Director - Finance Centre of Excellence

The Role

As a Director in the Finance CoE, you will play a senior leadership role in shaping, delivering, and growing our finance-focused deal advisory propositions. You will lead complex, high‑pressure, multi‑workstream engagements, working directly with CFOs and finance leadership teams on both the buy-side and sell-side to design, plan, and execute finance workstreams within transaction environments.
You will be accountable for leading engagement teams, serving as a trusted advisor to clients, applying our methodology and best practices, and overseeing the deliverables, quality and commercial success of projects. You will also lead business development for key pursuits/ sectors/ accounts, proposition building, and the growth of our people and culture.

Roles & Responsibilities

Client Delivery & Leadership
• Lead end‑to‑end finance support across the deal lifecycle, often as part of a wider deal teams, shaping our support and ensuring delivery excellence.
• Serve as a key advisor to CFOs and senior finance stakeholders in different sectors, providing challenge, insight, and practical direction during high‑pressure deal environments
• Collaborate with multi‑workstream delivery teams often across multiple geographies, ensuring coordination, quality assurance, and value across finance workstreams.
• Lead and review separation/ integration planning, operating model design, and deal‑driven finance change outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with clients across sectors, as well as other advisory firms involved in deals (e.g. legal, banking, technology).

People Leadership
• Provide leadership, coaching, and development for senior managers and below team members, fostering a high‑performing, collaborative and supportive team culture.
• Drive capability development within the Finance CoE, helping colleagues grow expertise across deal execution, finance operations, core processes and consulting skills
• Promote the values of inclusion, agility, and personal development reflected in the firm’s ‘Our Deal’ and ‘The Academy’ commitments.

Market & Proposition Development
• Innovate, shape and expand Finance CoE propositions in integration, separation, finance function assessments, cutover and operating model design.
• Drive business development efforts, including proposal leadership, origination conversations, and building long‑term client relationships.
• Contribute thought leadership on future trends in finance functions, disruptive technologies, data‑driven insight, and leading practice in deal-related finance transformation.

The Person

Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential Experience
• Substantial experience working in a leading consulting firm, Big 4, private equity or strategy / corporate development team with a focus on the finance function in industry
• The candidate must have previous experience in consulting as well as industry. The latter needing to be in an operational capacity as ‘Line Management’
• Experience of leading mid-sized and large deal execution projects with a focus on CFO-relevant issues
• Strong academic track record
• Experience of managing or supporting high-value business development activities with C-level stakeholders
• Demonstrable ability to independently generate sales opportunities, commercialise relationships with senior executives and maintain strong client relationships
• Acting as the source of new business development initiatives and taking these from idea, through design and execution all the way to clients
• Strong numerical capabilities combined with sound commercial acumen
• Demonstrable ability to lead teams in high‑pressure, ambiguous, and fast‑paced deal environments.
• Evidence of strong problem-solving & analytical capabilities
• Structured thinking skills combined with creativity
• Ability to talk credibly with C-level clients on the key issues and value implications facing their business in a deal context
• Ability to evaluate complex challenges and deliver insightful recommendations that can be practically executed

Finance in Deals Experience
• Proven track record leading complex/large‑scale finance integrations, separations, carve‑outs, joint venture setup projects
• Initiating marketing and sales efforts, proposals, scopes and pricing for mid-sized and large consulting assignments, preferably in the finance deals space
• Evidence of designing work plans, team structures and then managing these to (i) excellent client output and (ii) strong project economics
o This should include an extensive coverage of recent M&A transactions, e.g. Integration/ separation planning and execution, transitional service agreements
• Deep understanding of issues and decisions in M&A deals which affect financial controls, governance and reporting on both buy-side and sell-side, from pre-deal to post deal and exit
• Deep understanding of leading practice in finance functions, operating model design, and the impact of digital/disruptive technologies on finance
• Deep understanding of core finance processes (Record to Report, Procure to Pay, Order to Cash), with strong understanding of finance function structures, controls, systems, and performance metrics.

Preferred Qualifications
• Professional qualification (ACA, CIMA, MBA, or equivalent).

Core Competencies
• Outstanding client relationship skills, executive presence, and communication capability (oral and written).
• Exceptional problem solving, analytical thinking, and structured report writing.
• Ability to inspire teams, manage competing priorities, and deliver confidently under pressure.

Working Environment

You will work with a global client portfolio, often at client sites, with projects ranging from a few weeks to longer engagements. Flexible working options are supported, reflecting the firm’s commitment to agile working, inclusion, and tailored career development.