Associate for Nonprofit Executive Search Firm

Search Associate 

Good Insight

About Good Insight

Founded in 2013, Good Insight is a retained executive search firm serving the social sector. Our mission is to help good causes connect to great leaders, which we do by planning leadership transitions, recruiting exceptionally talented executives, and strengthening boards of directors. 

Good Insight envisions a new approach to executive search that centers equitable hiring practices and dignity for candidates participating in the process. We work with mostly small nonprofits across a wide range of issue areas, as well as the associations and funders that support them. Our belief that communities have the best answers to the challenges they face guides us. As a result, Good Insight talent bring personal and professional experiences that advance community-driven solutions.

Good Insight is committed to using our work to address the nonprofit racial leadership gap by advancing the careers of BIPOC leaders in the social sector. The Search Associate plays an active role in our efforts to build an antiracist consulting practice. They will join a group of people forming a shared philosophical commitment to antiracism, while also understanding the opportunities and limitations of executive search to shift the nonprofit sector from predominantly white workplaces. We are reimagining how we use leadership transitions as a tool for racial, economic, and social justice.  

Good Insight is a virtual organization headquartered in Washington, DC with a team of 8 working remotely from their home offices. We strive for a 35-hour work week, with team members working as their schedule allows with some set availability between the core hours of 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern. Client demands mean that our team sometimes works outside of normal business hours (i.e., evenings and weekends), which we offset with flexible daytime hours. Some travel is required to support client engagements or professional development (5-10%).

Good Insight is building a team of people who want to use their work to make the world a better place. We trust our team to be self-starters and semi-autonomous. We do not believe in “work hard, play hard.” We want employees to love their work and have a rewarding life outside the office. We honor time and talent employees contribute to Good Insight, but expect work-life boundaries. We believe that our collective liberation requires rest and recuperation, and we are trying to model that behavior as a firm.

Position Overview

Nonprofits engage Good Insight as a strategic partner and project manager to help them navigate an executive transition and identify a diverse pool of top-tier candidates. As a Search Associate, you will play an important role within our consulting team, working with approximately 10 executive search clients a year to provide project management support, and recruit and communicate with candidates. 

Each client engagement has 2-3 team members working together to lead important searches that help nonprofits, foundations, and associations find exceptional leaders. For each project, you will work closely with and be accountable to a Project Lead, typically Good Insight’s CEO, a Director of Search, or a Consultant. You will report to a Director of Search and take direction from the Senior Search Associate.

The ideal candidate will have a successful project management record and be particularly adept at using technology to manage processes and procedures. They will be passionate about the nonprofit sector as central to solving community issues. All applicants must demonstrate advanced understanding of racial equity, barriers presented by structural racism, and a personal and professional commitment to advancing racial justice. They will have high standards for nonprofit leaders and boards and stay current with research, thought leadership, and trends in nonprofit leadership development. They will be driven by connecting with interesting, accomplished professionals, and be able to represent the company to nonprofit CEOs and board members. 

Key responsibilities of the Search Associate include: 

Project Administration

• Create and administer project management plans and tools for each engagement in partnership with Project Lead. Monitor deadlines, tasks, and deliverables for client projects. 
• Use Asana project management software to develop and update work plans as needed, identifying the impact of changes to project schedules, capacity, and budget.
• Manage records using Google Drive, including creating files, labels, and systems to share and archive project files. Ensure project team consistently uses Good Insight’s document sharing tools, materials, and general project information.
• Prepare client-specific technology tools for each project, including applicant tracking software, referral management software, and unique email addresses. 
• Support project meetings, including scheduling and planning logistics, drafting agendas with Project Lead, handling video conferencing technology, taking notes and sending follow up information. 
• Draft written materials and communications including memos, handouts, agendas, worksheets, interview guides, surveys, minutes, presentations, etc. 
• Review, edit, and format reports, documents and presentations generated by project teams for clarity and consistency with the firm’s style guidelines.
• Monitor and apply human resources and talent acquisition best practices to all Good Insight work. 

