Principal Consultant (Positions coming soon…) / ILLUME Advising, LLC

Job Title: Principal Consultant/Senior Principal Consultant

Status: Exempt, 40 hours per week

Location: Madison, WI; Tucson, AZ; Remote

Remote candidates will be considered and will be required to travel to hub offices occasionally.

Job Summary

ILLUME continually seeks to meet the needs of the market and strategically grow our work and team to align with those market needs. ILLUME’s work falls within five Practice Areas:

The Principal Consultant is a key contributor to ILLUME’s future and growth, responsible for building, driving, and leading one or more of ILLUME’s Practice Areas. The Principal Consultant leverages their expertise to grow ILLUME’s market position and revenue in their area/s and to build ILLUME’s team to deliver this work. This position requires strong consulting business acumen, team leadership skills, and strategic thinking. They must be self-motivated to excel and produce high quality work.

The Principal Consultant is the primary person responsible for building business in the Practice Area while leveraging and integrating members of the ILLUME team to support that development. With billable hour targets (minimum 50%), the Principal Consultant will also provide direct services to clients.

The Principal Consultant will build into the ILLUME consulting team, lending their expertise through training, in-project mentorship, and performance management. This individual will raise company and team exposure in key forums, providing and/or developing team members to provide thought leadership throughout the industry.

Primary Responsibilities & Key Results Areas (KRAs)

Business Leadership

The Principal Consultant must exhibit the following key competencies in leading ILLUME’s Practice Areas, team members and projects.

Vision: Able to set and articulate a vision for ILLUME’s practice area(s) that is aligned with the company revenue goals and overarching strategy.
Leads Leaders: ability to lead, motivate and align senior staff towards a common goal; to motivate and stretch team members to exceed expectations; build trust through clear, kind, and timely, and direct feedback; build a “leadership team” that can collectively achieve all goals for the practice area; empower team members (vs. tell or do for team members); exhibits endurance through high intensity periods while discerning when it is necessary to balance and boundaries for self; models ILLUME values, including healthy boundaries, for the team.
Business Literacy: a clear understanding of the company’s financial model, the consulting model and how to work within that model to achieve company goals and objectives. An ability to communicate this model to the team and to understand how different projects and client types of feed into the overall model.
Industry Savvy: understand and strategically apply utility and energy industry market expertise to help ILLUME solve client issues, understand, and address their needs and help evolve business model towards one in alignment with a clean energy future.
Problem solving, prioritization, and independent decision-making: critical and systematic assessment of issue to provide solutions, taking the right amount of time then acting, engaging other team members as needed to socialize or confirm decisions, prioritizing issues to address, and consideration of short- and longer-term implications.

Practice Area Development and Ownership

In alignment with companywide goals and vision and under the guidance of the executive team:

Develop longer-term vision and strategic plan for Practice Area, articulating areas of differentiation of ILLUME in the market and communicating and strategy for selling into the market through those differentiators.
Develop annual and three-year outlook financial goals for the Practice Unit, including revenue, sales, and profitability targets while considering the competitive landscape, risks, and opportunities for ILLUME.
Stay at the forefront of industry trends and guide ILLUME’s strategic planning to not only retain but grow market position in Practice Area, especially through evolutions.
Semiannually assess and report to the executive team progress toward goals, risks/impediments to achieving goals, needs/opportunities to meet goals looking forward, and other team or market considerations worth noting and addressing.
With the executive team, annually assess financial health of Practice Area and reassess strategic focus of the Practice Area; in reviewing financial health, consider metrics such as cost of business acquisition, team growth and training expenditures, thought leadership and business development expenditures, etc.

Project Team and Client Success

Develop a “leadership team” within the Practice Area, ensuring this leadership team is capable of independently leading projects (integrating the Principal Consultant appropriately as needed) and supporting the Principal Consultant in meeting the goal and the requirements outlined here of the practice area.

Identify team needs to effectively deliver work in business area, including hiring and training needs.
Provide technical support and guidance to practice area leadership and project team.
Lend guidance and knowledge to clients through consultative services and training.
Maintain the big picture of the client’s needs in the context of their policy and/or organizational environment when specifying and directing project work ensure project teams critically consider client needs within their business context.

Staff Development, Training, and Mentorship

Identify resources, hiring, and team-related needs to lead and implement work within Practice Areas, as well as meet future business needs
Enable the team to take chances and bring forward their creativity and unique thinking, concurrently staying engaged to provide guidance and support on how and when to pivot based on progress, client expectations, etc.

