Senior Consultant - Education & Skills Policy

About ICF

ICF (www.icf.com) is a consultancy firm with offices in the UK, Belgium, US and worldwide. At ICF, we help governments, public agencies and international institutions solve complex problems and improve the quality of life of people around the world. We offer critical insight, rigorous analytical techniques and implementation support to deliver innovative solutions and thought-provoking analyses for our clients.

Today, ICF is a global consulting services company with over 9,000 full- and part-time employees, but we are not your typical consultants. Working at ICF means applying a passion for meaningful work with intellectual rigor to help solve the leading issues of our day. We believe in collaboration, mutual respect, open communication, and opportunity for growth.

About the role:

We are looking for a Senior Consultant to join our well-established Policy Implementation and Programmes practice (Policy in Action Team). The practice provides technical assistance, insights, research, networking and other implementation services to EU institutions, particularly the European Commission, as well as organisations in the UK. Our portfolio in designing and implementing large-scale programmes for the European Commission and UK government is expanding. To support this growth, we are looking for a Senior Consultant who is able to take forward the policy content and organisational aspects of our work, especially in the field of education and skills policy. 

You will join our Policy in Action team which manages a spectrum of programmes, including the EQAVET Network, European Network of Graduate Tracking, and providing expertise and support for European Cooperation in education, training, youth, culture, sport, research and innovation, and mutual learning services on youth unemployment, minimum income, deinstitutionalisation and many other topics. Your work will be hands-on and varied, ranging from overseeing the preparation of thematic and analytical papers, identifying good practices in European countries and developing content for communication and dissemination purposes, through to supporting practical learning and networking in the form of working groups, workshops, study visits, seminars, etc. This is grounded in a solid understanding and application of the policy subject-matter, as well as an ability to interact with many stakeholders, such as national ministries, international organisations, non-governmental bodies, independent experts. This naturally requires a flair for good writing and communication in a multi-national environment.

You could work across more than one project and be expected to:

• Support the management of large programmes and have a leading role in delivering specific activities or strands of work within programmes. Programme-related activities aim to build capacity and support peer learning in different structures, ranging from established thematic working groups and policy networks to one-off peer learning events.
• Prepare and oversee reports, presentations and other written deliverables for a range of audiences, from technical annual reports through to website content.
• Contribute to the design and organisation of face-to-face, virtual and hybrid workshops and events, supported by a dedicated event logistics and technical team. With a strong focus on content development for our senior consultants, this includes developing elements of the agenda, writing summaries, and facilitating event discussions.
• Contribute to proposal-writing and preparations, including writing sections of the technical offer, and identifying and coordinating with relevant experts.
• Undertake other consultancy tasks, as required.

At Senior Consultant level, in particular, you will typically take forward and coordinate packages of activities and deliverables, as well as be more involved in project and line management and more complex proposal-writing, where opportunities arise.

Required experience:

• University degree or equivalent in a related discipline, for example law, public policy, politics, economics
• 6+ years professional experience, including project management, in consultancy, public policy and/or government affairs in the EU and/or UK
• Knowledge and interest in education and training policy, ideally in relation to VET, higher education and graduate tracking.
• Strong organisational and coordination skills, including time management, multi-tasking and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including interacting with multi-national and multi-disciplinary stakeholders.
• Solid foundation in research and analysis, including basic qualitative and quantitative methods. 
• Knowledge of communications methods and tools in the context of disseminating outputs

Personal Qualities:

• Ability to self-organise, prioritise and manage/ work with multiple work strands and teams in parallel under tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• High level of ability and confidence to perform tasks with minimum supervision
• Ability to work flexibly to meet client and organisational priorities and needs
• Sound research and business ethics, including the protection of proprietary and confidential information
• Excellent verbal, written, analytical and communication skills in English - additional European languages an advantage
• Commitment to the progression and development of junior research / other staff
• Ability to work with all levels of internal staff, as well as clients and sub-contractors
• Ability to work within multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary teams spread across several countries
• Willingness to travel within Europe, as required
• Entrepreneurial talent to identify and realise new opportunities, as well as new innovations / approaches that will improve efficiency

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