Associate

About Incandescent

Incandescent is a strategy consulting and venture development firm; we advise leaders, conduct research, and work with founders to build companies. We serve CEOs of Fortune 500 companies across a range of industries (similar to a traditional management consulting firm), founders of early- and growth-stage ventures (often compensated with equity in our client’s venture), and visionary leaders in social sector organizations (such as The Rockefeller Foundation and Acumen). Across these different types of engagements, our focus is often on collaborating with leaders to drive solutions at the intersection of strategy and organization. Founded in 2013, we’ve been building a small team, slowly and carefully. Each team member plays an integral part in developing Incandescent as a firm that discovers better ways to create, build and run organizations. 

Essence of the Role

We're looking for a team member who can “hit the ground running” at our ten-year-old firm. We intend to hire one or two associates this year to focus primarily on advisory work, while also contributing to our work in venture development and research. The breadth of our work and intensity of our small team structure make this role demanding and fast-paced, a strong learning and development opportunity with significant client exposure and a steep learning curve. New associates quickly step into ownership roles with significant responsibility.

Serving as an advisor and consultant, in small teams (generally 2-4 people), working directly for senior stakeholders. Our small team size gives each team member significant client-facing responsibility from the beginning. As generalists, we serve clients on a broad range of issues, including strategy, organizational design, organizational change, culture, and capability-building.

Building Incandescent! Whether it’s helping push our research agenda or developing our systems and processes, we each play an active role in firm-building.

Attributes

• You are intellectually curious. You seek a deeper understanding of how organizations in all sectors perform best. You’re fascinated by business problems and seek ways to connect the dots between practical and theoretical knowledge. You have diverse interests, tied together by a sincere desire to make a difference and be part of large missions.
• You are empathetic. You have the capacity to imagine how the world looks to others and to build bonds of trust even in difficult circumstances. You love being part of a team, and thrive on being able to take initiative and contribute in group settings.
• You are disciplined and intentional. You consistently follow through, and you translate intentions and decisions into sustained effort and results. You’re resilient as you face challenges, setbacks, and opportunities to learn.
• You are action-oriented and resourceful. You entrepreneurially seek opportunities to make a difference; you are flexible and comfortable with ambiguity.
• You have an incredibly high drive to learn. You are committed to honest self-examination and open feedback from others. You are willing to take risks and fail and to invest in doing whatever it takes to grow into an exceptional performer.

Experience/Background

We are looking for individuals with 2 to 4 years of relevant job experience in business, consulting, finance, or in settings where learnings would rapidly translate to impact in a business setting. We’re especially interested in candidates who have project team experience, who have owned analytical work, and who have demonstrated entrepreneurialism in past roles.

Why the Role is Compelling

Working with our close-knit, high-performing team, you’ll have the opportunity to learn and grow both from the experience of working with our extraordinary clients and with our growing body of theory and research. Incandescent team members are exposed to an unusually wide range of people and issues across both the business and social sectors, and actively participate in building our internal infrastructure and intellectual capital. You’ll be part of an accomplished and diverse team in which each individual is committed to rapid development of themselves and others. We’re exceptionally focused on how work gets done, and are deeply committed to excellence in both results and in the thoughtfulness and intentionality we each bring to our daily work.