Principal Consultant – Data Lead

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Virginia.

📋 Description

• Act as the principal data leader for transformative engagements in Higher Education.

• Function as the main data and technical liaison for client leadership and key stakeholders.

• Cultivate trusted relationships with clients, ensuring their satisfaction, retention, and realization of value.

• Manage project scope, timelines, budgets, risks, quality, and deliverables.

• Guide and mentor consultants, business analysts, developers, and other members of the project team.

• Facilitate discussions with executives and working teams, resolve issues, and align project delivery with client goals.

• Identify risks, dependencies, and decisions that need leadership attention.

• Convert technical delivery activities into business results and executive-level communication.

• Provide counsel on Ascend CRM data migration, conversion, reconciliation, integration, and data quality strategies.

• Collaborate with Advancement teams to translate business needs into data and technical solutions.

• Write and troubleshoot intricate SQL queries.

• Examine datasets and assist with mapping, migration, cleansing, normalization, deduplication, transformation, and integration troubleshooting.

• Formulate data strategies, architectures, roadmaps, governance frameworks, standards, definitions, ownership structures, and quality controls.

• Design integration architectures and blueprints, map comprehensive data flows, and define integration patterns and technical requirements.

• Provide technical leadership throughout the design, development, testing, deployment, and stabilization phases.

• Investigate integration failures, logs, data issues, and system errors; coordinate root-cause analysis and incident resolution.

• Establish integration standards, security requirements, monitoring practices, and documentation expectations.

• Offer advice on APIs, batch/file processing, ETL/ELT, event-driven, real-time, and near-real-time integrations.

• Provide insights on technologies such as MuleSoft, Boomi, Informatica, Workato, Azure, AWS, and similar platforms.

⛳️ Requirements

• Extensive consulting experience leading intricate enterprise data initiatives.

• Background in Higher Education, ideally in Advancement, fundraising, alumni relations, or constituent data.

• Strong preference for experience with Ascend CRM.

• Proficient hands-on SQL development skills.

• Experience with data migration, source-to-target mapping, transformation, data quality, integration, and reconciliation.

• Proven ability to lead client engagements and effectively communicate with executive stakeholders.

• Experience managing cross-functional technical and functional teams.

• Strong comprehension of enterprise data architecture, data governance, integration architecture, and data management principles.

• Experience in designing or advising on APIs, ETL/ELT, batch, real-time, and event-driven integration patterns.

• Capability to transition between executive strategy discussions and intricate technical problem-solving.

• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, and facilitation skills.

• Proven ability to establish trusted advisor relationships with clients.

• Experience in supporting sales and business development efforts.

• Willingness to travel periodically based on business and client requirements.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• HSA and FSA accounts available.

• Life and disability insurance coverage.

• Benefits for fertility and family planning.

• Employee assistance and discount programs.

• 11 paid federal holidays.

• Flexible unlimited time off (UTO).

• Generous 401(k) matching with immediate vesting.

• Flexible career paths that offer advancement, mobility, and flexibility.

• Flexible work environment.

• Opportunities for career growth.

• Annual discretionary bonus.

• A healthy, inclusive environment that values unique experiences.