Principal Consultants

Q5 are looking for Principal Consultants to join our highly diverse and talented team in London. We are an international award-winning consulting firm, specialising in organisational health. From cracking strategic challenges, and designing the most effective organisational structures to building capability in teams, we help companies work better and smarter. 

We work in three tightly linked domains to help organisations transform: Strategy (setting the right direction), Design (creating operating models to deliver the strategy) and People & Change (developing people and putting the elements in place to make the change work). We do this across a large variety of sectors, including Media & Technology, Retail & Consumer Goods, Health and Public Sector & Not-For-Profits.

Why do companies choose us

We are firm believers in making the change that matters and change that lasts – otherwise what’s the point? We deliver this by taking a partnership approach with our clients, collaborating meaningfully across our projects to deliver tailored solutions that clients own and embed. 

What you’ll be doing

Our Principal Consultants are responsible for running whole project workstreams which deliver great outcomes for our clients.  There are three core focus areas that we use when thinking about consulting at Q5:

• Business Development
• Project Delivery; and
• Practice Management

Business Development

• You will evaluate the scope of a brief or RfP (Response for Proposal) from a client, develop the strategy to win the work, execute and lead the proposal team from start to end.
• You will contribute to proposals and bids with expert insight from previous projects and experience.
• You will peer review proposals, this may be a single project or an element of a larger programme.
• You assess the resource needs of a piece of work and develop the right commercial approach for an individual piece of work.

Project Delivery

• You will independently mobilise project teams ensuring that all members are knowledgeable about their role.
• You will proactively manage stakeholder relationships within the Q5 client.
• You will manage the team including their professional development, performance and wellbeing.
• You will identify and/or execute mitigations to project risk as well as being able to manage multiple projects, have experience of different project/client environments and bring this to the client to help solve their problems.
• You will draw on experience from multiple clients, sectors and projects to inform effective delivery and establish credibility with the client.
• You will manage the commercials – budget and resource for large projects.

Practice Management

• You will take responsibility for mentoring one or more of our Consultants or Senior Consultants, helping them to drive their development as well as managing performance conversations with confidence and clarity.
• You will support the Q5’s Buddy system and get involved in assisting in the onboarding of new joiners.
• You will contribute to the Q5 ecosystem by leading the development of new concepts, delivering training and leading committees.

Skills and Attributes
You will have:

• Significant demonstrable experience of leading projects and teams in a similar consulting environment or significant demonstrable experience working in industry.
• A good Bachelor’s degree or above
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrable ability to lead projects.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills to develop and deliver engaging workshops with complex and detailed subject matter.
• Keen attention to detail.
• Intellectual curiosity, be able to learn as you go, and problem solve challenges you come across.
• Drive and be self-starting and a keenness to get the best outcomes for clients.
• Demonstrable confidence and credibility with senior stakeholders and the ability to foster genuine client relationships quickly.
• Demonstrable ability to supervise and mentor others and help to foster a learning mindset in other members of the team.

Ideally you will also have:

• A good understanding of other project delivery tools e.g. Menti, Mural.
• Proven experience in one or more of the sectors that Q5 operates in.
• Proven experience in one or more of Q5’s offerings.

The sort of person we are look for at Q5

• Highly adaptable and flexible in thinking style – We often find ourselves working across a variety of contexts and a ‘simple’ challenge turns out to be much more complex than it first appears. You need to be able to quickly join the dots together and develop a plan to move forward. You also need to be able to adapt that plan when it is not working.
• Collaborative in working style – This is one of our key differentiators. It’s not about being the smartest person in the room but instead helping to bring different stakeholders together to create a solution that works for the business. There is a “we” not “I” mindset
• Genuinely care about your clients and colleague and help them to succeed– When Q5 was founded it was to be more than a typical, transactional consulting firm. We are genuine partners with our clients focused on their long-term success, which means we hire people who a wired to care, be empathetic and get joy from seeing others succeed.
• Can build trusted relationships and bring people on the journey– One of the things our clients say about us is that we are able to bring people together and take them on the journey. This role will require building (and sustaining) people trust and engaging key people in the business to craft the right answer
• Resilient in the face of challenges, tight timelines and demanding clients – We continually strive to create a positive working environment, but the reality of our work is that it is hard and therefore not for everyone. The people who succeed at Q5 can work under the pressure without losing their sense of humour or care for others.
• You get your hands dirty and step-up – We have a flat structure. If you enjoy getting stuck into a client’s challenge, pushing the team forward and solving problems with others you will thrive. We pride ourselves on developing our junior team members and creating supportive environments where people can bring their true selves to work (and in turn do their best work). We're firm believers that everyone needs to roll up their sleeves to get the job done!
• Unique and offers something special – We don’t do cookie-cutter or formulaic and we need people who think differently, are intensely curious about solving our clients’ problems and stand-out from the crowd.

Feel free to reach out to us for an initial exploratory conversation:

Janine Shellard, Experienced Hires Lead (Global) – janine.shellard@q5partners.com