(Senior) Director of Growth Strategy

Description

Department:

This role sits within the EMEA Digital & Technology (DTS) practice at Alvarez and Marsal. A&M Digital revolves around a full-service Digital offering spanning Strategy, Customer Experience, Technology and Data. Our positioning is at the intersection of strategy and execution (not slides and then gone, nor fingers on keyboards coding & testing or detailed customer journey designing), architecting the destination, orchestrating the delivery and navigating the change & transformation journey.

Through our DTS practice, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) helps clients ideate, incubate, and industrialise new business models including agile target operating models, customer and product innovations, or intelligent and automated back offices leveraging a mix of capabilities ranging from digital product management, customer experience (CX), data and analytics, and self-service platforms. Working directly with client management, A&M's involvement reassures all stakeholders that the company is taking important steps to address key market opportunities or challenges and maximise the value of its business and technology investments moving forward.

Working within DTS and collaborating with A&M teams, the Digital Strategy team works with clients to:

Transform their bottom-line and top-line business metrics such as EBITDA, company valuation, CLTV and margin through unlocking potential in existing businesses, products or services or through the creation of new ones. Make them “future fit” – for example devising and implementing new operating, delivery and service models which prepare them for growth or to transition to sustainable practises. Maximise their investments in technology and data.

A&M’s DTS professionals work on some of the world’s most high-profile cases in a rapidly transforming landscape, striving for game-changing solutions that provide impactful long-term change. Our international team is comprised of seasoned executives from diverse backgrounds, functional experts & highly skilled consultants.

The Purpose of the role:

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to join a ‘hands on’ team.  You will contribute to work streams on large programs but also smaller projects, leveraging your Strategic, Digital & Technology knowhow and skill set in challenging the status quo and developing sound solutions either from an external point of view or in collaborative settings with your client organization.

The primary focus of this role is to help A&M’s clients with top-line growth and value creation. This will often be required as part of a wider scenario such as a business transformation, turnaround, the need to respond to sector disruption or an imperative to reimagine a business. Top-line growth will often be combined with bottom-line and other transformation initiatives and you will be comfortable working across them.

You will advise the client’s business vision, build growth and value creation strategies to succeed and define supporting digital transformation roadmaps and execution plans to deliver the strategy and deliver tangible results such as increasing EBITDA, company valuation, market share or deliver new revenue streams. You will be experienced and an expert in delivering growth and value creation including revitalizing and transforming existing businesses, products and services as well as creating new ones which, for example, enable a strategic pivot, capture a new market or disrupt a sector.

Our DTS Strategy consultants not only form strategies and advise the clients, but also execute alongside cross-functional teams - becoming part of client teams and operating fully end to end, from problem identification to formulating strategy and delivering the end product. Using your skills in strategy execution, you will own and deliver programmes for our clients. You will also work on transferring capabilities to help our clients use digital technology and operating models to transform their businesses and new ways of working. You will work as part of an A&M team to shape and drive end-to-end digital transformations across business, technology, process and people, creating value by reinventing the core of our client’s businesses. 

This work includes gathering and analysing information, formulating and testing hypotheses, and developing and communicating recommendations. You will present results to client management and implement recommendations in collaboration with client team members. You will work with clients and teams on broader consulting work that includes operations/processes, new digital initiatives, and marketing with a strong digital focus.

We currently have opportunities at Director level within our DTS Strategy team. 

Responsibilities:

You will support the delivery of growth and value creation programmes and digital transformation projects in the UK and across EMEA, where identifying growth, value creation and transformation levers and managing political complexity will be key for success. Assignments will focus on delivering impactful and often complex transformation programs across our key client industries, bringing added value to our clients (disruption mindset, restructuring DNA, acceleration of the transformation).  To this effectively, you will need to:

• Identify growth and value creation levers and devise both short and long-term strategies to maximise their impact for our clients;
• Run discovery or strategy phases of work, developing top-line growth strategy, value creation roadmap, high-level target solution designs, target experiences and practical interventions that deliver positive impact to top-line business metrics for example EBITDA improvement, increasing ARPU, CLTV or company valuation;
• Apply growth and value creation strategies to existing businesses, products and services  such as commercial model analysis, value pool analysis, developing product strategy, product portfolio analysis, developing go-to-market strategy, options for acquisitions and JV, partnership strategy, value proposition strategy, target customers and markets, and developing strategic pivots;
• Identify, test and incubate new revenue streams, value propositions, products, services and business models;
• Develop and execute strategies and transformations which incorporate both top-line and bottom-line business impact.
• Help shape platform-led transformation strategies working with multi-disciplinary team of technologists, business architects and experience designers;
• Promote how digital transformation can improve performance, reduce costs and achieve higher profitability;
• Be creative to generate breakthrough ideas for growth, value creation and transformation;
• Design and deliver collaborative workshops with clients;
• Cultivate and share best practices through thought leadership, personal experience and the shared collective experience gained from similar projects and engagements;
• Stay up to date on aligned industry trends and solution innovations, constantly refine point of view and demonstrate ongoing thought leadership;
• Work closely with senior stakeholders in the client’s business and with professionals from leading financial institutions;
• Be an action-oriented self-starter with strong analytical skills and entrepreneurial flair;
• Have a strong exposure to client, be able to deal with top executives in complex situations;
• Be proactive in industry events e.g. conferences, forums, debates – ensure the Company is perceived as a key player in the Digital Transformation space.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate would possess a strong passion for delivering tangible business impact, challenging the status quo through innovation, (large scale) digital transformation and consulting experience. Experience & abilities you will bring are likely to include:

