Education First Consulting

• Successfully manage complex projects, including building capacity in and advising clients, developing and maintaining project workplans, monitoring team members’ experiences and developing (or co-developing with others) project deliverables that meet the firm’s quality standards • Understand root causes of the problems clients are trying to solve, design with and for people most proximate to those problems and deliver equitable, effective and innovative solutions to clients’ challenges • Develop and execute on project work plans according to client needs and budget constraints • Adapt project plans to reflect changes in project requirements • Coordinate knowledge management across streams of work • Produce client deliverables, including landscape analyses, written reports and memos, and facilitation plans for convening and communities of practice • Develop trusting relationships with high-profile clients in the education field (funders, school districts, nonprofits, SEAs, etc.) and support district, organizational and state teams in ways that lead to repeat business. • Design and facilitate effective client meetings that reflect an understanding of adult learning principles, advance project outcomes and support client decisionmaking • Capture and share project insights for clients and for the firm internally • Design and deploy technical assistance to clients • Collaborate on the development of tools and strategies to assess client needs • Stay up to date on the latest policy trends and research in K12 systems, and lift up relevant insights and emerging best practices for clients • Build and lead inclusive project teams where members experience professional growth and both invite and receive balanced feedback from each other • Develop systems, routines and workplans that support collaboration and trust among team members • Coach and support your colleagues’ professional growth by diagnosing areas for development and providing project-embedded feedback

• Own end-to-end accounts receivable and payable processes, including creating and sending invoices, tracking payments, following up on past-due balances, and ensuring timely vendor payments • Support corporate card management, employee expense, and payroll-related data, ensuring accuracy and policy compliance transactions in Sage Intacct and ensuring timely payments • Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records in Sage Intacct, including transaction entry, account coding, and data validation • Perform reconciliations for key accounts and support month-end close by preparing schedules and required documentation • Update and maintain project financials in Salesforce and Sage Intacct, including budgets, timecodes, and data integrity • Work closely with project managers and consulting teams to support project setup, ongoing financial tracking, and reporting accuracy • Help manage collaborator and vendor invoice workflows, contract administration, and grant reporting data collection • Maintain organized documentation to support internal controls, audits, and compliance requirements • Support budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes through data preparation and analysis • Help track budget-to-actuals, flag variances, and surface trends and risks for internal stakeholders across projects and operations

Education First is seeking an early career professional Accounting & Finance Analyst to join our Finance Team. The Accounting & Finance Analyst will play a key role in managing the firm’s day-to-day accounting operations, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, invoicing, payroll support, and maintaining accurate financial records. Reporting to the Finance Manager, the Accounting & Finance Analyst will analyze past and present financial data and estimate the financial goals and obligations of the firm. Our ideal candidate is committed to serving the firm and its consultants as primary customers. The Accounting & Finance Analyst will learn and execute our day-to-day financial management processes and provide direct service to our project teams. What You’ll Do - Core Accounting & Financial Operations - Own end-to-end accounts receivable and payable processes, including creating and sending invoices, tracking payments, following up on past-due balances, and ensuring timely vendor payments - Support corporate card management, employee expense, and payroll-related data, ensuring accuracy and policy compliance transactions in Sage Intacct and ensuring timely payments - Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records in Sage Intacct, including transaction entry, account coding, and data validation - General Ledger & Close Support - Perform reconciliations for key accounts and support month-end close by preparing schedules and required documentation - Project Financial & Systems Management - Update and maintain project financials in Salesforce and Sage Intacct, including budgets, timecodes, and data integrity - Work closely with project managers and consulting teams to support project setup, ongoing financial tracking, and reporting accuracy - Contracts, Compliance & Administrative Support - Help manage collaborator and vendor invoice workflows, contract administration, and grant reporting data collection - Maintain organized documentation to support internal controls, audits, and compliance requirements - Financial Reporting & Analysis Support - Support budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes through data preparation and analysis - Help track budget-to-actuals, flag variances, and surface trends and risks for internal stakeholders across projects and operations

• Education First is a trusted advisor to education funders and changemakers in all 50 states. • Education First is seeking an experienced leader to join the Accelerate Academic Coherence consulting team as a Principal Consultant. • The Principal Consultant is expected to bring expertise gained by serving currently or recently as a national funder, or as a close advisor to philanthropy with strong relationships, to advance high-quality, coherent instructional, assessment and accountability systems. • The Principal Consultant should have a diverse and outstanding network with funders, decisionmakers, and influencers in the field, and be comfortable cultivating relationships, advising, and coaching new and prospective executive clients. • Skillfully support executives in philanthropy, school systems, state education agencies and nonprofits. • Develop and use tools and strategies to assess client needs, lift up research and emerging practices and solve problems clients face. • Serve as project director on a variety of client engagements. • Travel to meet with clients to facilitate meaningful engagements that directly contribute to project deliverables, approximately 20-30% of the time. • Oversee successful projects, including building capacity, advising clients, and ensuring that project deliverables meet our excellence standard. • Contribute to business development efforts by cultivating relationships with current and prospective clients, contributing to proposals and participating in content-based business development and thought leadership work groups that drive firm strategy and sales.

