Practice Director, Consulting

“Create a Lasting Competitive Advantage”

Shipley Associates is a global professional services firm that focuses on helping companies win business. Founded in 1972, we provide a comprehensive suite of services including business development consulting, training programs, and AI enablement to improve clients' abilities to compete for and win contracts.

To learn more, visit Shipleywins.com.

About the job

Practice Director, Consulting

Shipley Associates

About Shipley Associates

Established in 1972, Shipley Associates is a leading professional services firm helping organizations compete for and win business. Fortune 100 companies and high-growth firms worldwide rely on Shipley for consulting, training, and thought leadership that improves BD performance and win rates across government and commercial markets.

Role Overview

Shipley is hiring a Practice Director, Consulting to ensure every engagement delivers the quality, judgment, and outcomes our clients expect. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone with proven consulting experience and a deep understanding of consulting delivery.

The Practice Director works closely with consultants and clients to keep engagements on track, address issues quickly, and adapt as needs evolve. This role requires strong judgment, confidence, and the ability to navigate complex client situations and deliver results.

This role reports to the SVP, Strategic Services.

This is a full-time position open to candidates anywhere in the United States, with preference for Salt Lake City/Ogden, UT or Washington, DC. The role requires flexibility to support client work across time zones as needed.

Why This Role Matters

Shipley’s consulting is central to how we deliver value and differentiate in the market. Clients expect consistent quality, adherence to Shipley standards, sound judgment, and a partner who can adapt as needs evolve. This role ensures we deliver on that expectation across every engagement.

Key Responsibilities

Delivery and Quality

• Act as a subject matter expert in Shipley methodologies.
• Enforce quality standards across all engagements.
• Review key deliverables to maintain Shipley standards and exceed client expectations.
• Coach consultants to strengthen delivery, judgment, and client impact.
• Contribute directly on complex engagements as needed.

Client and Sales Leadership

• Build trusted relationships with client stakeholders and maintain accountability for outcomes.
• Surface insights to strengthen client outcomes and inform leadership decisions.
• Partner with sales to scope engagements and develop statements of work.

Consultant and Team Leadership

• Own consultant performance and client satisfaction across engagements.
• Coach consultants in real time to strengthen delivery and judgment.
• Partner with Talent to define capability needs and shape the consulting bench.

Qualifications

Required

• 10+ years in business development, capture management, or proposal management, with direct experience leading complex efforts.
• Deep familiarity with structured BD lifecycles and proposal management standards, including review processes and color team methodology. Shipley experience preferred.
• Direct experience supporting U.S. government contracting clients, including federal procurement vehicles (Full and Open Competitions, OTAs, IDIQs, MACs, Small/Disadvantaged Set-Asides) and evaluation methods (LPTA and Tradeoff).
• Experience managing consultants or project teams with accountability for outcomes.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust with consultants and clients while managing the operational details required to run engagements effectively.
• Ability to apply AI tools to business development, proposal development, and client delivery.
• Flexibility to support client work outside standard business hours, including across time zones, early mornings/evenings and occasional weekends.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

Preferred

• Experience delivering consulting services in a professional services environment.
• Experience across multiple industries (e.g., defense, aerospace, technology, healthcare, A/E/C).
• Strong presentation skills for client-facing and thought leadership settings.

Why Shipley

• Shipley has spent five decades at the center of how organizations compete and win. Our consultants work across the most complex pursuits in government and commercial markets, with a client base that spans Fortune 100 companies to high-growth challengers. This role sits at the intersection of delivery, client relationships, and market evolution, with real authority to shape how a respected firm delivers its work.

Learn more: shipleywins.com

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