Careers

Our people are our greatest assets

Our people make us different — our staff are energetic about supporting and challenging our clients and beneficiaries, and we prioritize in-person contact. We’re passionate about making a measurable impact in all we do. Our small-scale, boutique culture and approach deliver closely-tailored results, true to the needs of communities. And, we believe that by having a concentrated team of specialists with worldwide experience, across many donors, enables us to understand client needs as well.

Black Pearl looks for the same basic qualities in all staff and consultants:

Willingness to embody our mission and values. Our team are committed to excellence, integrity, service, and respect for themselves and others.

Humility and team spirit. We look for compassionate, humble team members who put the mission before the team, and the team before themselves.

Wide-ranging backgrounds and perspectives. Diversity makes us strong and resilient, so we seek professionals with unique experiences and perspectives.

Desire to grow and learn. Continuous improvement is at the heart of our ethos, and our employees and consultants use feedback and self-analysis as fuel for growth.

Adaptability and sound judgment. We embrace change and use our experience to respond new challenges quickly and flexibly.

Thorough execution. We are dedicated to getting things done the right way and seeing commitments through.

Commitment to client satisfaction. Flexibility to take on new responsibilities and challenges as client requirements evolve.

Basic qualifications for all Black Pearl consultants and professional staff:

Ability to analyze and solve complex problems based on empirical data. Team members must be able to analyze, organize and integrate information from multiple sources into a cohesive documents and databases.

Ability to work independently. Consultants and professional staff must be able to work without supervision and are expected to tackle new problems and propose innovative solutions without being asked.

Ability to communicate effectively. We look for people who can motivate their audiences and share ideas concisely. We value logical arguments, crisp writing, and the ability to rally a team behind a vision. When necessary, team members may need to explain/translate academic and technical terminology and findings for non-specialists and synthesize research findings for specialist as well as non-specialist audiences.

Ability to comply with client- and employer-mandated policies and procedures including expense reporting and recordkeeping procedures.

Strong computer skills, including familiarity with Microsoft Windows and Office.

Black Pearl staff and consultants are paid competitive hourly rates and often have the flexibility to work both on site and from home. Because we cut out the bureaucracy of large consulting firms, we save money for our clients and deliver more to project beneficiary. Also, because we are a small, and intend to stay that way, we look for people who have skillsets that can cover projects from beginning to end. This means we like to hire technical specialists who are also skilled at project management, finance, and business development. This allows everyone on the team to work across projects, focus on their best skills, and avoid stagnation on the job.

We are based in Leesburg Virginia, USA, but our employees are based worldwide, from France to India to Thailand to Boston. We seek projects both in the US and around the world in countries or regions where we have direct experience delivering successful projects. Black Pearl staff and consultants will often work from their home offices, but will also, depending on the project, be able to travel and work on site.