Education First is a trusted advisor to education funders and changemakers in all 50 states. We uniquely bridge policy, practice and philanthropy to create more clarity and coherence across P-20 education initiatives and systems.  Education First is seeking an experienced leader to join the Accelerate Academic Coherence consulting team as a Principal Consultant. The Accelerate Academic Coherence team supports philanthropic, state, and district leaders in designing and implementing high-quality, coherent instructional, assessment, and accountability systems. The Principal Consultant is expected to bring expertise gained by serving currently or recently as a national funder, or as a close advisor to philanthropy with strong relationships, to advance high-quality, coherent instructional, assessment and accountability systems, including how systematic, strategic use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology can accelerate academic coherence. Reporting to the Managing Partner, the Principal Consultant will shape and set strategy, cultivate strong partnerships, lead individual client engagements and contribute to the firm’s success and sustainability. They apply their understanding of philanthropy and the current and future issues in the field (e.g., technology and AI) to craft bodies of work and projects, bring in new relationships with funders and sell projects, lead services and projects that deliver immediate and long-term results, and contribute to thought leadership that extends the firm’s national reputation in these areas.  The Principal Consultant should have a diverse and outstanding network with funders, decisionmakers, and influencers in the field, and be comfortable cultivating relationships, advising, and coaching new and prospective executive clients. The Principal Consultant is also deeply skilled in understanding and addressing issues of racial equity in education, coaching staff on client engagements, and overseeing the quality of research, work products, and services to clients.  - Skillfully support executives in philanthropy, school systems, state education agencies and nonprofits - Develop and use tools and strategies to assess client needs, lift up research and emerging practices and solve problems clients face - Support and coach funders in developing investment strategies and plans and leading grantee communities of practices - Support and coach innovators to reimagine organizational and institutional structures through equitable design - Support system leaders to operationalize Education First’s commitment to coherence, bringing down silos in school systems, regions, states and organizations that can impede progress - Serve as project director on a variety of client engagements - Travel to meet with clients to facilitate meaningful engagements that directly contribute to project deliverables, approximately 20-30% of the time - Oversee successful projects, including building capacity, advising clients, and ensuring that project deliverables meet our excellence standard - Coordinate regularly with the project manager and client to ensure project success, including budgeting, planning and regular reporting against the contract, and providing and seeking feedback from the client and team members  - Contribute to project operations through creating materials and active involvement in all other project tasks - Advance the firm’s business development, thought leadership and field impact - Contribute to business development efforts by cultivating relationships with current and prospective clients, contributing to proposals and participating in content-based business development and thought leadership work groups that drive firm strategy and sales - Create and deliver content for the firm's website, policy papers, newsletters, op-eds, press releases and public speaking engagements - Mentor, guide and manage team members - Support project managers to set and monitor project work plans and drive the project to completion at or under budget  - Support inclusive project teams that challenge and empower all team members to grow and reach their potential

• Support clients in implementing high-quality, rigorous instructional systems and aligned assessment practices • Lead research workstreams, manage research project plans and conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses • Synthesize complex findings into clear, compelling insights for stakeholders • Report to the Principal and Senior Director of Consulting Practice and manage discrete workstreams within projects • Deliver high-quality, client-ready products

Education First is seeking an early- to mid-career professional to join our consulting team as an Associate Consultant. As a member of the Accelerating Academic Coherence home team, the Associate Consultant will support clients in implementing high-quality, rigorous instructional systems (e.g., materials and professional learning) and aligned, coherent assessment practices that provide clear, actionable data. In this role, the Associate Consultant will lead research workstreams, manage research project plans and conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses that inform high-impact client deliverables. Associate Consultants synthesize complex findings into clear, compelling insights for internal and external stakeholders and often serve as content leads on key topics that shape client-facing materials. Reporting to the Principal and Senior Director of Consulting Practice, Associate Consultants manage discrete workstreams within projects and are accountable for delivering high-quality, client-ready products.