Senior Organizational Change Management (OCM) – Higher Education

eStaff LLC; Sacramento (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Estaff LLC in Sacramento, CA is seeking a Senior Organizational Change Management (OCM) Consultant to lead change initiatives within a higher education environment. This hybrid role partners with executive leadership, faculty, staff, and cross-functional teams to drive adoption of new processes and ways of working.

The ideal candidate brings 8+ years of OCM leadership, strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills, and a track record in higher education transformations,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience leading Organizational Change Management initiatives for large-scale transformations.
• 5+ years developing OCM strategies, stakeholder plans, and adoption activities.
• 5+ years conducting stakeholder analyses, change impact assessments, and readiness activities.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership to establish sponsorship and accountability.
• Demonstrated OCM experience within higher education institutions.
• Community college or community college district experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute OCM strategies, roadmaps, and adoption plans for large-scale transformations.
• Partner with executive leadership to align transformation objectives, sponsorship, and stakeholder ownership.
• Conduct readiness assessments, stakeholder analyses, and change risk mitigation.
• Lead executive workshops, stakeholder meetings, and cross-functional discussions to drive decisions.
• Translate transformation initiatives into clear messages for diverse audiences.
• Collaborate with finance, HR, IT, and academic units to support organizational transition.

Skills

Change management

Stakeholder engagement

Facilitation

Executive workshops

Communication

Tools

Prosci

CCMP

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Senior Organizational Change Management (OCM) Consultant for a Hybrid position with our Sacramento, California client leading change management activities supporting large-scale transformation initiatives within a higher education environment.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned OCM professional with exceptional facilitation, communication, stakeholder engagement, and change leadership skills. This individual will work closely with executive leadership, faculty, staff, and cross-functional teams to establish organizational readiness, build stakeholder alignment, and drive successful adoption of new processes and ways of working.

Experience in both higher education and a community college or community college district is required.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational Change Management & Strategy

• Develop and execute comprehensive OCM strategies, roadmaps, and adoption plans supporting large-scale organizational transformation.
• Partner with executive leadership to establish transformation objectives, sponsorship, stakeholder ownership, and accountability.
• Conduct organizational readiness assessments, stakeholder analyses, and change impact assessments.
• Identify organizational challenges, resistance, and adoption barriers, developing strategies to address them.
• Integrate OCM activities with project planning, business process improvement, training, and implementation readiness.

Facilitation & Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead and facilitate executive workshops, stakeholder meetings, discovery sessions, and cross-functional discussions to build consensus and drive decisions.
• Engage institutional leadership, faculty, administrative staff, and technical teams to support transformation objectives.
• Establish stakeholder engagement strategies and change champion networks to promote organizational alignment.
• Navigate complex stakeholder relationships, competing priorities, and organizational resistance.

Communication & Change Adoption

• Develop and execute strategic communication plans that clearly communicate transformation goals, impacts, and expectations.
• Create and deliver executive presentations, leadership briefings, stakeholder updates, and organizational communications.
• Translate complex transformation initiatives into clear, actionable messaging for diverse audiences.
• Collaborate with project and training teams to support organizational transition, knowledge transfer, and adoption.
• Establish change readiness and adoption metrics and provide regular progress updates to leadership.

Higher Education Transformation

• Support organizational transformation initiatives across academic and administrative departments.
• Collaborate with Finance, Human Resources, Student Services, Information Technology, and other institutional stakeholders.
• Align change management activities with institutional priorities, governance structures, and operational needs.
• Support transformation efforts involving multiple departments, campuses, and decentralized stakeholder groups.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of experience leading Organizational Change Management initiatives for large-scale organizational, operational, technology, or business transformations.
• 5+ years of experience developing OCM strategies, stakeholder engagement plans, communication strategies, readiness activities, and adoption plans.
• 5+ years of experience conducting stakeholder analyses, change impact assessments, organizational readiness assessments, and change risk mitigation.
• 5+ years of experience supporting complex transformation initiatives involving multiple departments, business functions, or decentralized stakeholder groups.
• 3+ years of experience partnering with executive leadership to establish sponsorship, accountability, and stakeholder ownership.
• Demonstrated OCM experience within higher education institutions.
• Community college or community college district experience, particularly supporting institutional transformation or organizational change initiatives.
• Exceptional facilitation, presentation, and communication skills, including the ability to lead executive workshops and influence diverse stakeholder groups.
• Strong ability to build consensus, manage resistance, and drive organizational alignment and adoption.

Preferred

• Experience within California higher education or public sector organizations.
• Familiarity with higher education governance, institutional operations, and multi-campus environments.
• Experience integrating OCM with business process reengineering (BPR), training, and implementation readiness.
• Experience supporting enterprise technology modernization or ERP implementations (not required).
• Prosci, CCMP, or comparable change management certification.