Plan and Prepare for the Search

• Manage client intake process and collect discovery materials to assess each client’s capacity.
• Use client information, industry research, and additional sources to gain a comprehensive understanding of the client, industry, and position requirements. 
• Support Project Lead to create a custom stakeholder engagement strategy for internal stakeholders (board, staff, and volunteers) and external stakeholders (members, visitors, funders, etc.).
• Prepare stakeholder communications and schedule meetings and manage logistics for interviews, listening sessions, surveys, and more.
• Develop, administer, and analyze stakeholder surveys using Google Forms. 
• Participate in and/or lead other research (e.g., interviews, focus groups) and secondary research (using online sources) for clients, supporting Project Lead with facilitation and notetaking.
• Work with Project Lead to identify and communicate key trends, and draft reports for surveys, interviews, and other research.
• Conduct compensation analysis using Guidestar and other publicly available documentation.
• Clarify needed job skills, experience and competencies by assisting in the development of job announcements, candidate profiles, and other compelling talent acquisition materials that highlights the position to prospects. 

Recruit and Correspond with Prospective Candidates

• Support Project Lead to design tailored recruitment strategies for each client. 
• Ensure equitable and inclusive recruitment process that addresses unconscious and implicit bias (i.e., affinity bias, confirmation bias, etc.).

• Perform a variety of administrative support tasks, which may include scheduling, coordinating, and setting up meetings and/or videoconferences.
• Conduct outreach, as delegated by the Project Lead, to potential candidates and nominators.
• Research and upload job posting to boards, listservs, databases, LinkedIn, social media, and more in order to build a diverse pool of candidates across a wide variety of platforms.
• Communicate with applicants, answer all questions that come through client’s unique email address.
• Receive, review, and tag applications in Good Insight’s proprietary database. 
• Conduct brief initial interviews with top-ranked candidates to qualify prospective candidates against position requirements and key competencies.
• Manage and communicate with candidates about their status through Good Insight’s database. Monitor data accuracy throughout process.
• Present qualified candidates to the Project Lead and assist with in-depth interviews to assess candidate’s qualifications and alignment with key criteria.
• Research candidates using Google, social media profiles, and authorship to ensure they align with the client’s criteria and values. 
• Draft interview summaries from in-depth interviews to be shared with clients.
• Draft and package candidate materials and assessments to present to clients. 
• Report on project status and provide feedback for the Project Lead to share with clients.
• Help Project Lead refine search strategy based on market or client feedback.

Assess and Select Finalists

• Assist Project Lead with the development of structured interview protocols that reflects the position’s key criteria and support best practices of eliminating implicit bias.  

• Support Project Lead by drafting and packaging committee interview packets for the duration of the selection process. 
• Schedule interviews and manage interview logistics for hiring committees and candidates. 
• Attend all interviews, facilitate technology, and take notes.
• Maintain candidate communications throughout the process, including scheduling with candidates and declining those not moving forward. Monitor project status in applicant tracking system.
• With guidance from the Project Lead, support candidate care, including maintaining consistent communication, gathering information, and providing updates. 
• Develop skills-based exercises, such as case studies, memos, and presentations, to evaluate candidates’ performance on tasks related to the position. 
• Facilitate reference checking process, including identifying additional areas of inquiry, scheduling phone calls, and participating or leading on request of the Project Lead.
• Collect materials for Good Insight and client announcements including the job description, candidate headshot, and candidate bio, and circulate final drafts to the board chair and candidate for approval.
• With the Project Lead, create onboarding plans to assure a strong start to the role.

The Search Associate will support other duties as assigned, including business development, marketing and communications, and other areas of interest related to their growth and development with the firm.

