Innovative Consultant -SMB Business Operations / Management Fall 2026

Job Description

Job Description

Manage a portfolio of 5–6 small business clients in a hybrid model. You’ll act as a financial firefighter and strategic coach, driving urgent change, real results, and lasting impact where it matters most.

Cogent Analytics is seeking leaders ready to rescue and grow clients financially and organizationally. This is a hands-on, client-facing role for high-performance individuals who want to lead from the front, drive client performance, and improve client liquidity for small business owners across the US.

You’ll start by mastering Cogent methodology and client approach, then quickly move to support our clients in driving financial improvement by executing proper operational and sales methods. As an Innovative Project Director, you'll act as Co-CEO, rolling up your sleeves to drive change with our clients and collaborating with your internal team (PATs, Accounting, Marketing, Recruiting, and BD PD). You will drive urgency with our clients to help drive behavior and organizational change, and will improve clients' businesses through monitoring KPIs and finances.  

Travel Expectations

This is a hybrid consulting model that requires approximately 3 days of domestic travel per week. You will work remotely with clients on non-travel days.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver quantifiable and sustainable value for clients, impacting income statements, balance sheets, cash flow, and overall quality of life.
• Lead the development, implementation, training, and evaluation of business solutions that address specific client challenges.
• Identify, oversee, and clearly communicate the scope of work , timelines, and deliverables in coordination with the assigned Assistant Director or Senior Project Director.
• Manage the full client relationship , from opportunity origination through project completion and review.
• Ensure administrative duties, including invoicing and reporting, are completed accurately and on time.

Essential Qualifications:

• Minimum 7-10 years of consulting or equivalent experience (such as business ownership, executive leadership, or multi-unit management), with a proven track record of delivering measurable results and driving operational and financial improvement.
• Demonstrated experience managing projects and client relationships with strategic, financial, and operational accountability .
• Strong financial literacy, including the ability to analyze and improve performance across P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow.
• Ability to travel Sunday through Friday to client sites across the U.S.
• Authorized to work in the United States.
• Advanced computer proficiency, including Microsoft Office, financial software, dashboards, CRMs, and project management tools.
• Valid driver’s license and current auto insurance.
• Preferred : Experience managing budgets of $10M+ and/or previous business ownership.

Skills & Competencies Required:

• Project Management and Client Engagement: The ability to utilize internal Project Management tools while integrating proper strategy with client management
• Problem Solving – Quickly identifies root causes; offers practical and effective solutions; uses reason even when dealing with emotional topics
• Change Management – Communicates changes effectively and builds broad consensus; monitors transition and evaluates results
• Team Leadership – Proven experience leading teams and multi-departmental management; exhibits confidence in self and others; inspires trust and motivates others to perform well; embraces feedback
• Coaching & Development: Skilled at identifying skill gaps, running role plays, coaching role plays, and driving urgency; displays willingness to make decisions; supports and explains reasoning for decisions.
• Metrics Accountability: Obsessed with dashboards, reports, and KPIs, leveraging them to manage up, down, and across.
• Financial Acumen: Ability to evaluate the health of the business through the balance sheet and company performance through P&L.
• Improve Client Liquidity: Develop a proper Debt Reduction Strategy and improve the overall profitability of the business.
• People-Oriented – Possess a high EQ and readily able to connect and build relationships with clients, their staff, and Cogent team members.
• Peer Collaboration: Works well with other Project Directors, Performance Analysts, Project Administrator, ProServ (Abacus, Marketing, Business Development, Recruiting).
• Conflict Management – Empathetic and able to see all perspectives; graciously communicates differing points of view to build understanding; finds agreeable, forward-looking, and policy-aligned solutions to resolve conflicts others would see as irreconcilable.

Cultural Expectations: Given the unique nature of the company and our strong focus on integrity and values, these cultural components of how we operate will be expected:

• Cogent Analytics strives always to put our clients first, choosing to do what is in their best interest even if that choice may not be the easy or popular path.
• Cogent Analytics maintains the highest professional standards and pledges to operate with integrity and honesty in all that we endeavor to do.
• We believe in a collaborative environment between the administrative staff, Leadership (AD and MD), and Project Directors.
• We understand and embrace the “Obligation to Challenge”, realizing that the status quo can be improved upon based on our unique and diverse capabilities and insights.
• We embrace diversity, realizing the benefit of working together and sharing individual exceptional insights with the group. Through these insights discovered in the pursuit of solving problems, we will improve results both for our clients and ourselves.

All new Project Directors begin on a 1099 contractor basis for a minimum of 90 days . This serves as a mutual evaluation period. Upon successful completion, you will have the opportunity for review to transition into a full-time W-2 employee role with comprehensive benefits. Compensation is based on billable client work, with significant earning potential tied directly to performance and project engagement. Travel is covered by the company.

Why Join Cogent Analytics?

Cogent Analytics is a mission-driven consulting firm dedicated to supporting the growth of privately held businesses. Our consultants are strategic leaders who work side-by-side with owners to deliver real transformation. If you're passionate about making a difference and thrive in high-accountability environments, we want to hear from you.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.