User Experience Designer

Sage Consulting Associates is looking for a User Experience Designer to work for a financial services company in downtown San Francisco. Consultant will be responsible for optimizing user experiences and reviewing/creating interactions throughout the site.

Responsibilities Include
Review various interactions throughout site and tools to identify like interactions, inconsistencies and areas to be more consistent across the various experiences.
Provide insights on improved site-wide interactions grounded in user-centered design and best practices for optimized user experiences.
Rationalize all the various design elements from third-party design agencies, i.e. best overall icon/symbol that will work site-wide, best icon to highlight premium content.
Document a new visual, interactive style guide for the site redesign.

Skills Required
7+ years of experience with user-centered visual design and interaction design.
Proven ability to provide insight on successful online interactions/usability.
Strong verbal and written documentation of style/interaction guidelines.

Skills Preferred
Financial services experience.

Timing: 4 months, 20 hrs per week
Start: 1/20/09
Location: downtown San Francisco; onsite
Hourly rate: $60-$63 as W-2; (N/A if S-Corp/LLC)

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please reply to this email with a current resume (in word format, not PDF) and a brief overview of your skills vis-à-vis this position.


Sage Consulting Associates
601 Fourth Street, Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.512.8200 (phone)
866.382.3938 (fax)
operations@sageca.com
www.SageCA.com

online Production Associate

Sage Consulting Associates is looking for an Online Production Associate to work for a financial services company in downtown San Francisco. Consultant will be responsible for supporting existing and new online marketing initiatives; initiate and execute first-rate site design and development; and act as the key liaison between the Web Team and the Direct Marketing Team.

Responsibilities Include
Act as first point of contact for support and issue resolution.
Perform online marketing functions to ensure successful campaigns, and provide design support to enhance user experience..
Manage small and medium-sized web projects with internal and external partners.
Execute content approval process with business, legal, and compliance, and collaborate with vendors, IT, and data teams to ensure the highest level of accuracy and consistency..
Perform QA testing as needed on projects, including design enhancements, direct marketing and promotions.
Develop, deploy, and test content for web sites in various formats.

Skills Required
3+ years of web production and design experience in a large corporate or online agency environment.
2+ years of project management experience.
Familiarity with usage reporting.
Practical knowledge of HTML, Photoshop, TeamSite or other content publishing software.
Team player able to proactively communicate with business and technical partners.

Skills Preferred
Financial services web site experience.

Timing: 5 months, 40 hrs (5 days) per week
Start: 1/21/09
Location: downtown San Francisco; onsite
Hourly rate: $35 as W-2; (N/A if S-Corp/LLC)

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please reply to this email with a current resume (in word format, not PDF) and a brief overview of your skills vis-à-vis this position.


Sage Consulting Associates
601 Fourth Street, Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.512.8200 (phone)
866.382.3938 (fax)
operations@sageca.com
www.SageCA.com

HR Communications Manger

Sage Consulting Associates is looking for an HR Communications Manager to work for a utilities company in San Francisco. This individual will act as an individual contributor, and will plan and execute a broad range of program and project specific communication strategies and tactics aligned with HR’s overall business plan.

Responsibilities Include
Develop and maintain thorough understanding of company and HR’s overall business plan, key business drivers and stakeholders, and new and ongoing initiatives within the Company.
Partner closely with HR’s senior leadership team to remain current on challenges and opportunities affecting the company and its employees.
Make recommendations on how to best frame and position key issues utilizing strategic communications approaches and vehicles.
Develop integrated communications plans and tactical timelines that address key HR priorities and issues.
Develop messages for initiatives, topics and issues, regularly managing their effectiveness and updating them as necessary.
Incorporate messages into enterprise communications vehicles, including executive presentations and initiative-specific communications, as well as work with Line of Business communicators to incorporate messages into local vehicles.
Develop and oversee external HR communications strategies, including campaigns for external awards and recognition. Interface and coordinate with members of the corporate communications team to ensure that relevant content is disseminated effectively through appropriate enterprise communication channels – both internal and external (e.g. media, customer, corporate advertising).
Develop content for newsletters, brochures, posters and other collateral as needed.
Produce copy and orchestrate graphic content on HR-related news for enterprise communications vehicles.
Manage “look and feel” of HR materials to ensure they meet company standards and support the company’s brand strategy.
Provide strategic communications counsel to HR leadership (Sr. Directors and Directors) and draft various communications on their behalf.
Serve as initiative subject matter expert for enterprise and BU communicators.

