Managing Director, Business Strategy and Transformation

Job Summary:

The Managing Director, Business Strategy & Transformation is a critical senior leadership role within BDO’s $500 Advisory Business Line. Reporting directly to the Advisory National Managing Principal, this individual is a key partner in driving transformational growth toward, while raising the practice’s overall EBITDA contribution to the firm. The Managing Director serves as the main internal strategist and transformation lead for the Advisory practice.

The role exists to ensure the Advisory business line has a clear, compelling, and executable strategy for growth and value creation and that the transformation agenda required to realize that strategy is owned, governed, and driven with rigor and momentum. The Managing Director will work at the most senior levels of the business line and the firm, while partnering closely with the Advisory National Managing Principal on the growth and operating agenda.
 

Job Duties:

Strategy Development & Execution
•    Owns the development and ongoing evolution of the Advisory practice's multi-year strategic plan, in close partnership with the Advisory National Managing Principal and the business leadership team
•    Leverages rigorous analysis of market dynamics, competitor positioning, client needs, and internal capability to identify compelling strategic priorities that will drive sustained growth and differentiation
•    Translates strategy into clear priorities, accountabilities, and investment decisions; establish a disciplined planning cadence with annual strategy cycles, mid-year reviews, and horizon scanning
•    Builds genuine alignment across geographies, business lines, businesses, and functional groups around a shared strategic direction — ensuring strategy is lived, not just documented

Strategic Priorities
•    Leads the shift to a client-centric, solution-oriented selling model: moving the practice from service-led engagement to integrated, outcome-focused solutions that address clients’ most complex challenges; embedding this mindset across go-to-market strategy, client targeting, pursuit processes, and principal behavior
•    Drives a step-change in delivery excellence across the businesses: establishing consistent delivery frameworks, quality standards, and client experience benchmarks that differentiate BDO in the market and build long-term client loyalty and advocacy
•    Builds and deepen capability expertise in support of the practice’s priority solution areas: identifying where BDO can build genuine market-leading depth, investing in the people, tools, and intellectual capital required to compete on the strength of specialist knowledge, and positioning the practice as the advisory firm of choice in its chosen domains

Transformation Leadership
•    Designs and guide the Advisory transformation program: including operating model evolution, business development, go-to-market innovation, technology enablement, and workforce transformation
•    Establishes and govern program infrastructure: workstream design, ownership, milestone tracking, interdependency management, risk oversight, and benefits realization
•    Leverages the strong capabilities and skills that reside within the Advisory business line as the primary engine of transformation. Identifies, mobilizes, and empowers internal talent to lead and deliver change; where genuine gaps exist, augment the team with targeted external skills and business partners to accelerate progress and build lasting internal capability
•    Drives change momentum across a geographically dispersed principal and leadership community; identifies and removes structural, cultural, and operational barriers to progress
•    Sustains commitment to transformation through periods of competing priorities and ambiguity; keeps the agenda visible and accountable at the highest levels of the business line and the firm

Commercial Performance & Insight
•    Maintains familiarity with the financial performance of the practice, understanding the revenue, margin, utilization, and growth drivers across all segments and business lines
•    Designs and oversees a KPI framework refinement that gives the leadership team timely, credible, and actionable insight into business performance and strategic progress
•    Identifies and develops business cases for growth initiatives, efficiency improvements, and portfolio realignment; support decision-making with clear analysis and structured recommendations
•    Supports significant client pursuits, strategic partnerships, and investment decisions where internal strategy or transformation expertise adds material value
•    Influences future platform build-out and acquisition strategy: shaping priorities, evaluating opportunities, and ensuring effective integration that strengthens the practice’s capabilities and accelerates its growth trajectory

Stakeholder Leadership & Influence
•    Operates as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the Advisory National Managing Principal; providing honest counsel, challenging thinking where appropriate, and strengthening the quality of leadership decisions
•    Builds strong, credible relationships with Principals, business line and business leaders, and functional heads across Finance, HR, Technology, and Risk to drive alignment and progress
•    Communicates strategy and transformation priorities and progress with clarity and conviction to diverse audiences

