Associate Consultant

Associate Consultant at Ascension

As an Associate Consultant on the Strategic Integration Team at Ascension, you will play a crucial role in supporting the organization by implementing national strategic and operational initiatives. This position involves close collaboration with executive stakeholders across all business areas to address Ascension’s most significant and complex challenges. Success in this role demands exceptional critical thinking, relationship-building, and organizational skills to analyze intricate data, develop strategic and tactical approaches, synthesize diverse stakeholder visions, and deliver timely results. You will also contribute significantly to the team by onboarding new associates.

Project Management and Change Management

• Support the implementation of new healthcare strategies and processes of low to medium complexity across Ascension by identifying critical next steps, tracking project tasks and goals, and ensuring stakeholder accountability.
• Assist in the design and execution of implementation and change management plans, including workstream development, formal and informal communications, business transformation, end-user training, and success measurement.
• Ensure effective meeting management through facilitating discussions, taking detailed notes, and sending comprehensive follow-up and summary emails that highlight key points, action items, and maintain alignment to drive initiatives forward.
• Aid in the activation of the Ascension National Incident Command Center (ICC) during extreme crises by collaborating with national and local leaders and associates, reporting updates to key stakeholders, tracking action items, and facilitating workstream calls as needed.

Relationship Building

• Rapidly build strong relationships by demonstrating executive presence among senior leaders, providing exceptional customer service, maintaining situational awareness, and proactively extending hospitality to all project stakeholders, including leaders, end-users, and external parties.

Deliverable Creation

• Develop comprehensive business cases for national initiatives, including detailed cost/benefit and pro forma financial analyses, persuasive funding justifications, and well-structured implementation schedules and strategies.
• Utilize both internal and external data sources and research to inform project decision-making and implementation strategies.
• Prepare insightful analyses and reports from various data sources, delivering clear, easy-to-understand conclusions and recommendations tailored to the target audience.
• Create, review, and present executive-level deliverables, such as weekly project updates, status reports, and presentations for specific workstreams or projects.
• Research and develop innovative solutions to continuously enhance the team’s processes and effectiveness across current and future initiatives.

People Management

• Assist in recruiting efforts by participating in interviews, and contribute to the onboarding process by serving as a peer partner for new team members, facilitating their integration into the team culture, and transferring essential team and organizational knowledge.

Requirements

• Education: High School diploma equivalency with 3 years of cumulative experience OR Associate's/Bachelor's degree with 2 years of cumulative experience OR 7 years of applicable cumulative job-specific experience required.
• 3 years of leadership or management experience preferred.

Key skills/competency

• Project Management
• Change Management
• Strategic Planning
• Data Analysis
• Stakeholder Collaboration
• Executive Presence
• Business Case Development
• Financial Analysis
• Healthcare Operations
• Problem Solving