THE ASSOCIATE ROLE
The Associate is the operational lead on LAS engagements and a genuine thought partner in the advisory process. Associates transform leadership data into business-relevant insights: identifying patterns in people and teams, determining what those patterns mean for organizational outcomes, and communicating those implications in ways that help clients make better talent decisions.
Associates own workstreams end-to-end. They drive the project plan, conduct and support interviews and assessments, synthesize qualitative and quantitative data, write the reports and client materials, and keep engagements moving. They partner closely with Consultants, who own the client relationship and the final deliverable, while taking real accountability for quality, pace, and the client experience along the way.
This is a role with meaningful ownership. It is also a support role in an apprenticeship model: Associates build credibility, judgment, and client exposure over time, and responsibility grows as that credibility is earned.
WHAT YOU WILL ACTUALLY DO
The work varies by Solution and by team, but the following responsibilities are consistent across the role.
Insight development and client deliverables
- Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data from interviews, assessments, diagnostics, and secondary research to identify themes, insights, and implications
- Write and own client deliverables, Advanced Leadership Profile (ALP) and Leadership Profile (LP) assessment reports, group and comparison reports, culture and team diagnostic outputs, board materials, workshop decks, and executive summaries
- Draft assessment components independently, including Individual Style Profile (ISP), 360, capabilities, strengths and development opportunities, and summary pages; over time, contribute Executive Intelligence (ExI) insights
- Connect leadership insight to business context, company performance, value creation, role requirements, and the risks and opportunities facing the client
Assessment, interviews, and client interaction
- Conduct and support executive and stakeholder interviews; lead, co-lead, or participate in assessments depending on the Solution, the engagement, and the Consultant
- Conduct 360 reference interviews and synthesize input into balanced, evidence-based summaries
- Lead internal calibration calls and contribute an informed, data-backed point of view on scoring and conclusions
- Participate in client debriefs, workshops, and readouts; over time, debrief participants and lead segments of client sessions
- Administer proprietary leadership advisory tools and diagnostics (ISP, culture, team effectiveness, and related instruments) in partnership with the Consultant, and analyze the resulting data
- Represent the Firm with professionalism, maturity, and poise in written, verbal, virtual, and in-person settings, and handle confidential information with discretion
Engagement and project management
- Own the project plan and timeline end-to-end; organize and facilitate team touchpoints, including kick-offs, check-ins, and project recaps
- Serve as a day-to-day point of contact for the client alongside the Consultant, and draft client and stakeholder communications
- Organize and distribute work across the engagement team, clarify roles, and hold the team accountable to deadlines
- Anticipate what the client, Consultant, and team will need next; identify risks early, escalate appropriately, and propose a path forward
- Synthesize client meetings, board interactions, and workshops into clear themes, decisions, and next steps
- Manage several engagements at once across time zones and competing deadlines, and maintain your capacity tracker accurately so staffing decisions can be made well
- Use AI-enabled tools thoughtfully to improve efficiency in research, drafting, and summarization, always validating sources and conclusions, exercising judgment around client data and confidentiality, and retaining human accountability for the insight
Developing others and building the practice
- Guide Analysts on first-draft documents, provide examples and standards, and give timely, constructive feedback
- Serve as an onboarding or apprenticeship mentor to new colleagues and contribute to their integration
- Contribute to Solution and intellectual capital development, case studies, best practices, and internal tools
- Build relationships with Executive Search colleagues and help them understand where LAS can add value for their clients
- Occasionally support business development, contributing to qualifications decks, proposal materials, and background research. Associates are rarely involved in client pitches; that exposure typically comes at the Senior Associate level and beyond.
YOUR FIRST YEAR
We invest heavily in structured onboarding, and we expect training to take priority over client work in the early months. New Associates are not expected to take a project solo until they have demonstrated proficiency in that skill under the mentorship of an experienced colleague.
A typical first-year path includes:
- Firm and LAS onboarding — understanding our business model, strategy, services, and how Search and LAS work together.
- Core curriculum — Insight Foundations, Insight Bootcamp, Overview of Capabilities, Culture in Action, the Leadership Model, the 360s course, Writing with Impact, and ExI Bootcamp.
- Assessment — shadow full ALPs; lead 360 interviews and write the page solo; write ISP and capabilities pages; write strengths, development opportunities, and summary pages; build toward delivering a full ALP report at roughly 80 percent client readiness.
- Organizational consulting — administer and analyze ISP, culture, and team effectiveness surveys; draft group and culture reports; debrief the culture graph; support workshop design, materials, and onsite coordination.
- Business acumen — how businesses make money, different operating and ownership models, organizational structures, C-suite roles and responsibilities, and basic financial literacy. This is supported by the LAS Business Acumen Series (Business Strategy, Financial Basics, Anatomy of a Company, Engagement and Client Management).
- Consulting skills — craft a credible introduction for clients, present informed opinions and defend them with data, professionally challenge the views of others, and proactively seek feedback from every project team.
