Role Overview: The Principal is a leader within McChrystal Group's Implementation Practice, the team that partners with senior executives to lead long-term, transformational engagements that blend leadership advisory, process improvement, and the design of systems that enable coordinated performance at scale. Implementation teams help clients translate strategy into action by building the capabilities that sustain results long after our engagement ends.
As a Principal, you will lead entire client engagements, shaping strategy, defining success, and guiding cross-functional teams from diagnosis through sustained execution. You'll serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders while ensuring delivery excellence across multiple workstreams. Principals operate with significant autonomy and influence - owning relationships, shaping the firm's approach, and driving both client and commercial outcomes.
Our work blends consulting discipline with operational execution. In one engagement, you might help a Fortune 100 company design and drive a global leadership and operating model transformation; in another, you might embed with a state government to rewire how critical services are delivered across a complex network of stakeholders. Every project is high-impact, hands-on, and built around measurable results.
Client Delivery and Impact- Lead complex, multi-phase engagements from launch through execution, defining scope, deliverables, and success measures.
- Drive measurable outcomes that tie directly to client performance and strategic value.
- Oversee multiple workstreams and ensure coordinated execution across teams and stakeholder groups.
- Establish and maintain disciplined project management structures that enable transparency, accountability, and adaptability.
- Anticipate and mitigate risks, resolve issues proactively, and adjust delivery to evolving client needs.
- Monitor engagement economics (staffing, utilization, realization) to balance commercial health with client success.
Client Engagement and Business Development- Serve as a trusted advisor to senior client executives; lead relationship strategy across major accounts.
- Identify and pursue new opportunities within existing portfolios; shape proposals and statements of work.
- Build and deliver executive-level presentations and pitches; coach teams on compelling storytelling and strategic communication.
- Represent McChrystal Group's distinctive value proposition with clarity, confidence, and credibility.
Leadership and Team Development- Lead and develop engagement teams, delegating with intention and providing consistent coaching and feedback.
- Champion firm values across engagements - embedding Ship / Shipmate / Self and Client First principles into team norms and decision-making.
- Foster innovation in delivery by encouraging experimentation, sharing learnings, and scaling what works.
Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement- Capture lessons learned and codify successful practices to strengthen the firm's collective knowledge base.
- Lead efforts to refine delivery frameworks, methodologies, and measurement tools.
- Contribute to the development of new intellectual property and approaches that advance McChrystal Group's thought leadership.
Firm Growth and Culture- Contribute to firm growth through recruiting, industry engagement, and thought leadership.
- Pursue ongoing personal and professional development through mentorship, client exposure, and continuous learning.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree required; MBA or similar advanced degree preferred.
- 10+ years of professional experience, ideally including consulting or relevant private-sector leadership.
- Proven ability to lead large, complex programs and manage cross-functional teams.
- Exceptional client relationship skills, with executive presence and strategic communication capability.
- Demonstrated success developing and mentoring high-performing team members.
- Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities with attention to detail.
- Proficiency in MS Office and comfort with data-driven storytelling.
- Ability and desire to travel up to 75%.
