Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives

Who we are

ILO Group is a proudly women-owned education strategy and policy firm. We are a dedicated team of strategic partners and specialists who support school districts and states in executing on their biggest bets and highest-priority efforts. We work as members of our partners’ teams, operating side by side with the country’s leading educators, experts, and government partners.

Our work is as diverse as our partners’ ambitions are bold. We work across leadership development, comprehensive project management and implementation support, systems transformation, and more. We enable education leaders to be catalysts for enduring change that benefits their students, schools, and communities.

In addition to technical assistance to districts and states, our expert team provides the capacity and expertise to power difference-making partnerships of our own, including Women Leading Ed and The Forum for Educational Leadership.

Who we are looking for

We are seeking a Managing Director, Strategic Initiatives to serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and senior leadership team. This individual will lead high-priority strategic initiatives, drive complex cross-functional projects, and provide executive level problem-solving and analytical capacity across the firm's most critical priorities.

As a member of the Office of the CEO, this role will work alongside other members of the CEO's office to advance strategic initiatives, support executive decision-making, and help drive the continued growth and evolution of the organization.

The successful candidate combines the analytical rigor and structured problem-solving of a top-tier consulting background with an entrepreneurial, roll-up-your-sleeves mindset. Success in this role requires a willingness to both shape strategy and personally produce the analyses, recommendations, workplans, materials, and deliverables needed to move initiatives forward. This individual brings structure to ambiguity, translates complex challenges into actionable plans, and drives work from concept through execution.

Why ILO Group

Our clients include state education agencies, school districts, and adjacent education organizations, including nonprofits and foundations, who are committed to improving student outcomes.

This role offers a rare opportunity for a former management consultant, strategic operator, or internal strategy leader to help shape and scale a single mission-driven organization with national impact, contributing directly to its strategy, growth, and long-term impact while working alongside some of the country's leading education leaders, policymakers, and practitioners.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Leadership & Strategic Support

• Serve as a trusted thought partner and strategic advisor to the CEO and senior leadership team, translating the CEO's priorities and strategic initiatives into clear workflows, decision points, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
• Produce executive-level presentations, strategy documents, research, and financial analyses that synthesize complex information into clear recommendations, decision points, and actionable next steps.
• Prepare briefing materials, meeting agendas, talking points, and follow-up plans to support executive decision-making and stakeholder engagement.
• Lead special projects that require high judgment, discretion, and rapid execution, especially those that cut across functions or do not sit neatly within one department.
• Support strategic partnerships, business development, fundraising, and growth initiatives by coordinating priorities, tracking opportunities, and ensuring follow-through on key commitments.
• Lead execution of the organization's strategic plan by translating priorities into actionable workplans, coordinating implementation across teams, tracking progress against milestones, and ensuring sustained focus on the highest-impact goals.
• Anticipate risks, dependencies, and capacity constraints, proactively surfacing issues and recommending practical solutions before they affect execution.
• Represent senior leadership in internal and external meetings as appropriate, ensuring alignment, follow-through, and clear communication across stakeholders.

Strategic Initiatives & Special Projects

• Translate ambiguous problems into structured workplans, analyses, recommendations, and measurable outcomes.
• Conduct market research, competitive assessments, stakeholder analyses, and strategic planning exercises.
• Draft, revise, and refine deliverables through multiple iterations, incorporating stakeholder feedback and ensuring final outputs are high quality and actionable.
• Independently manage complex cross-functional projects that may not have a natural organizational owner.
• Step into underdeveloped or under-owned workstreams, quickly assessing needs and creating a path forward.
• Own critical workstreams during periods of growth, change, or heightened organizational demand, ensuring momentum and execution against key priorities.
• Drive accountability and execution across critical initiatives while maintaining a focus on outcomes and impact.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution

• Own and strengthen the operating rhythm of executive leadership, including strategic planning processes, leadership meetings, and organizational priority setting.
• Build and maintain scalable systems, processes, and tools that provide visibility into organizational priorities, key decisions, strategic initiatives, and critical commitments and reduce friction as the organization grows.
• Anticipate risks, dependencies, capacity constraints, bottlenecks, and implementation challenges, proactively surfacing issues and recommending practical solutions before they affect execution.
• Move fluidly between strategic thinking and hands-on execution, translating ideas into action and owning outcomes from concept to completion.
• Serve as a connector across teams and leaders, ensuring alignment, communication, and execution across high-priority initiatives.
• Ensure leaders have the information, context, and visibility needed to make informed decisions.

About You

The requirements for this position are:

• 8+ years of experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, business operations, strategic planning, or similarly rigorous and fast-paced environments.
• Experience at a top-tier consulting firm strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to move seamlessly between strategic analysis and hands-on execution, translating recommendations into measurable outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex strategic projects from problem definition through implementation.
• Exceptional executive communication skills, including development of executive- level presentations, recommendations, and decision-making materials.
• Strong business judgment and ability to quickly understand complex organizational, financial, and strategic issues.
• Exceptional organizational, project management, and prioritization skills.
• Experience influencing senior leaders and driving execution without direct authority.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, including the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources and translate it into actionable insights.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity, navigating competing priorities, and adapting to evolving organizational needs.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and professionalism when handling confidential and sensitive information.
• Experience building systems, processes, trackers, and operating mechanisms that improve visibility, accountability, and organizational effectiveness.
• Comfort using AI tools to support drafting, synthesis, analysis, research, planning, and productivity.

Location & Travel

This position is remote with Eastern Time Zone working hours. Limited travel may be required.

Compensation

Compensation will be commensurate with experience and reflective of the seniority and scope of this role. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.