Client Account Manager

This is a perfect entry-level position for a recent college graduate with great organizational skills looking for a job at a technology startup with proven technology, a growing customer base, and strong financial footing. At ClearPoint, helping customers is the best way to add value to our brand, and you would be our ambassador in this mission.

ClearPoint Strategy is a cloud performance management application that helps organizations measure and manage their strategy. We work with large publicly traded organizations, state and municipal governments, small to medium sized companies, and nonprofits. We have clients all over the world, and our business is growing rapidly.

You would act as the customer’s champion, ensuring that they have the best possible experience with ClearPoint Strategy.

So, what would you do here?

We are a small company, which will allow you to participate meaningfully in the management and direction of the company, while also gaining great experience on large scale projects with a global impact. Small company. Huge responsibilities and opportunities. Expect to hit the ground running. We are getting slammed with new work, so you will need to learn on-the-job. Expect to contribute immediately because we need you to.

Our software focuses on organization wide performance management and management reporting. We help organizations track their measures and projects against their strategic goals. Organizations do this in a variety of ways including using Balanced Scorecards and dashboards. ClearPoint is extremely customizable, and clients reach out with questions about the software as well as about best practices in performance management.

Responsibilities:

• Monitor, respond to, and master the help desk
• Respond to user support requests
• Diagnose and solve technical issues
• Create end-user documentation and recommend procedural changes to reduce the number of support requests
• Multi-task efficiently
• Test new features and functionality
• Communicate effectively
• Setup new clients with configuration and data entry
• Train end users at organizations onsite and remotely
• Get things done! Lots of things!

We are a small team, growing quickly, with big ambitions. The below criteria are required, not desired:

• An incredibly hard worker, even when it’s not so fun. There is a ton of work to do, and a lot of it is not the most glamorous. After all — we are a small organization with huge ambitions and no support staff. We are looking for someone to help execute on all fronts without complaint or supervision, and come back asking for more.
• A cool person to be with. Not a crazy party animal, just someone we can trust, rely upon, hang out with, bounce ideas off of, and generally interact with in a positive way, both personally and professionally. This is one of the most stringent requirements we have. We typically do an offsite twice a year. In January, we went to Vegas.
• Has a strong set of interpersonal skills and organizational savvy. In addition to hanging out with us, you will need to be comfortable talking with clients and able to quickly build relationships to achieve common goals. This means being able to identify the politics that impact the work of the organization, listening to others, and responding appropriately.
• A master of multitasking and exceeding expectations. We’re going to throw a ton of work at you of every possible sort, and you need that magic skill of being able to figure it out even if you have no idea where to start. On any given day, you might bounce between client delivery, finding bugs, testing software, developing training, and marketing. You will also need to figure out how to balance helping our clients and helping our company at the same time. Attention to detail is critical.
• A really, really fast learner who thrives in a crazy unstructured environment. We don't have time to teach things twice. You will be working in our incubator office space in Rosslyn, VA, and chances are that we will send you to train a client onsite within 6 months, so plan on some travel. You'll be judged on how fast and how well you get things done, not how much time you spend on it.

What we offer:

• The chance to get in on the "ground floor" of a startup tech company
• Help transform the performance management space
• A great job in the booming cloud-based software business
• The ability to make a difference from day one
• Fantastic colleagues and clients
• A competitive salary and benefits, commensurate with your experience

Interested?

Feel free to submit your cover letter and resume through our LinkedIn posting. Please be sure to include a cover letter highlighting your skills, experience, and interests and how they align with our company and this position specifically. The more specific you are in your cover letter and resume, the more likely we are to get back to you. So read this posting carefully, visit our websites, learn about us, and then apply.

We may not respond to everyone, but we will look at every application. As busy as we are, we think finding the right person is critical to our success. If we think there could be a match, get ready for a set of phone interviews and then we’ll find a way to meet you in person. We needed someone yesterday, so, if you are great, expect this process to move quickly.

Desired Skills and Experience

To qualify for this position, you'll need to have a BA or BS, live in Washington, DC (or be ready to move there on your own dime), and be able to go through an extensive interview process where we'll ask hard questions about why you want to work here. Come ready to be challenged. You must also be eligible to get a Department of Defense security clearance and you could be on the road 2-3 days a week.

In 2011, the number of volunteers reached its highest level in five years, as 64.3 million Americas volunteered through an organization, an increase of 1.5 million from 2010. (http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/) It’s no secret that people love to volunteer – it is afterall a unique opportunity to work with friends, co-workers, and new people to give back to your community or another in need. Like 64.3 million other Americans, Ascendant couldn’t resist the opportunity to volunteer at our ClearPoint off-site in New Orleans last month.

Ascendant’s mission statement is to help organizations increase their impact, and at our off-site last month, we did just that. It was a little unconventional, we weren’t crunching numbers, providing training in our software or offering strategic guidance; Instead, we joined together to provide hands on support to a New Orleans non-profit. It was our chance to see first-hand the types of organizations we help and to provide support in a whole new way.

In New Orleans, we joined with HandsOn to help the Backyard Gardners Network Guerilla Garden where we cleared a community garden plot in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. We transplanted flowers, weather-proofed signage and mulched tree beds to prepare the garden for its upcoming summer events to engage the elderly and youth in educational programming. In total, from just one afternoon, we impacted the community an estimated $1,222.41 in volunteer time, but more importantly we helped create a beautiful space that will be enjoyed for years to come. This community garden will bring the community together, give kids a place to hang out, and support learning opportunities. It will also provide fresh produce to a community that does not have a grocery store. True to our mission, we helped an organization increase its impact – we made a difference. 