ILLUME Market and Practice Area Growth

Develop and execute strategies for Practice Area growth.
Identify, document, and initiate strategies to achieve planned revenue goals (both top and bottom-line).
Proactively identify potential clients and markets to target and communicate ILLUME’s capabilities related to Practice Area (including other capabilities as relevant).
Identify and attend events and distribute thought leadership in those events to advance the market’s knowledge of ILLUME’s capabilities.
Develop and foster direct leads as they arise, responding to requests from those leads.
Support project teams in their identification and realization of project expansion (upselling) opportunities with current clients, providing mentorship and guidance on moving that opportunity from a lead to a sold project.
Proactively develop materials and content for MBD to promote Practice Area services and capabilities.
Develop ILLUME’s pipeline and market presence by leading and realizing work through proposals and scope of works.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

COLLABORATION

Collaboration is the minimum standard at ILLUME. Team members build trust through regular, open, and honest communication and by working together across the company to ensure the success of every project. By working together, we create the momentum to accomplish our company objectives and together attain exceptional results.

Required Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in relevant area of study such as policy, social sciences, economics, environmental science, engineering, building science, or related field.

Required Qualifications

At least 10 years in applied research consulting, preferably in energy research.
Direct experience providing consulting services to clients in the energy space or adjacent categories.
Demonstrated experience building a line of business including winning contracts and building teams to deliver the work.
Experience leading portfolios of work more than $4M, meeting company, client, and team needs.
Proven experience mentoring and managing staff.
Exceptional client and stakeholder relationship building and maintenance.
Demonstrated independent decision-making accounting for company and team needs.

Collaboration

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary for this position will depend on the education, professional experience, industry experience, and subject matter expertise of the applicant. The Principal Consultant position salary band is $180,000 to $210,000 with performance incentive options tied to overall company performance and individually-defined metrics.

ILLUME offers competitive benefits packages including:

Medical, dental, and vision insurance options
401k plan & company match of 3%
Generous and flexible time off (6+ weeks including holidays)
Opportunities for professional development and growth
Flexible work schedule

TO APPLY

Please submit a cover letter, resume, and writing or work samples to hiring@illumeadvising.com.

In the subject line of your email, indicate the following:

Last name, First name_Principal Consultant

In your cover letter, provide us with:

A sense of who you are by being honest, creative, and “yourself.”
Any experience with DEI in the workplace, and your own professional growth.
Please include your desired location (Madison, WI, Tucson, AZ), or indicate if you wish to work elsewhere and how you will ensure collaboration and availability to your colleagues in a remote environment.

Expect that we will carefully review all materials, including your cover letter. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

ILLUME will accept applications until the position is filled.

Download Position Description

Working Conditions

ILLUME employees work in a hybrid work environment and we continuously monitor public health guidelines to make any updates necessary to ensure the health and safety of all employees. This position requires sitting (or standing) for long periods of time at a computer; and communicating by telephone and email. The dress code at ILLUME is business casual (“pulled together”). This position requires some travel.

Background Screening and Drug Testing

Many clients of ILLUME Advising require individuals who will be working with confidential information, visiting client customer homes or businesses, or meet another contractually required circumstance to pass a background screen and/or drug test. In the event you are assigned to work on a contract with client ordered screening requirements you will be required to complete the client’s required screening before working on the project with appropriate notice. The results of background screening and drug testing are used solely to meet client criteria for working on specific projects.

COVID-19

As a federal contractor, ILLUME requires staff to have been vaccinated against COVID-19, or must be willing to receive a vaccine against COVID-19 within 45 days of hire where permitted by applicable law. This is a mandatory requirement except for employees with documented medical reasons and/or exceptions in accordance with the Civil Rights Act.

Culture and Commitment at ILLUME

Our Vision: ILLUME is the premier consultancy for advancing, re-envisioning, and equitably transforming the energy industry. We align clean energy and social justice imperatives and give primacy to human dreams and aspirations so that all can thrive in a clean energy future.

Our Commitment to Team Values: At ILLUME, we value the diverse lived experiences of our team. We view diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as an on-going commitment and investment in the growth of our employees, the growth of our company culture, and the growth of our industry. By centering environmental justice, climate change mitigation, and social justice in our work, we aim to transform the way the energy industry looks at its challenges. We believe that our collective well-being depends on how well we explore, elevate, and communicate the experiences of all people who use the electric grid. We quantify the impacts of our public investments to reduce energy demand and mitigate climate change.

ILLUME considers our investment in our team as a long-term and mutual investment. At ILLUME, we’re committed to building a valued business while ensuring rewarding careers for our employees. ILLUME does not discriminate in its employment practices regarding age, ancestry, arrest record, color, conviction record, creed, cultural background, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, military obligations, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.