[Hiring] Senior Broadband Consultant @Rural Innovation Strategies Inc.

Our values

Rural America is a place of untapped potential. As an organization, we believe it takes a culture of collaboration — one built upon integrity, respect, and trust — to achieve equity and help rural people and places take on meaningful roles in the 21st-century tech economy.

About Us

Rural Innovation Strategies, Inc. (RISI) is a social impact nonprofit consulting firm with a multi-disciplinary team of strategists, advocates, and capacity builders.

Our capabilities reflect the depth and breadth of our commitment to serve rural America, and the local leaders there working to advance tech-enabled economic development. Our work provides critical support to secure funding, develop infrastructure, and implement the programs needed to unlock the potential of America’s small towns and cities.

Rural America is home to 12% of the U.S. workforce, but just 5% of the tech workforce. In the age of innovation, this disparity has led to an unprecedented economic divide in our nation. We work with rural communities across the country as they build tech economies that support scalable entrepreneurship and tech job creation. From assessments and strategic planning to securing funding and launching accelerators, our team supports communities through the entirety of their tech-based economic development journey.

RISI and its collaborating organization, the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), are headquartered in a historic general store building in the village of Hartland, Vermont, part of New England’s Upper Valley and greater Dartmouth College region.

Job Summary:

This role is responsible for leading projects to develop a community’s broadband infrastructure, or support a state in broadband planning work. RISI’s approach centers on supporting public sector leaders in rural communities who do not have the infrastructure needed to support 21st century jobs. This role will independently lead client projects, delivering high quality client services to a variety of public sector leaders as they move from initial ideation, through pre-development and feasibility, through funding acquisition and finally into construction.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Senior Broadband Consultants will be expected to lead a small team of 1-2 Broadband Analyst or Broadband Consultant level positions

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Lead full capacity-building and/or consulting projects to communities or states:
  • Manage small teams working on multiple projects
  • Track project financials and profitability, and make work adjustments to work streams and strategies as needed
  • Communicate technical broadband infrastructure topics to clients - developing clear, actionable materials and recommendations move our clients forward in building broadband infrastructure
  • Prepare and present quantitative data analysis of community’s broadband indicators, as necessary by project
  • Create, analyze, and adapt financial models on a variety of topics related to broadband implementation
  • Identify and engage local leadership and partners necessary to ensure strategy development and deployment
  • Lead virtual and in-person client meetings
  • Support communities to achieve fundraising and partnership goals for building broadband infrastructure
  • Internally collaborate with organizational staff to support communities in the long term
  • Improve processes and tools used in broadband work with rural communities
• Create fully polished, strategic deliverables including written reports, decks, financial models, with little to no work product input from broadband practice-head

• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements

Required Skills/Attributes:

• Demonstrated experience with creating high quality client deliverables in a professional services environment

• Exceptional verbal communication skills, including active listening, small group facilitation, and public speaking
• Strong writing skills and experience developing powerful deck presentations
• Ability to execute quantitative data analysis
• Demonstrated strength in rigorous research/analysis and structured problem solving
• Demonstrated ability to interact well and manage relationships with a diverse range of people, experiences, and constituencies
• Self-directed, and able to thrive in a collaborative team environment
• Ability to organize and prioritize multiple tasks/projects in a fast-paced and entrepreneurial environment
• Committed to the belief that rural America provides real economic opportunity and that sustainable, future-focused development is necessary to bridging geographic and economic divides facing our country

Education and Experience:

• 5+ years of relevant experience, in professional services with aligned or adjacent subject matter
  • Experience with specific practice area of telecom, utilities, infrastructure is required
• Experience with facilitating meetings and workshops and/or giving presentations
• Experience managing a budget, P/Ls, and managing an individual or team, a strong plus
• Strong computer skills, including use of Google Suite, web based collaboration and project management tools, and virtual presentation platforms

Physical Requirements:

Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Travel via car and/or airplane

Location:

This is a remote position, however periodic travel to rural communities across the United States, as well as to the CORI/RISI headquarters in Vermont for strategic planning and alignment with the team is required.

Benefits

• Personal and professional development opportunities
• Health, dental, vision, and short-term disability insurance
• 15 days PTO (accrued) plus 8 floating holidays (pro-rated based on start date)
• Employer matched 401k after 90 days
• The salary for this position is $90-110K depending on experience

Must be authorized to work in the US - no sponsorship offered at this time