Consultant

Company Overview

Focus Strategies is a national consulting firm based on the West Coast dedicated to helping communities improve efforts to end homelessness through community-based planning, informed by local data and national best practices. For more than 18 years, we have provided consulting to jurisdictional and community leadership in communities across the country to support their efforts to reduce homelessness.

We are dedicated to partnering with communities through strategic consulting and technical assistance to design and implement housing-focused, equity-informed, and person-centered solutions that reduce homelessness. We are committed to working with our clients to understand their community’s context, including the experience and dynamics of homelessness in the region as well as the unique strengths and challenges of existing strategies. Together, we partner with our clients to develop programs, create strategic action plans, identify policy solutions, and evaluate efforts to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

Position Overview

Project Management

• Serve as the project manager for consulting and technical assistance contracts relating to homelessness response system development and planning.

Research and Analysis

• Conduct research and analyses related to homelessness response systems and programs, identifying key findings, and proposing person-centered, data- and equity-informed solutions.
• Analyze data from single systems (e.g. homelessness) and multiple disciplines, including health, mental health, homelessness, and affordable housing.
• With support from analytics team colleagues, synthesize research findings into recommendations for practice.

Technical and Policy Writing

• Author Focus Strategies technical documents, publications, and reports, including developing report outline and structure, drafting content, integrating feedback from supervisor and client, and producing final content.

Planning and Design

• Deliver a range of planning and design activities to help communities develop systems and policies to end or reduce homelessness through an equity- and data-informed lens, including community input processes, data analysis, documentation of existing and proposed system processes and structures in both written and chart form, and best practices research.

Training Development

• Develop training and technical assistance materials for a range of audiences (e.g. providers, policy makers, funders, professional meetings), tailor materials to client needs, make presentations and deliver trainings, assess results, and modify over time to meet needs.

Internal and External Relations

• Work closely and collaboratively with supervisor and company leadership to set priorities, organize project workflow, and provide timely updates.
• Engage with diverse communities of clients, partner organizations, and people experiencing homelessness to collect and accurately interpret information about existing systems and possible solutions; Facilitate meetings using mindful and anti-racist strategies to promote participation and inclusion.
• Make presentations to community stakeholders.
• Represent clients in meetings to identify and resolve problems including speaking publicly in formal and informal settings.

Additional Responsibilities

• Actively participate in continuous learning and process and product improvement efforts with the Focus team.
• Engage in Focus Strategies collective processes (e.g., discussions, readings, committees) to advance equity-informed internal and client work approaches.
• Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related tasks as needed.

What the Consultant will Gain from Position

• Advanced experience with complex policy, technical, and community issues using a systems approach within the field of ending and reducing homelessness.
• Ability to develop innovative solutions and analyses to common and emerging problems related to homelessness response systems of care.
• Opportunity to deepen skills in program, systems, and policy analysis using data and information from multiple sources.
• Be the lead support to communities working to reduce homelessness.
• Opportunity to lead the development of complex plans, evaluations, and reports.
• Experience with consultation for public benefit.
• Increasing responsibility over time.
• Opportunity to be part of an evolving and growing consultation practice.
• Opportunity to work with an expert and dedicated team of professionals in a fast-paced and supportive work environment.

Requirements

• A passion for ending homelessness with a commitment to data-informed public policy, including advancing equity for marginalized communities.
• A graduate degree in sociology, public policy, social work, or a related field (at least four years of experience in a management role in the homelessness response field may substitute for a graduate degree).
• At least three years of substantive/system-level experience in homelessness response.
• At least three years of experience developing high quality written analyses of homelessness response programs, populations, and dynamics.
• Understanding of racism, oppression, and the ways in which systems interplay to cause homelessness and housing instability, and the ability to appropriately engages clients where they are to fluently advance equity throughout the work.
• Ability to work effectively with people of diverse races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expression, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, ages, English-speaking abilities, immigration status, and physical abilities in a multicultural environment.
• Knowledge of nonprofit and government structures (including roles and responsibilities of client partners and their stakeholders).
• Experience in client/customer support, adjusting materials and approach to meet client/customer needs.
• Demonstrated understanding of interview techniques and meeting/group facilitation.
• Successful track record of developing and executing workplans for complex projects.
• Ability to assess and interpret quantitative and qualitative data about homelessness and homeless programs and systems.
• Strong verbal and analytical skills, superior technical writing skills.
• Flexibility - must be able to work with shifts in priorities on a daily and weekly basis.
• Willingness to do whatever is needed to support projects and staff in accomplishing work.
• Excellent attention to detail and self-directed.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
• Able to travel occasionally throughout the West Coast and rarely to other areas.
• Ability to operate a computer for 8 hours per day.
• Ability to give and receive detailed information through verbal and written communication.
• Ability to perform activities such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, expansive reading.
• Ability to set up and maintain a safe and ergonomic workspace in home environment with minimal paper file management, including receiving occasional office supply shipments, rare shipping of equipment for repair, and carrying laptop and files or occasional all-day travel.
• Must reside in the United States and be able to provide proof of U.S. employment eligibility at the time of hire.

Preferred skills and aptitudes

• Bilingual skills (English and Spanish written and oral fluency preferred).

Location:                     Remote, United States (preferably California or West Coast)

Reports to:                  Senior Consultant

Status:                         Full-time, exempt

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and in alignment with our company values, we strive to attract and maintain a workplace that reflects a broad spectrum of diversity.

Benefits

• Paid time off (vacation, sick time, and 10 holidays)
• 401(k) with 4% salary match and profit sharing
• Health, dental, and vision
• Flexible spending plans
• Short and long-term disability insurance
• Compensation: $85,000-115,000 (most candidates join us at the lower half of the range to leave room for growth, learning, and development; we negotiate actual salaries with final candidates based on experience in similar roles and expertise related to qualifications)