• Education: a high-grade degree qualification (or equivalent) in a relevant subject;
• Experience within advisory (ideally from a large Professional Services firm or from a digitally focused boutique), working on large scale transformation programs and experienced with working with top management;
• Previous experience in delivering growth and value creation in varying scenarios using tactical and long term strategic planning;
• Highly analytical, commercial skills capable of analysing business and product performance, devising new business and revenue models, developing pricing strategies and developing robust, costed business cases;
• Previous experience in identifying, incubating and scaling new businesses, products, services. Including user and market research, opportunity identification, value proposition development, ideation techniques, agile and lean methodologies, and go-to-market strategies;
• Experience in customer experience and service design;
• Previous experience delivering digital transformation projects in a consulting or client-side role e.g., strategic consulting (digital strategies, digital roadmaps, workflows...), familiarity with established and emerging technologies (data analytics, automation, artificial intelligence, cloud migration, blockchain and digital twins..) and ability to integrate Digital Transformation into other service offerings such as process improvement or operations excellence, stakeholder engagement, change management;
• You are confident working in a technology environment - you will bring proven skills and experience at leading and delivering management consultancy projects;
• Demonstrable credibility as a strategic advisor or experience leading a client-side digital transformation initiative.  The ability to engage, listen, comprehend and propose coherent solutions to business challenges and help companies build business cases for adopting new technology solutions;
• A creative, strategic thinker who can bring innovative ideas, a new perspective or a new strategy to the table to challenge the status quos;
• Demonstrated aptitude for both data & data analytics and an ability to work with numbers with ease with an ability to interpret and present data to all levels within an organisation;
• Strong communication and relationship building skills, an excellent networker with the ability to navigate a wide map of internal stakeholders and external account relationships to CXO and CIOs;
• Native English language skills are essential, along with excellent writing skills;
• Solution oriented, data driven, learning mind-sets; 
• Solid understanding of Internet and Web technologies & Smart offerings;
• A deep understanding of the current trends, challenges and technologies used desired;
• An understanding of change management thinking – especially pertaining to disruptive technologies highly desired;
• Willingness to travel often (within Europe) & right to work in the EU;
• Additional European languages (to a fluent business level) would be highly valuable;
• Further education such as an MBA would be highly valued.

Why A&M?

Companies, investors, lenders and government entities around the world turn to Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) when conventional approaches are not enough to activate change and achieve results.

Privately-held since 1983, A&M is a leading global professional services firm that delivers performance improvement, turnaround management and business advisory services to organizations seeking to transform operations, catapult growth and accelerate results through decisive action. Our senior professionals are experienced operators, world-class consultants and industry veterans who draw upon the firm's restructuring heritage to help leaders turn change into a strategic business asset, manage risk and unlock value at every stage.

When action matters, find us at www.alvarezandmarsal.com

Diversity & Inclusion:

A&M’s entrepreneurial culture celebrates independent thinkers and doers who can positively impact our clients and shape our industry. The collaborative environment and engaging work—guided by A&M’s core values of Integrity, Quality, Objectivity, Fun, Personal Reward, and Inclusive Diversity—are the main reasons our people love working at A&M. Inclusive Diversity means we embrace diversity and we foster inclusiveness. It runs through how we recruit, develop employees, conduct business, support clients, and partner with vendors. It is the A&M way.

Diversity & Inclusion

A&M’s entrepreneurial culture celebrates independent thinkers and doers who can positively impact our clients and shape our industry. The collaborative environment and engaging work—guided by A&M’s core values of Integrity, Quality, Objectivity, Fun, Personal Reward, and Inclusive Diversity—are the main reasons our people love working at A&M. Inclusive Diversity means we embrace diversity, and we foster inclusiveness, encouraging everyone to bring their whole self to work each day. It runs through how we recruit, develop employees, conduct business, support clients, and partner with vendors. It is the A&M way.

Equal Opportunity Employer

It is Alvarez & Marsal’s practice to provide and promote equal opportunity in employment, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment without discrimination because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, sex or gender, gender identity or gender expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, family medical history, genetic information or other protected medical condition, political affiliation, or any other characteristic protected by and in accordance with applicable laws. Employees and Applicants can find A&M policy statements and additional information by region here.

Unsolicited Resumes from Third-Party Recruiters

Please note that as per A&M policy, we do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters unless such recruiters are engaged to provide candidates for a specified opening and in alignment with our Inclusive Diversity values. Any employment agency, person or entity that submits an unsolicited resume does so with the understanding that A&M will have the right to hire that applicant at its discretion without any fee owed to the submitting employment agency, person or entity.