Capability Building & Culture
•    Partners with People & Culture and Talent Acquisition to ensure the practice has the capabilities, leadership depth, and ways of working required to deliver on its strategic ambitions
•    Drives initiatives that strengthen team effectiveness, leadership development, inclusion, and the overall employee experience within the Business Advisory practice
•    Works with P&C to shape the Advisory Employee Value Proposition, taking into account the emerging operating model
•    Champions a high-performance culture grounded in BDO's values — where innovation is encouraged, accountability is clear, and results are celebrated

Other duties as required

Supervisory Responsibilities:
•    Indirect supervision of individuals supporting the function.

Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Education:
•    Bachelor’s degree, required
•    MBA or Master’s degree, preferred

Experience: 
•    Fifteen (15) or more years of substantial senior leadership experience in strategy, transformation, or business leadership, ideally within a professional services, consulting, or financial advisory environment, required
•    Demonstrated track record of designing and delivering complex, large-scale transformation programs from inception through to sustainable outcomes, required
•    Experience within a Big 4 or mid-tier professional services firm, with an understanding of the partnership model and its leadership dynamics, preferred

License/Certifications:
•    N/A

Software:
•    Proficient in Microsoft Office suite, required
•    Proficient with Smartsheet, preferred
•    Familiarity with Oracle ERP Platform, preferred

Language:
•    N/A

Other Knowledge, Skills & Abilities: 
•    Strong commercial acumen and financial literacy: able to interpret practice-level performance data and ground strategy in commercial reality
•    Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the credibility to engage Principal-level and National Executive audiences
•    Outstanding analytical and structured thinking capability: able to synthesize complexity into compelling strategic narrative and actionable plans
•    High executive presence and personal credibility; proven ability to lead with influence in a partnership or professional services model
•    Exposure to agile program delivery, design thinking, or structured change management methodologies
•    Knowledge and fluency with AI tools and workforce enablement
•    Demonstrated ability to embrace and lead change in organizations
•    Inspiring leader that sets a high bar, develops talent with intention, and builds teams that are proud of the work they produce. 
•    Intellectually rigorous and creatively ambitious; pushes the business's thinking beyond the conventional and builds delivery approaches that genuinely differentiate. 
•    Deeply client-oriented; understands that delivery excellence is ultimately measured by client outcomes, not internal process compliance.
•    Collaborative and commercially aware, works in genuine partnership with go to market leadership and the Business Leader to connect delivery performance to business growth. 
•    Composed and decisive under pressure; navigates complex engagements, difficult client situations, and competing priorities with clarity and confidence.
•    Strong leadership and management skills
•    Superior written and verbal communications skills
•    Proven ability to share knowledge through listening intently, being direct and willing to share knowledge
•    Demonstrated ability to hold others and self accountable 
•    Knowledge and fluency with AI tools and workforce enablement
 

At BDO, how we show up matters. We build strong relationships by supporting one another, our clients, and our communities with care, curiosity, and a commitment to helping one another grow and succeed. Here, you’ll find meaningful work, leaders invested in your success, and opportunities to build a career around what matters most to you.

Our purpose is to be the people our clients count on to grow with confidence and achieve what matters most. Our values guide how we bring that purpose to life each day. Together, they shape how we work with one another, serve our clients, and create meaningful impact.

BDO provides assurance, tax, and advisory services to clients across the U.S. and around the world. No matter your role, you’ll be part of a team helping clients navigate complexity and move forward with clarity.

We are proud to be an ESOP company, offering participants a stake in the firm’s success through beneficial ownership and a unique opportunity to enhance their financial well-being. As a qualified retirement plan, the ESOP is a meaningful addition to our comprehensive compensation and Total Rewards benefits* offerings. It also reinforces an ownership mindset that strengthens our connection to one another, our clients, and the future we’re building together.

Learn more about our benefits: BDO Total Rewards encompass more than traditional benefits. Click here to find out more!

*Benefits may be subject to eligibility requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/vets
Click here to find out more!