ability to provide guidance, mentorship, training, and performance support to team members; ability to establish goals and priorities, manage workflow, delegate responsibilities, monitor performance, and provide coaching and feedback; ability to address employee concerns, resolve issues effectively, and foster a productive and accountable work environment;
• Demonstrated consulting skills with the ability to lead benchmarking, research, analysis, and problem-solving initiatives to inform strategic decision-making;
• Expert-level relationship management skills with the ability to effectively represent project teams and engage stakeholders across the university; demonstrated ability to build productive partnerships and collaborate effectively with schools, departments, and business units to advance institutional priorities;
• Demonstrated strategic thinking skills with the ability to proactively identify opportunities, recommend initiatives, and contribute to organizational improvement and innovation; and
• Expert-level advisory skills with the ability to influence decisions and interact independently with senior university leadership while maintaining an appropriate level of professionalism and gravitas.

Instructions to Applicants:

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Consulting Director at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a Cover Letter/Letter of Intent with Resume for review.

Posting Open Date: September 28, 2026

For Full Consideration, Apply by: October 5, 2026

Posting Close Date: October 14, 2026

Open Until Filled: No