Principal Consultant

Position Summary:

The Principal Consultant leads complex Federal consulting engagements, major workstreams, or cross-cutting program functions. Principals establish the delivery strategy, earn executive trust, integrate multiple disciplines, make quality and risk decisions, and ensure that recommendations become practical, Government-owned capabilities. They are broad consulting leaders with recognized depth in one or more domains, not permanent single-tool specialists.

Compensation & Benefits:

Starting Salary Range for Principal Consultant: $140,000 – $170,000

Benefits That Set Us Apart

When considering your next opportunity, compensation is only part of the picture. We offer a benefits package designed to invest in your future and support your life outside of work.

Highlights include:

• Up to a 6% 401(k) company match to help you build long-term financial security

• Paid time off as part of our comprehensive benefits package, so you have the flexibility to rest, recharge, and enjoy what matters most

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus prescription drug coverage

• Basic life and AD&D insurance, with supplemental life options

• Short-term and long-term disability coverage

• Paid holidays

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) options

• Professional development, training, and certification support

• Voluntary benefits including accident, critical illness, and identity theft protection

Because taking care of our employees isn’t just a promise, it’s part of who we are.

Benefits are subject to change and eligibility requirements apply.

Essential Functions, Duties & Responsibilities:

Includes the following:

• Lead an engagement, technical workstream, or cross-cutting program function with accountability for outcomes, quality, schedule, risk, and client trust.

• Frame complex enterprise problems and set a practical, evidence-driven delivery strategy.

• Establish governance, roles, decision rights, workplans, quality standards, performance measures, and acceptance approaches.

• Advise executives; facilitate difficult decisions; articulate tradeoffs, dependencies, risks, and implementation implications.

• Integrate mission, acquisition, financial, data, technology, process, organizational, and workforce perspectives.

• Direct development of roadmaps, operating models, acquisition strategies, implementation-ready recommendations, executive briefings, and transition products.

• Review and approve major work products; ensure evidence is valid, limitations are visible, and conclusions are defensible.

• Build and deploy balanced teams; coach Senior Consultants and Consultants; address performance and capacity issues early.

• Manage client relationships and coordinate with contract, corporate, partner, and Government leadership within delegated authority.

• Develop reusable intellectual capital, broaden staff capability, support growth, and help move people across assignments as demand changes.

• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

No supervisory/management authority

Basic Qualifications:

Customer & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Exceptional problem framing, executive facilitation, writing, briefing, negotiation, and decision-support skills.

• Demonstrated success developing people, reusable methods, trusted client relationships, and sustainable client capabilities.

• Learning Agility and Curiosity: Learns the client system rapidly and connects insights across disciplines.

• Trustworthiness and Commitment: Protects client and company trust and stands behind the team’s commitments.

Leadership & Team Development:

• Team-First Collaboration: Builds low-ego teams, removes barriers, and shares opportunity and credit.

• Resilience and Positive Energy: Provides calm, constructive leadership during uncertainty, conflict, and pressure.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Typically 10+ years of progressively responsible Federal consulting, transformation, acquisition, program leadership, data, process, governance, change, or related experience.

• Demonstrated accountability for major workstreams, multi-disciplinary teams, executive stakeholders, quality, risk, and accepted outcomes.

• Ability to integrate diverse disciplines and convert ambiguity into an executable operating approach.

• Ownership and Bias for Action: Creates momentum, makes accountable decisions, and owns the outcome end to end.

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer; may occasionally require standing or moving about the office for extended periods.

• Must pass pre-employment qualifications of Cherokee Federal.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Requirements development and management, business analysis, traceability, capability analysis, or systems analysis.

• Federal acquisition, contracting, procurement, strategic sourcing, category management, or contract-portfolio analysis.

• Data inventory, normalization, quality, analysis, visualization, dashboard design, Power BI, Tableau, Excel, SQL, or related tools.

• Enterprise process improvement, operating-model design, governance, decision rights, performance measurement, or Lean Six Sigma.

• Organizational change, stakeholder engagement, communications, facilitation, training, roadshows, or adoption measurement.

• Program or project management, integrated scheduling, risk and dependency management, quality assurance, PWS development, or executive reporting.

• DHS, CISA, cybersecurity, or another complex Federal mission environment; ability to obtain and maintain required suitability and access.

• Federal project and program management experience; PMP a big plus

• Experience in Enterprise Business process optimization, federal contract portfolio management, federal change management

• Experience generating data visualization dashboards a big plus

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant experience; advanced degree or senior professional certification preferred.

Work Environment:

Work is performed primarily in a climate-controlled environment.