Key Attributes

You might be the right person for the job if you are: 

• Friendly, genuine, and curious about people. 
• Actively pursuing racial and social justice at both personal and professional levels.
• Eager to challenge and reimagine the nonprofit leadership development through an antiracist lens.
• Savvy with technology, and find it easy to learn new tools and teach colleagues how to use them.
• Very organized and analytical, with well-developed project and time management skills.
• Known for your communication skills, including your ability to communicate difficult and complex matters in a straightforward, transparent manner to senior executives. 
• Extremely personable, with a great phone manner, and an ability to make people feel at ease.
• Proactive and self-motivated, particularly in a geographically dispersed work environment without a lot of direct supervision.
• A lifelong learner, analytical, and can organize and synthesize large amounts of complex information.
• Someone who goes the extra mile to show initiative and resourcefulness to achieve goals within sometimes tight timelines.
• Exceptional judgment, confidentiality, and strong decision-making skills.
• Confident and calm in the face of high pressure and tight timelines. 
• Flexible and adaptable, but also can speak up if something is bothering you. 

Basic Qualifications

• A minimum of 3 years of work experience, preferably with past roles in an Assistant or Coordinator-level role supporting the management of projects, an office, or an executive. 
• Experience in the nonprofit sector, and experience in areas of human services, arts, community development, or education and youth development is highly desirable.
• Capacity to handle multiple tasks, remain flexible, prioritize appropriately, and manage workflow for oneself and others. Able to pivot between projects without missing a beat.
• Ability to identify and quickly comprehend essential questions, and conduct research independently.
• Self-motivated and able to work independently as part of a geographically dispersed team, while remaining responsive to direction and knowing when to seek guidance.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills. Clear and concise writing and editing skills are particularly important to this role. 
• Technological proficiency, including as a power-user of MS Office and Google Drive and Google Products (Docs, Sheets, Forms). You would also use software for document management (Adobe Acrobat), videoconferencing (Zoom), calendaring (Calendly), project management (Asana), passwords (1Pass), and different databases, including CRMs and applicant tracking systems (CATS).

Nice to have, but definitely not required:

• Experience in a consulting environment or something similar.
• Familiarity with employment law principles, policies, and procedures.
• Hands-on experience leading a variety of candidate selection processes (e.g. screening, in-depth interviews, committee interviews).
• Familiarity using social networking tools for recruitment, including LinkedIn Recruiter and Boolean search terms.

Application Process

To be considered for the position, please visit www.good-insight.org/careers to submit your resume and 1-2 page cover letter that details similar experiences you have had that qualify you for this role. The cover letter will be used as demonstration of your writing ability. 

We will review submissions as they are received and will contact applicants to request more information and/or to schedule interviews as appropriate. Early applications are encouraged; applications submitted before May 15 will receive priority consideration. 

Candidates advancing should anticipate these steps in the process:

• Brief interview with member of the Good Insight team
• Related skills tests administered by member of the Good Insight team
• Interview with a small group of Good Insight team members
• Final interview with the CEO and supervising Director of Search

The ideal start date is early July, with some flexibility. Direct questions to recruiting@good-insight.org.

Compensation & Benefits

Good Insight is committed to offering competitive salaries and a great working environment. The full-time starting salary for this position is $60,000. 

We offer a liberal PTO policy for full-time employees, paid leave on all federal holidays, DC Emancipation Day, Juneteenth, and a week of rest between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Good Insight pays the equivalent of 50% of a Gold-tier health insurance plan, 100% of dental, and has paid parental leave.

Employees must have access to functional technology to provide excellent service to our clients. We provide an annual stipend to support home office technology, such as a laptop, monitor, keyboard, printer/scanner, ergonomic desk chair, office supplies, etc. We provide monthly stipends to partially offset telecommunications (cellular phone plan, wireless internet, etc.); and cover all travel expenses for required client travel.

Finally, as the firm meets and exceeds revenue goals, we plan to add retirement benefits and a profit-sharing plan for all employees. 

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Good Insight is committed to building a diverse team with the lived experience necessary to advance racial, social, and economic justice for our clients. We celebrate diversity of all kinds, including race, sex, religion, national origin, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, and age. We do not discriminate for employment opportunities related to these categories or any others protected by local and federal laws. 

We strongly encourage applications from people of color, LGBTQ, women and non-binary people, people with disabilities, and those who hold an intersectional identity.