Who We Are

Root Cause is a pragmatic partner to nonprofits, foundations, and governments. Our passion: generating higher performance for mission-driven organizations. For over a decade, Root Cause has pioneered an efficient, evidence-driven approach to strategic business planning, financial sustainability, performance measurement, and assessments. We work across the social sector, with particular expertise in education, employment, and health. Our consultants partner with funders and nonprofit leaders to solve their most complex organizational and programmatic challenges, and implement what’s needed to turn strategies into action. Together, we improve outcomes, grantmaking, and most importantly, people’s lives—faster, better, smarter, at greater scale.

Over 200 nonprofit organizations, foundations, and governments have partnered with Root Cause to clarify what matters, target their actions, and see stronger results. The Root Cause team is known for taking an approach that is collaborative, pragmatic, and implementation-focused, leveraging a team-based model that gives clients the expertise and conceptual skillsets typically found in management consulting firms in the context of seasoned, hands-on nonprofit and business experience. For more information, please visit:http://www.rootcause.org.

THE ROLE

Root Cause’s advisory services teams are assigned regionally and nationally to a wide variety of projects in education and youth development, health and wellness, and economic development.

Analysts typically come to us after working professionally for three to five years beyond completion of a higher education degree, and combine that experience with a passion to make the world a better place. Analysts are the linchpins of our client engagement teams. They play an active role in all stages of client service delivery – researching questions with no easy answers; communicating insights to government, nonprofit, and social sector leaders; and implementing practical solutions to help organizations grow and scale their impact. Our analysts can’t resist a well-designed Excel model, love to creatively problem solve, and manage projects down to the smallest details. Responsibilities will vary from one project to the next (and even from day to day), which gives analysts many opportunities for learning and professional development.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

At Root Cause, we come to work to move the needle on issues that matter. You will be a thought partner to social sector leaders and work together with internal and external team members to develop analysis and tools to accelerate the performance of high-impact organizations.

Root Cause entrusts analysts with a high level of responsibility for – and helps them hone their skills in – project management, research, qualitative and quantitative analysis, development of client deliverables, meeting facilitation, and public speaking. Analysts also have internal leadership opportunities at the firm, including participation on Equity Committee, Culture Committee, and service improvement working groups.

Root Cause is made up of passionate, smart, and collaborative employees who come from a diverse range of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. Our work culture is collegial, entrepreneurial, and flexible.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree candidates are also welcome to apply)
• 3-5 years of professional work experience
• Demonstrated commitment to and/or work experience in the nonprofit sector (volunteer or paid)
• Strong research, analytical, writing, and presentation skills
• Ability to connect daily tasks with overall strategy/direction of the project (strong strategic thinker)
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects/tasks, and attention to detail
• Experience with project management
• Experience working collaboratively as part of a team
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to develop and manage relationships at different levels
• Willingness to engage with, and learn about, cultural competency and equity-related issues
• Ability to take initiative and operate with limited oversight/direction
• Strong Microsoft Office skills (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), including experience using Excel for data analysis and/or financial modeling
• Strategy consulting experience preferred
• Experience with Salesforce, WordPress, Vertical Response, and online survey tools (e.g., SurveyGizmo and Survey Monkey) are a plus

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Project management, including meeting planning and scheduling, prioritization of tasks, and development of workplans/timelines to keep multiple projects running effectively
• Conduct primary and secondary research, engage in rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses, synthesize findings, and develop strategic insights to move projects forward
• Draft, edit, and format materials (in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel) in preparation for client meetings and finalize high-quality internal and external deliverables with support from senior team members
• Analyze financial information and build financial models
• Develop, execute, and analyze surveys using online survey tools
• Develop strong relationships, and communicate as needed, with clients and other stakeholder groups
• Operational support as needed (e.g., development of project pricing models, printing final deliverables)
• In addition, analysts participate in strengthening advisory services in the following ways:
  • Support business development
  • Contribute to building the infrastructure and capacity of the organization
  • Research and write content for internal and external publications

TO APPLY

Submit your cover letter and resume via our online application: ONLINE APPLICATION FOR WORKING AT ROOT CAUSE