Senior Principal, Data Insights

We are MERU. A values-driven, impact-oriented team dedicated to fixing companies. We provide advisory services and data analytics support to middle-market companies ($50M - $2B in annual sales), and our clients include private equity firms, credit funds, investment banks, and law firms. We bring deep turnaround experience, a group of veteran operators, and an incentive-aligned approach to any situation. MERU was founded by professionals from Alvarez & Marsal and McKinsey and has seen rapid growth in the five-plus years since its founding.

We're Partners, not consultants. When you join MERU, you will help our clients solve their most pressing problems, supported by a team of people who will challenge you, support you, and inspire you.

In order to be Partners, we don't silo people into just one functional area of the business, instead advancing our team's capabilities by providing training for every service that MERU offers. Additionally, we don't just focus on technical skills but also leadership style and soft skills, so MERU team members not only know what it means to manage a client engagement but to lead a team to success. In training team members to be well-rounded individuals, we can deliver an overall higher impact to clients, allowing the ability to gain experience in diligence, turnarounds, interim management, data science, and more.

To aid this career advancement and development, MERU provides an internal Coach to each team member in order to guide and maintain their professional development plan goals. Unlike most Firms, we actually focus on the achievement of those goals for each individual team member, providing opportunities that would not usually be offered.

Finally, MERU values personal time, only traveling when necessary in order to celebrate and respect your personal life. We believe that by encouraging and mandating balance, it will lead to happier and longer-tenured team members.

When you come to MERU, you come to further your career and maintain your entrepreneurial spirit, never losing sight of the desire to provide meaningful impact, solutions, and value to clients. Learn more about our colleagues’ core characteristics and culture here: https://wearemeru.com/meru-way/

MERU Data Insights Team works with companies at all stages of their digital transformation journey to automate reporting processes, build scalable data platforms, and leverage predictive analytics to transform data from a liability into an asset. Services include Data Discovery and Analysis, Data Prep and Integration, Self-Service Analytics, Data Visualization and Reporting, Data Science and Advanced Analytics, and Strategy Enablement.

Senior Principal Responsibilities

• Engage with company executives and private equity stakeholders, acting as the data analytics subject matter expert through customer-centric solution development and value-driven delivery.
• Lead delivery teams consisting of Analytics Engineers and Solutions Architects to implement full modern stack platforms, including collecting business requirements, building data warehouse/data lakes, developing intuitive visualizations and reports, and end-user training.
• Demonstrated capability to oversee multiple workstreams, helping to establish priorities, drive timely completion of deliverables, and lead problem-solving sessions.
• Produce high-quality, client facing, production-level code and sustainable architectural designs, all while setting best practice standards for junior team members.
• Serve as a leader in the MERU Data Insights practice, driving knowledge management, collaboration, and providing mentorship to team members.
• Lead proposal development (i.e., assistance with analysis/presentation, etc.) and proactively identify ways to improve the proposal quality (i.e., research, package case studies, etc.).

Senior Principal Qualifications

• 7+ years of business intelligence or data analytics experience.
• 4+ years of capability leadership or delivery management in a data analytics consulting or client-facing role is required.
• Bachelor’s degree from a top university.
• Master’s degree related to analytics or information system is preferred.
• Expert knowledge and delivery experience with Tableau, Power BI, Qlik, or any other data visualization tools.
• Strong knowledge and experience with ETL tools like Power Query, Azure Data Factory, Fivetran, Stitch, Alteryx, and languages like SQL, Python, or R.
• Knowledge or experience working with cloud data warehouses (Azure, Snowflake, GCP, AWS).
• Relevant certifications associated with business intelligence tools.
• Experience in leading cross-functional teams to deliver high quality data products.
• Experience in helping build out data teams, data functions, or data services from the ground up highly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to interact and work collaboratively with junior and senior team members, senior management, and other stakeholders or professionals.
• “Roll up your sleeves” mentality and willingness to complete any task if needed, no matter the role.
• Experience in project management and independently managing deliverables.
• Effective communication skills to explain technical concepts to a non-technical audience or senior executives.
• Ability to assist with internal firm initiatives (e.g., marketing, client pitches).
• Willingness to travel up to 20%.
• Ability to work full time in an office and remote environment; physically able to sit/stand at a computer and work in front of a computer screen for significant portions of the workday.
• Authorization to work in the United States.
• Commitment to living MERU’s values and core characteristics.

Performance Improvement:

Help companies identify and achieve their full potential by leveraging a value-focused approach to driving sustainable margin expansion impact. Services include MERU 360° Assessment, Transformation Plan Development, Chief Transformation Officer placement, Cash Cycle and Working Capital Optimization, and Implementation Performance Management.

Turnaround & Restructuring:

Partner with clients during uncertain times to help stabilize operations and rapidly triage the causes of financial distress, charting a path back to long-term sustainability. Services include Interim Management, Turnaround Plan Development and Execution, Liquidity Management, Stakeholder Negotiations, Strategic Alternatives Assessment, Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Case Management.

Transaction Services:

Partner with private equity firms across the investment lifecycle, from due diligence to portfolio value creation and exit planning. Services include Due Diligence, Pre-Close Planning, Post-Close Implementation, and Exit Planning.

Data Insights:

Work with companies at all stages of their digital transformation journey to automate reporting processes, build scalable data platforms, and leverage predictive analytics to transform data from a liability into an asset. Services include Data Discovery and Analysis, Data Prep and Integration, Self-Service Analytics, Data Visualization and Reporting, Data Science and Advanced Analytics, and Strategy Enablement.

It is MERU’s policy to provide and promote equal opportunity in employment, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment without discrimination because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service, pregnancy, marital status, family status, religion, national origin, age or disability or any other non-merit based factor in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters unless such recruiters are engaged to provide candidates for a specified opening. Any employment agency, person, or entity that submits an unsolicited resume does so with the understanding that MERU will have the right to hire that applicant at its discretion without any fee owed to the submitting employment agency, person, or entity.