THE SUPPORT AROUND YOU
You will not be left to figure this out alone. Every new Associate is supported by a defined team:
- Talent Partner — your manager, responsible for your development, staffing, and performance, with a recurring one-on-one cadence
- Onboarding mentor — a peer who helps you navigate the Firm, its systems, and its unwritten rules
- Apprenticeship mentors — one to two Associates or Senior Associates who are your first point of contact for client work; new hires are paired with a dedicated Consultant or Senior Associate capacity for the first six to twelve months, so you learn by apprenticeship
- Engagement teams — Consultants, Associates, and Executive Engagement Assistants who coach you in the flow of the work
- The AAPM community — the Associate & Analyst Practice Member group, which runs monthly calls, coffee chats, learning cafés, and peer development programming
THE REALITIES OF THE ROLE
We would rather be direct than have you discover these after you join.
- The workload is deadline-driven and uneven. Priorities are set by client needs and Consultant schedules. There are genuinely intense stretches around report deadlines, board readouts, and workshops, and quieter stretches in between. This is client service: timelines shift, clients reschedule, and there will be occasional work outside normal hours to meet a client commitment.
- Assessment work is rigorous. Spending several hours on camera with a participant and then multiple hours writing and nuancing a report is demanding. It is also core to what we do. We balance assessment with other work to give you a variety.
- Staffing is partially relationship-based. Opportunities are influenced by the connections, trust, and internal reputation you build. Early on, you will work on what the practice needs, which may not always be the work that energizes you most. Over time, you gain far more influence over the projects and people you work with, but you have to invest in the relationships to get there.
- The work is predominantly at the most senior levels. Because we work with C-suite executives and boards, there are fewer opportunities to independently lead assessments early on than at firms that work deeper in the organization. This also leads to what makes the role great (below).
- Autonomy can feel like ambiguity. You will be trusted to manage your own time and to choose work in partnership with your Talent Partner. Not every step will be laid out for you.
- The learning curve is real. Our methodology is complex, and our quality bar is high. Most Associates, including those with directly relevant prior experience, need several months before they feel confident with the tools, frameworks, and standards. That is expected.
WHAT MAKES THIS ROLE WORTH IT
- Exposure to senior leaders and consequential decisions. Associates work directly on material that reaches C-suite executives, boards, and investors, and contributes to decisions that shape organizations. That exposure typically comes much later in a career elsewhere.
- Accelerated learning. You will see how successful leaders think, make decisions, and navigate complexity across many companies, industries, and situations in a fraction of the time it would take from inside a single organization.
- Exceptional colleagues. Our people are consistently named as the best part of working here: smart, generous with their time, deeply committed to quality, and invested in helping one another improve.
- Quality over volume. We prioritize thoughtful analysis, sound judgment, and exceptional work products over speed or scale. That creates a steeper learning curve and a far better development experience.
- Variety and breadth. Public and private companies across every major sector, and work spanning assessment, succession, culture, team effectiveness, development, and organizational effectiveness.
- Real ownership. You own workstreams, deliverables and client communications, and you have meaningful influence over your schedule, your projects and your career path.
- A developmental culture. Structured curriculum, apprenticeship mentoring, real-time feedback on every project, a published development framework and colleagues who are invested in your growth rather than competing with you.
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
Reports to
Talent Partner (Leadership Advisory Services)
Day-to-day direction
Consultants and Senior Associates, on a per-engagement basis
Career guidance
Counselor (Consultant), onboarding mentor and apprenticeship mentors
Other key relationships
Analysts; Project Managers; Executive Engagement Assistants; Content Editors; Client Care Liaisons; Knowledge Management and Solution Support; Executive Search colleagues; the Associate & Analyst Practice Member (AAPM) community
Location
Based in one of our North American offices
CANDIDATE PROFILE
IDEAL EXPERIENCE
- Generally four or more years of relevant professional experience in leadership advisory, executive assessment, management or strategy consulting, organizational development, human capital or talent management, or a relevant industry role.
- Undergraduate degree from an accredited institution. An advanced degree (for example, in organizational psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, business or a related field) is helpful but not required; relevant professional experience can substitute.
- Superior business writing skills, evidenced through project work or a writing sample provided on request
- Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex qualitative and quantitative information into clear, evidence-based insight
- Strong project management and organizational skills, with a track record of managing multiple priorities and competing deadlines
- General business acumen developed through exposure to a range of business situations and contexts
- Executive presence and interpersonal effectiveness; comfort interacting with senior leaders
- Client deliverables are written in English; superior English business writing is an essential function of the role. Additional languages are an advantage.
- Work authorization for the country in which you are applying
WHO TENDS TO THRIVE HERE
- Intellectually curious people who want to understand the “why” behind people, businesses, and organizational outcomes, and who enjoy connecting disparate pieces of information into a point of view
- People who combine intellectual confidence with genuine humility, and who engage readily with feedback and iteration
- Strong writers and communicators who take visible pride in the quality of their work and the accuracy of their details
- Self-directed people who are comfortable creating structure where none exists, figuring things out independently, and taking ownership of their own career
- Resourceful relationship builders who proactively reach out, build trust across teams, and adapt their style to different perso