Skills Required
7+ years of internal communications experience specifically with compensation, benefits and talent management.
Exceptional writing ability, creativity, oral communication and project management skills.
High degree of organizational/business acumen and the ability to work with individuals at all levels of the organization.
Flexibility and ability to handle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Skills Preferred
Labor relations (i.e., union environment) experience.
IABC accreditation (ABC).

Timing: PERMANENT, 40 hrs (5 days) per week
Start: ASAP
Location: San Francisco; onsite
Hourly rate: DOE as W-2; (n/a if S-Corp/LLC)

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please reply to this email with a current resume (in word format, not PDF) and a brief overview of your skills vis-à-vis this position.


Sage Consulting Associates
601 Fourth Street, Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.512.8200 (phone)
866.382.3938 (fax)
operations@sageca.com
www.SageCA.com

project manager - el dorado hills

Sage Consulting Associates is looking for a Project Manager to work for a large healthcare insurance company in El Dorado Hills. Consultant will be responsible for resource planning, production scheduling, milestone tracking and project coordination on behalf of the web experience group for online initiatives.

Responsibilities Include
Oversee planning and execution of large, complex web projects and production schedules.
Gather project requirements and define scope of assigned projects.
Manage group documentation, presentations, tools and deliverables.
Exercise independent judgement in developing methods, techniques and evaluation criterion for obtaining results.
Provide input into designing strategies for alignment with business unit goals and objectives.
Ensure various team members provide high quality and cost effective services.
May provide guidance and leadership to and may supervise project consultants.

Skills Required
6+ years of web project management experience within the healthcare industry.
Demonstrated leadership, project management, program evaluation and consulting skills.
Ability to influence team members functioning in a matrix environment.

Timing: 1+ month, 40 hours (5 days) per week
Start: ASAP
Location: El Dorado Hills; onsite
Hourly rate: $43-$53 as W-2; ($50-$60 if S-Corp/LLC)

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please reply to this email with a current resume (in word format, not PDF) and a brief overview of your skills vis-à-vis this position.


Sage Consulting Associates
601 Fourth Street, Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.512.8200 (phone)
866.382.3938 (fax)
operations@sageca.com
www.SageCA.com

product planning consultant - biotech south san francisco

Sage Consulting Associates is looking for a Product Planning Consultant to work for a biotech firm in South San Francisco. Consultant will be responsible for new product planning for immunology from pre-clinical to phase 2.

Responsibilities Include
Manage commercial product planning efforts for immunology by providing in-depth information about current and future markets, product performance, customers and competitors.
Evalute the market landscape, monitor changes and predict trends in market dynamics and competition. Provide recommendations on product differentiation strategies.
Perform new market opportunity assessments for research projects and business development opportunities.
Create, validate and refine forecasts for these opportunities.

Skills Required
8+ years of new product planning experience within the healthcare industry, including use of secondary and primary market research techniques.
Experience developing and using Excel-based models and conducting quantitative analysis.
Ability to use rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions, using creativity and ingenuity.
Persuasive written and verbal communication skills, including strong presentation skills.

Skills Preferred
Experience in biopharmaceuticals.
Experience as a management consultant at a top tier firm.
Immunology experience.

Timing: 1-4 months, 40 hrs (5 days) per week
Start: ASAP
Location: South San Francisco; onsite
Hourly rate: $80-$87 as W-2; (n/a if S-Corp/LLC)

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please reply to this email with a current resume (in word format, not PDF) and a brief overview of your skills vis-à-vis this position.



Sage Consulting Associates
601 Fourth Street, Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.512.8200 (phone)
866.382.3938 (fax)
operations@sageca. com
www.SageCA.com

director of product management

Hiring firm: Fastscale

For application or contact info click:
http://www.4marketeers.com/Jobs/vuSelectedJobEmail.asp?BlastID=942&Source=4m

Company description:

Our well-funded, venture backed enterprise software start-up in Santa Clara, CA, is seeking a Director of Product Management to develop, execute and evangelize our product strategy in the high growth virtualization software market. This position is with a very hot company in a stellar market with a seasoned executive team, top investors and a strong enterprise customer base.


