Vice President

I'm retained by a US leader in Private Equity Consulting, with a specific focus on the office of the CFO, where they are a market leader in the United States.

As part of their global expansion, they are establishing their European HQ in London. We are leading their search for Vice Presidents for their Strategic Finance practice.

They are interested in speaking with candidates currently working within Investment Banking or Private Equity, interested in a move to PE Consulting, or experienced Consultants with experience working with or within PE portfolio companies.

THE ORGANIZATION

Our client is a private equity-focused financial and technology consulting firm. Rooted in a heritage of serving the office of the CFO, They work at the intersection of sponsors and management teams to maximize value.

The firm’s services span the entire CFO function – including strategic financial planning and analysis, CFO-related technology, operational and technical accounting, transaction execution, interim leadership, and turnaround & restructuring solutions. In Europe, their focus is Strategic Finance, TES, Transformation, Data & Analytics.

Across all of their services, clients are supported by deep expertise in data & analytics, CFO-specific technology and finance-led transformations. They are headquartered in New York with ten offices around the globe.

There are a lot of firms that play in their space — but our client is unique. They focus only on the Office of the CFO, they specialize in private equity, and they expand and contract based on the scope of their client’s needs. Through passion, drive, and a perfectionist attitude, they roll up their sleeves to execute the key finance initiatives that transform businesses.

As the go-to-partner to the private equity community, our consultants thrive at the intersection of sponsors and management teams – helping them measure, manage, and scale their businesses. Rooted in a heritage of serving the office of the CFO, they leverage an execution-oriented approach to maximize value.

THE STRATEGIC FINANCE PRACTICE

They build leading FP&A capabilities to enable value creation for PE-Backed Companies.

Successful value creation in a PE-backed context is an ongoing process that starts with alignment and includes constant analysis, measurement, and collaboration around performance visibility. Management teams and stakeholders require continuous access to actionable, timely insights to inform superior decision-making, enhance organizational performance and, when necessary, identify course corrections.

Our client's Strategic FP&A Practice helps Finance teams build capabilities to enhance performance visibility, planning activities, data analytics, and business partnering to enable and accelerate value creation.

By combining extensive operational FP&A experience, data and technology skills, and a proprietary engagement model, they develop and implement tools and processes and deliver solutions that meet the rigor and pace required in a PE-backed environment.

SERVICE OFFERINGS

Financial Onboarding | RADAR

FP&A Best Practices Implementation

Business Intelligence & Big Data Analytics

Management & Stakeholder Reporting

Budgeting & Forecasting Optimization

Cash & Liquidity Forecasting

Strategic Decision Support

PURPOSE: Why does this job exist?

This role exists to support the growth of the firm and its reputation for delivery of the highest quality consulting services to Private Equity sponsors and their portfolio companies. It will maximise our client’s value creation opportunities through fast paced, execution-oriented delivery of the highest quality outputs, across all stages of the investment lifecycle.

These roles combine a tremendous opportunity to work with some of the world’s most prestigious PE firms with a unique opportunity to participate in regional firm building for a global leader in PE consulting.

ACCOUNTABILITIES: What are the key deliverables?

The VP will contribute to the firm’s success through deliverables such as:

Client engagements that deliver real, measurable value, at pace.

High levels of client satisfaction

Projects and workstreams delivered on time and to the highest quality

ACTIVITIES: What does the jobholder have to do?

As a VP on a lean, cross-functional team, you will work collaboratively with a diverse set of colleagues with backgrounds in Private Equity, Investment Banking, FP&A, Big 4 and Financial Controllers, to identify and rectify issues across a broad range of scenarios.

Provide leadership support on client engagements, including managing work streams to agreed timelines, performing quality control of client deliverables and leading the presentation of deliverables

Develop financial and analytic models at various granularity levels to drive operational and transactional insights

Conduct financial and business due diligence to assist with various investment and growth decisions

Perform detailed analysis and synthesize actionable insights from data sets and unstructured information sources.

Construct impactful reports and presentations that enhance key stakeholders’ understanding of business trends and drivers

Lead/participate in consultant teach-ins and other training exercises

Participate in the performance review process for engagement teams

Regular and extensive travel across Europe to work with clients in the relevant jurisdictions

RELATIONSHIPS: Who does the jobholder have to work with?

Client leadership, management and employees

Private Equity Sponsors

Their Practice leaders, Managing Directors, Directors, VPs, and Associates

Other practices engaged on multi-practice projects

Internal operations colleagues

They have developed a reputation for excellence in the provision of consulting services to the office of the CFO within the United States. They have worked with 300 of the world’s premier Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies. Their entrepreneurial, nimble, collaborative, execution oriented, fast paced delivery, is key to their success.

CULTURE: What are the values and ‘norms’ surrounding the job?

They are more than a consulting firm. They are home to a rare breed of finance professionals – people with backgrounds in private equity, investment banking, operational & technical accounting, transaction execution, and performance improvement. Together, we work as practitioners (not theorists) to empower PE-backed CFOs across their entire function.

• We have an absolute focus on delivering value creation for our clients.
• We are entrepreneurial. We think like owners
• We are practitioners, not theorists. We get things done
• We are high energy, enthusiastic and resilient.
• We are passionate, we are positive.
• We are collaborators
• We challenge established thought. We take risks, we make bold decisions and bring a fresh way of thinking to our work
• We are coaches and are coachable. We lead when we can, teach what we know and learn what we don’t
• We partner with authenticity. We bring transparency and humility
• We pivot and persevere. We defy unnecessary structure, figure things out on the fly, and refuse to settle.

FUTURE: Where might the jobholder move to?

This role presents a great opportunity for development and progression to more senior roles within the firm, as it grows rapidly.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• A bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics or related qualification
• Minimum 6+ experience at a top tier private equity firm, investment bank and/or consulting firm. Experience of strategic finance within a PE portfolio company is also of interest
• Experienced managing projects with tight deadlines
• Strong transactional finance experience as well as an understanding of operational finance
• Advanced Excel skills and very strong financial modeling and valuation skills; SQL, Power BI are highly desirable
• Experienced in advising clients on financial accounting issues
• Knowledgeable of complex financial accounting and operations issues
• Strong quantitative and organizational skills

WHY US?

This a great opportunity to join a rapidly growing PE backed, PE advisory business during the first phase of our expansion into Europe.

This role represents a rare opportunity for an entrepreneurial builder to join a firm with a clear, differentiated culture, whilst combining firm building with consulting for some of the world’s most prestigious Private Equity sponsors and their portfolio companies.

This is a great opportunity to fast track your career with a global leader expanding in a new region, where career development trajectory is directly linked to capability and performance, rather than time in role. When you combine this with the opportunity to excel in a high-performance culture, that will stretch your abilities and challenge your talents, this is a compelling opportunity.