Managing Director, Strategy, Transformation and Operations Lead

Ankura is a team of excellence founded on innovation and growth.

About Global Strategic Advisory (GSA): GSA offers comprehensive advisory services to navigate global challenges in geostrategic matters, pivotal partnerships, and execution. In today’s digital world, rapid disruptions from social unrest, geopolitical conflicts, and legal issues can impact businesses severely.

Our global team, led by experienced leaders, provides tailored solutions to manage risks and drive growth.  We are experts in diverse areas, including crisis communications, geostrategic advisory, public affairs and advocacy, joint ventures, sovereign debt, and strategic execution & leadership, ensuring sustainable success for our clients.

Role Overview: This position is important for helping build and operate the new GSA model, which demands integrated leadership at both strategic and operational levels. It is a high-impact role that serves a critical role to the Business Group Leader by providing analytical support, operational oversight, and strategic direction to drive business performance, growth, and efficiency. Areas of focus are ensuring operational excellence, effective resource utilization, and the seamless integration of the business clusters (inside and across GSA) based on established strategic priorities of Ankura and GSA.

The role acts as a force multiplier for the Business Group Leader (BGL), ensuring preparedness and operational efficiency akin to a surgical team prepared for operation. As an example to bring the role life, envision a surgeon entering the operating room with everything ready to go: team assembled, patient prepared, tools laid out. The person in this role will ensure that the operating room is ready to go, doing much of the preparation themselves and orchestrating others to do the rest.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the development and execution of the business group’s growth strategy, go-to-market initiatives, and talent management efforts.
• Act as a change agent, leveraging technology and data-driven insights to drive organizational effectiveness and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the overall leadership and direction of GSA, working closely with others to share best practices and drive operational capabilities across GSA.
• Identify and pursue new revenue-generating opportunities that align with the business group’s capabilities and strategic direction.
• Ensuring alignment of practice activities with long-term objectives.

Financial and Business Operations Management:

• Provide actionable decision support through analysis and reporting at the practice and business cluster level, enabling leaders to understand and articulate business activities and financial outcomes and enhance operational efficiency, productivity, and resource allocation.
• Collaborate with finance function and GSA practice leaders to optimize existing reports and develop new metrics for enhanced financial performance.
• Help identify and implement synergy opportunities to enhance profitability by optimizing support and overall functions within the business group

Implementation of GSA’s New Business Model:

• Liaise among BGL, Cluster and Practice Leaders to develop metrics critical for GSA’s success.
• Diagnose change barriers and develop roadmaps to shift mindsets and build capabilities.
• Participate in initial account planning processes with internal leaders.

Project Management for GSA Business Model Implementation:

• Own program/project management, supporting sponsors and owners to deliver on project briefs.
• Drive special projects and model effective communication strategies.

Qualifications:

• High-single-digit years of work experience in consulting or a related field.
• Strong analytical skills to translate business strategy into actionable data and analysis.
• Experience in client-facing roles within a consulting business. Familiarity with the professional services industry and its unique challenges and opportunities is preferred.
• Ability to orchestrate across organizational boundaries and manage workstreams independently.
• Proven track record of driving operational improvements, delivering measurable results, and optimizing financial performance.
• Financial acumen and experience in financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and data analysis.
• Excellent problem-solving, critical thinking, and strategic planning skills, with the ability to work with incomplete or ambiguous data.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with stakeholders at all levels and navigate cross-functional relationships.
• Proficient in project management, resource allocation, and process improvement methodologies.
• Adaptable and comfortable with ambiguity, able to thrive in a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment.

Personal Attributes:

Strong communication and stakeholder management skills to interface in a global,

expert-led organization.

Strategically minded and detail-oriented, able to step up above the day-to-day work

and see the higher-level direction in which the organization needs to go, with the ability

to flip between the two when charting the path to a solution.

Entrepreneurial thinker who can operate in ambiguity, “unchartered territory”.

Learning-oriented, building feedback loops to continuously refine systems and

dashboards to meet user needs.

Client-oriented, envisioning the most effective ways for their principal to show up in

the market, and how to apply themselves internally to client planning discussions.

This role is pivotal in evolving the GSA business to its next level, requiring a candidate who is both strategic and operational, with the ability to influence and drive change across the organization.

Requirements:

•            Minimum 10+ years of professional services experience

•            An undergraduate degree from a top academic institution; advanced degree(s) and applicable professional certification(s) are preferred

•            Expertise defining, influencing and driving change at executive levels and across the broader community of stakeholders

•            Exceptional negotiation skills with complex/sophisticated situations

•            Able to develop credible recommendations under shortened time constraints and imperfect information

•            High energy style, flexible and adaptive, with the ability to work well in a very fast paced environment

•            Proven track record of effectively planning for and proactively mitigating risks on execution of projects

•            Prior hands-on experience building / developing / overseeing financial reporting

•            Quickly recognizes critical areas requiring analysis and review while understanding the big picture

•            Experience synthesizing complex unstructured information rapidly and applies good business judgment driving quickly to deep insights into possible impacts and solutions

•            Expert written communication skills, self-directed with preparation of presentation development

•            Articulate, persuasive, communicator who is adept at handling executive and difficult audiences well including ability to adapt style to audience

*

Ankura is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Equal Employment Opportunity Posters, if you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening, submit an online application, or participate in an interview/assessment, please email [email protected] or call toll-free +1.312-583-2122. This email and phone number are created exclusively to assist disabled job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Only messages left for this purpose will be returned. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or technical issues unrelated to a disability, will not receive a response.