Job description:

Director Product Management (background in virtualization or data center automation is highly desired) (Local candidates Please)

The Director of Product Management is a highly visible role that reports to the CEO and is responsible for ensuring the company delivers a product roadmap that meets the needs of our customers and partners as well as supporting the company’s objectives and financial plan. The Director of Product Management will thrive on building leading edge products and developing programs to guarantee their success in the market place. This position is a hands-on role – it’s not for a strategy-only person.

Knowledge of the data center software market is vital. The Director of Product Management will be responsible for defining and prioritizing product features and capabilities and working closely with engineering throughout the lifecycle to ensure that the products built are the products customers want to buy. Additionally, the Director of Product Management will be responsible for the go-to-market strategy of the company’s products and ensuring that the sales team has all of the sales tools, collateral and programs necessary for market leadership.



Responsibilities

Define and prioritize product features and functions
Manage software products from concept through launch and EOL
Develop tactical and strategic marketing programs to generate demand
Evangelize the product and company to customers, analysts and partners
Drive cross-functional teams to ensure the best product is built, marketed and delivered to customers
Be an expert resource for the data center market and competition



Requirements

Bachelor's degree in technical discipline /MBA preferred
8+ years of experience in a product management role in software market
Ideal candidate will have extensive background in either data center automation or virtualization
Strong knowledge of enterprise data center products
Hands-on leader with a passion for emerging technology
Demonstrated experience managing software products from concept to launch
Excellent written and presentation skills
Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams
Experience at both large companies and start-ups

Take advantage of this outstanding opporutnity NOW!!! We offer an outstanding compensation/benefits package with lucrative equity in our firm.

For application or contact info click:
http://www.4marketeers.com/Jobs/vuSelectedJobEmail.asp?BlastID=942&Source=4m

jobangels

By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

Once you've tapped out your network and run out of recruiters to contact, where do you go to get help finding a job these days? For a growing group of job hunters, total strangers have become the answer.

In late January, Jason C. Blais began following JobAngels, a group on the social-networking site Twitter.com that is dedicated to helping people find jobs. Mr. Blais saw a message posted by a laid-off technology professional asking for support and he volunteered to take the woman under his wing.


Dusan Petricic
Mr. Blais suggested improvements to her résumé. He then sent a copy to a hiring manager at a teaching hospital he knew was seeking candidates for a position matching the job hunter's qualifications and interests. A week later, the woman was invited to interview for the job. She is still waiting to hear back.

Alarmed by the nation's rising unemployment rate, many working Americans are going out of their way to help their laid-off counterparts -- often complete strangers -- secure new positions. They're sharing job leads, leveraging their networks and making referrals and often putting their own reputations on the line.

"Adversity often brings out a generosity and compassion," says Tim Irwin, an organizational psychologist in Atlanta.

Career experts agree that the majority of the best jobs are found on the basis of networking or a relationship. "The power of a referral is tremendous," says Mr. Irwin, author of "Run With the Bulls Without Getting Trampled." "When I lend my name to a person's résumé, they benefit from the influence that I have with that individual. Their résumé is going to get different attention. That's just a reality."

Mr. Blais, business-development director at JobsInTheUS.com, says he developed a strong desire in recent months to help laid-off workers find new positions due to the increasing competitiveness of the job market. "A lot of good people are not even getting their résumé seen because employers aren't digging that deep into the pile," he says. "This is just one small way I could help somebody that's a good candidate."

Getting Professional Help—For Free

Many career experts are also doing pro bono work to help laid-off workers land new positions. In January, Chris Gould created Rope With Hope, a group of search-firm recruiters and corporate hiring managers who provide free job-search coaching. Its roughly 400 volunteers commit to conducting at least two one-hour sessions a month by phone with members of job-search support groups in 10 U.S. cities.

Mr. Gould, talent-acquisition leader at Hewitt Associates Inc., says he came with the concept for Rope With Hope after attendance tripled at a jobless support group in Overland Park, Kan., where he's a frequent guest speaker. The club's facilitators said they were no longer able to give job hunters personalized attention.

