Job  Board

NPAG is an executive search and consulting firm that supports healthy leadership transitions and growth for mission-driven organizations. Our core business is expanding the capacity and diversity of nonprofits by helping them build exceptional teams of leaders, changemakers, connectors, and disruptors to advance the missions they serve.

Over our 20+ years in business, we have developed a team and company platform that operates virtually throughout the U.S. and globally to serve clients flexibly. Our staff span all regions of the U.S. and beyond and represent a wide range of diverse experiences, perspectives, identities, and both functional and mission-based subject matter expertise. We offer a creative, energetic, family-friendly workplace environment.

The results of our work speak for themselves: we cultivate authentic, meaningful, long-term relationships with our clients and candidates, and we continue to diversify our service offerings to meet their evolving needs. To cite just two measures of our core search business, over 70% of our placements since 2020 identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color, two-thirds identify as women, and 92% are in their roles two years post-hire.

Senior Associates bring strong project management skills, a deep value for equity and a commitment to delivering excellent value to our clients and their search leads. Senior Associates help steward the entire life cycle of our searches, representing our clients’ interests and cultivating and supporting a diverse array of candidates. They actively manage and/or lead phases of the search process, including but not limited to coordination with clients and search committees, sourcing and screening candidates, developing assessment tools and client materials, and checking references.

THE ROLE

Senior Associates drive the day-to-day search process and provide critical project management for the full search life cycle. Senior Associates manage key aspects of our search engagements, including network mapping, candidate outreach, sourcing, screening, and developing increased fluency in client service and search strategy with guidance from search leads and Managing Associates. Internally, Senior Associates actively contribute to our learning and development as a company and contribute to our knowledgebase, systems, and business development efforts.

Senior Associates:

1. Actively manage and/or lead phases of search processes, including but not limited to network mapping and outreach, screening and stewarding candidates, cultivating intersectionally diverse, highly vetted candidate pools, developing assessment tools and client deliverables for meetings, and conducting in depth references and vetting.
2. Contribute to and execute research strategies to build diverse candidate pipelines, develop candidate archetypes, and partner with external research contractors to identify prospective candidates, industry sources, and relevant talent networks and job boards.
3. Deeply understand the client’s vision for the role and develop tools and strategies to effectively assess candidates against a clear set of competencies and functional/content expertise.
4. Engage in an authentic, welcoming and timely way with leaders and network sources, developing candid and compelling narratives about leadership opportunities, answering questions and gathering, recording, and synthesizing learning. 
5. Proactively manage communication and drive progress toward milestones with NPAG team members and clients to keep projects on track and exceed expectations.
6. Oversee the coordination and preparation of detailed meeting materials and deliverables, including position descriptions, competency rubrics, framing memos, and candidate summaries and analyses. Ensure exceptional quality and strategic relevance.
7. Build, manage, and nurture client and candidate relationships with the goal of ensuring excellent candidate experiences, client satisfaction, and securing repeat business.
8. Develop effective marketing messaging and strategy to communicate the role and client to prospective candidates.
9. Analyze candidate profiles and experiences to provide insightful assessments to clients and search leads.
10. Identify potential business opportunities derived from existing client relationships and networking conversations and coordinate with search lead on appropriate follow-up.
11. Design and refine project strategies and processes to ensure successful outcomes, managing scope, timelines, and resources effectively.
12. Develop and share search craft-related insights internally and/or externally through writing, presentations, or contributions to firm content.
13. Actively participate in and occasionally lead firmwide conversations and culture building, modeling respectful, candid, productive dialogue, collaboration, and openness to new ideas and feedback.
14. Support the onboarding and training of new team members.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Senior Associates demonstrate the following skills, orientations, and competencies:

Candidates must have 3–5 years of previous executive search and/or talent acquisition experience.

Action & Goal Orientation: Proactively drive projects forward to meet deadlines and goals, anticipating client and search lead needs and potential obstacles to achieve thorough, excellent results. Toggle nimbly between discrete tasks and broader objectives for a given search. Maintain an active “lean forward” posture on a search team, proactively communicate and help drive internal check-ins to review upcoming milestones, problem solve, ask questions and offer support to search lead and colleagues.   

Client-Centered: Demonstrates sound judgment by understanding the unique context, challenges, and needs of each client and project. Adapt approaches, tools, communication style, and pace to align with client circumstances rather than relying on standardized processes. Build trusted partnerships through a consistent focus on solving client problems and delivering responsive, tailored support within appropriate professional boundaries.

Collaborative Orientation: Recognize and acknowledge the value of all team roles. Consistently ensure that all members of the team are supported and their time and expertise are respected.

Accountability: Hold a high degree of accountability and commitment to delivering excellent work for the search lead and our clients. Address mistakes proactively and develop strategies to prevent them in the future. 

Learning and Reflection: Demonstrate emotional intelligence and adaptability by actively soliciting and applying constructive feedback from clients, candidates, and colleagues. Contribute to a healthy company culture of continuous improvement and learning by sharing actionable feedback, participating in solutioning, and engaging in self-reflection.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB): Demonstrate self-awareness and actively work to recognize and mitigate personal biases. Show fluency in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as distinct and interconnected concepts. Engage in continuous learning to integrate DEIB principles into all aspects of work and relationships. Recognize and thoughtfully navigate power dynamics in interactions with colleagues, clients, and candidates.

Clear, Compelling Communication. Consistently produce technically sound, well-tailored, and impeccable written materials that advance client work. Deliver compelling, thoughtful, and succinct verbal presentations targeted to a range of audiences. Build effective rapport with colleagues, clients, and candidates through communication that engenders trust and confidence.

Strong Assessment Skills: Effectively and efficiently assess candidates against a position profile and set of competencies with skill and nuance. Craft key questions to elucidate a deeper understanding of candidate experience, qualities, and alignment with the opportunity interviews and effectively capture and synthesize client feedback and next steps in candidate qualification and vetting.

Flexibility: Demonstrates the ability to adapt to evolving client and search lead needs, adjusting priorities, communication style, and approach to meet changing expectations while maintaining a high standard of service. Recognizes that the nature of the work may occasionally require flexibility outside of traditional business hours.

COMPENSATION

The expected annual salary for this role ranges from $95,000 – $110,000, inclusive of bonus and variable compensation. Benefits include an ICHRA monthly reimbursement for health coverage, an office stipend, monthly tech stipend, paid time off, a 3% retirement match, and profit-sharing at the discretion of the firm.

TO APPLY

Learn more about our team and our purpose at: npag.com

Candidates may submit a cover letter, sharing more about their interest in the opportunity and relevant experience in their career, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

NPAG is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity and strives for authentic inclusion. NPAG does not discriminate in employment based on any individual's race, socioeconomic status, national origin, color, disability, religion, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and encourage all candidates to apply.