All great leaders have a vision.

• Martin Luther King saw a world of equality regardless of your race, color, or creed
• Steve jobs had a vision to put a computer in the hands of EVERYONE
• The Founding Fathers had a vision for a new nation
• Even Bob Dylan had visions of Johanna

Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away with that last one, but the fact of the matter remains - all great leaders have a vision, and that vision becomes the driving force behind all their work.

Eduardo Carrera also has a vision. He sees the Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico (BGCPR) positively affecting the lives of every boy and girl in Puerto Rico. This is a vision that is shared from the president of the organization all the way down to the front line employees and volunteers.

By relentlessly preaching that vision, they have cultivated the motivation and buy-in that has helped the organization grow to 11 clubs serving over 11,000 young people annually. However, this growth and forward progress wasn’t always the norm. In previous years, they struggled just to stay afloat and remain relevant in the lives of the Puerto Rican kids. He compared this stagnation to being in a room and having the windows open while it was raining. The water just kept pouring in while they did everything possible with the buckets they had to throw it back out. SEE THEIR VIDEO HERE.

For so long, they could only see in the short-term and by operating under this approach, they were only able to scoop enough water out of the room to keep from drowning. They needed a new direction. A purpose. A vision. A reason for being that was inspiring and so large that it could only be long-term.

Their leader made this new vision very clear to all employees, volunteers, and even the kids. They were going to reach ALL of the roughly 1 million kids on the island. It was this vision that has helped them continue to grow, continue to stretch themselves, and continue to save the lives of Puerto Rican boys and girls. Whew - now that is a vision.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that a vision isn’t just what you are trying to accomplish in the next one, two, or even three years. It’s much greater than that. Take another look at the people at the top of this post (minus Bob Dylan of course). Do you think any of them thought their vision would be accomplished in the next few years? Or even in their lifetime? I doubt it.

I challenge each and every one of you in the mission-driven sector to reflect for a minute or two. What is your vision? Does it inspire you? Does it inspire others? Are you surrounding yourself with people as committed as you are?

As you reflect on those questions, I leave you with a parting quote from Eduardo’s Presentation at MDMS 2013.

“The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight and no vision.”

A special thank you to all the speakers, delegates, and staff that braved the winter storm to attend the Mission-Driven Management Summit in DC a few weeks ago.  It was an excellent chance for all of us to take a few days away from our daily responsibilities to focus on strategy execution.

Phew! Another first week of March has come and gone and so has Ascendant’s 2013 Mission-Driven Management Summit—our 5^th annual conference on strategy and performance management for mission-driven organizations.

While we like to think the summit is a success every year, I believe this year we had a fantastic conference at the National Press Club and even managed to put it on in the face of the Snowquester—the early March snowstorm than never really materialized in Washington, DC.

And finally, here's our top reason the 2013 Summit is worth it!

1. Our theme this year, MISSION: POSSIBLE, centers around developing real-world skills to help make your organization's mission possible in the biggest, most impactful way: RESULTS!

Learn more at www.missiondrivensummit.com and register today. 

This week, we've been counting down our Top Ten reasons to attend our professional development training and sessions at the Mission-Driven Management Summit on March 5th and 6th in Washington, DC. Early Bird rates end on Friday, so make sure you register now and mark your calendars!

5. Meet us or pick our brains during a round of Speed Consulting! (We think that deserves at least a top 5 spot!)

4. Understand how to maintain alignment even during leadership change, as presented by the Department of Commerce.

3. Keynote speaker Dave Norton, Balanced Scorecard creator, will inspire you to put your strategy to work and understand Best Practices. 

2. Interact with your peers in breakout sessions with leaders from the Los Angeles Unified School District, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, KIPP, and others. 

Let's do a double-header today! May the countdown of our top 10 reasons to attend our annual event to build your skills and increase your impact march on….

7. Earn bragging rights because you learned strategy tips from the FBI!

(Enough said. )

6. The Nation's Capital is your playground for two days - take a ten minute walk to the White House from the Press Club, view the monuments after dark (Lincoln is amazing!), or eat like a local at the end of the day.  

Ah, DC in March. *Typically* not a bad time of the year to visit our nation’s capital. The weather begins to perk up from its winter slumber, as the famous cherry blossoms slowly bud, preparing for a showy spring debut. Early March is the calm before the storm, before the tourists arrive in hordes, Metroing their way to the blooming waterfront. Take advantage!

*We regret our inability to predict sunny skies in advance!*

STAY TUNED FOR REASON #5  … and learn more at www.missiondrivensummit.com

Our Top 10 reasons to attend the 2013 Mission-Driven Management Summit continue! May I present reason number eight:

8. Participate in a clinic (offerings for beginners and advanced strategists) and take away tools that you can put to use immediately.

On Day 1 of the Summit (March 5^th), we’ll kick off with dueling clinics: A) a beginner’s guide to implementing a strategic performance system into your organization and B) an advanced clinic that delves into the details. Whether you’re in Clinic A or Clinic B, we promise you’ll wrap up the session with knowledge you can put to work immediately! (But we hope you’ll delay for 48 hours and stay for the Summit first!)

CLINIC A: From Vision to Strategy - Make the Balanced Scorecard Method Work for You

This introductory workshop for the Balanced Scorecard methodology will show you how to build and use the BSC in your organization to drive results.

CLINIC B: Countdown to Results - Manage Your Strategy 

This advanced clinic will help organizations instill alignment, reporting, and management processes to become a strategy focused organization.

STAY TUNED FOR REASON #7  … and learn more at www.missiondrivensummit.com