Executive recruiter J. Larry Tyler is taking a similar initiative on his own. He's been getting more requests than he can handle lately for free help, so he's volunteered to host free weekly seminars on job hunting next month for students at the American College of Healthcare Executives in Chicago, where he is a fellow. He'll cover topics such as working with recruiters, networking and negotiating job offers, he says.

And last month, Philadelphia-based career coach Mindy Thomas joined around two dozen of her peers at a New York job fair to critique attendees' resumes for free. More than 5,000 job hunters showed up. "My head was down for five hours straight," says Ms. Thomas, also a former recruiter specializing in the legal industry.

Mr. Blais, who lives outside Springfield, Mass., is now mentoring two more job hunters he met through JobAngels. He says his efforts also will likely have a positive effect on his career. "My reputation can only be elevated, as more people see that I'm just one more person trying to make a difference," he says.

Others are taking a different tack. Recently, J.T. O'Donnell, a career strategist and workplace consultant in North Hampton, N.H., signed on to help a stranger who contacted her on LinkedIn. "This isn't something I would normally do," says Ms. O'Donnell. But the woman, who was looking for a senior-level art-design position in the San Francisco Bay Area, impressed Ms. O'Donnell with her intelligence and ability to communicate. When a job came up at a firm where Ms. O'Donnell knew the human-resources director, she referred the woman. She didn't land the position, but Ms. O'Donnell is still helping her, and the experience led Ms. O'Donnell to launch a Twitter effort to get career coaches to answer job-seeker questions free of charge.

Giving back was part of what prompted Mark Stelzner, a management consultant in Washington, D.C., to start JobAngels early this year. That morning, he says, he wondered to himself, "What if each of the folks who followed me on Twitter helped one person find a job?" At the time, Mr. Stelzner had about 650 followers, mostly clients and associates of his firm, Inflexion Advisors LLC, which works with executives in the human-resources industry. He posted a message -- or "tweet" -- describing his idea and within hours received several replies from people saying they'd be willing to participate.

Mr. Stelzner opened a separate Twitter account for JobAngels, a name he says he came up with off the cuff, and created JobAngels groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. He posted a message on each offering to help people with their job searches and encouraged others to do the same. JobAngels has 3,894 followers to date on Twitter and nearly 1,200 group members on Facebook.

Among the first to seek help was Mary White-Cornell, a Seattle marketing professional who was laid off in September from a restaurant franchise company. Mr. Stelzner agreed to edit her résumé and any cover letters she wanted to send to employers. He also emailed 10 people in his network asking to contact Ms. White-Cornell if they knew of any jobs matching her background and interests. Several quickly responded. "I was amazed by how many people would take time out of their day to help a virtual stranger find a job," she says. "I got goose bumps."

Recently, one woman even emailed Ms. White-Cornell to say that her husband worked in sales at a Seattle-based firm and offered to make sure he passed on her résumé to one of its hiring managers. "Coincidentally, this was a company I had targeted," says the 50-year-old. Ms. White-Cornell says the company isn't currently hiring in marketing, but she feels like the personal recommendation will get her résumé noticed when they do.

As she continues her job search, Ms. White-Cornell is looking to help to others in her situation by making introductions and forwarding links to employment ads. "It feels good to give back," she says. "And it's the right thing to do."

More on Finding a Job

Starting Over as a Mid-Career Intern
Laid Off and Looking Blog
Find a Career, Not Just Another Job
Of course, there are potential downsides to offering support to strangers. "There are those who will take advantage of the kindness of others," says Mr. Stelzner. "You don't want to represent someone who's lied about their background."

Paula Marks, a career coach in New York and executive recruiter, recommends do-gooders pre-screen potential mentees to get a sense of whether they are serious about finding a job.

Mr. Blais says he takes several steps to ensure he's helping people he can trust. "I try to get a feel for what kind of work they're after and gain some insight through what is essentially a phone screening," he says. "I also make it clear to employers that this is an altruistic initiative."

Of course, those seeking help should do their own due diligence. A referral from someone who isn't in good standing in the field or who has a less-than-stellar reputation can harm your job search. "You may not know their career history and you don't know if they're viewed as credible," says Ms. O'Donnell, who advises job seekers to do some Internet research on their would-be mentor and take a little time to build a relationship before you accept a referral from a stranger.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com