Associate Director - Finance Transformation, M&A Support (PE / Growth)

Associate Director - Finance Transformation, M&A Support (PE / Growth)

By joining our rapidly growing Business Transformation practice (and working closely with our Private Equity practice) you will serve as a trusted partner to our premiere PE-backed clients. You'll bring your first-hand experience, unique perspectives, and functional knowledge to deliver tailored integrated solutions that help our PE-backed clients solve today's challenges and drive value creation. As an Associate Director, you will be responsible for a mix of client delivery, leading teams and developing junior team members, and participating in business development activities. The successful candidate will lead and manage M&A integration programs for middle market private equity clients, ensuring seamless transitions and maximizing value creation from transactions. If you enjoy business transformation and driving value creation in the fast-paced world of Private Equity, this is a unique opportunity to become part of our growing and collaborative team!

What You'll Do :

• Lead M&A integration projects from planning through execution, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives
• Set up the IMO, define its governance structure, roles, and responsibilities, and ensure it operates effectively to manage all aspects of the integration process
• Develop and implement integration strategies, including transformation initiatives and risk mitigation
• Create detailed integration plans that outline key milestones, timelines, dependencies, and resource requirements, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives
• Identify and implement synergy opportunities across operations, finance, technology, and roles to maximize value creation from transactions
• Identify, document, and track the progress of Transition Service Agreements, ensuring a streamlined transaction process and TSA exit
• Engage with key stakeholders, including private equity firms, portfolio companies, and internal teams, to ensure alignment and collaboration throughout the integration process for a smooth integration of operations, systems, and culture
• Lead change management initiatives to ensure successful adoption of new processes, systems, and cultures within the integrated organization
• Manage the IMO cross-functionally, monitor and report on integration progress, identifying and addressing issues proactively
• Continuously assess and refine integration processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness, leveraging best practices and lessons learned from previous integrations
• Assist portfolio companies with executing scalable 'buy-and-build' strategies by developing and implementing repeatable integration playbooks
• Provide thought leadership and best practices in M&A integration within the middle market private equity space
• Lead client engagements, facilitate workshops, and build roadmaps of prioritized strategic initiatives to accelerate time to value
• Execute engagements utilizing agile principles scrums, sprints, kanban, etc.
• Leverage expertise in leading business processes (e.g., Procure-to-Pay, Opportunity-to-Cash, Record-to-Report including Financial Planning / Analysis and Close, Recruit-to-Hire-to-Retire and Master Data Management ) and cross-functional dependencies to implement best practices and provide value-added insights
• Utilize knowledge of finance tools, automation, data analytics, and cutting-edge solutions to meet client needs
• Support Business Transformation projects, including system strategy, process improvement, operational performance enhancement, change management, program management, data analytics, stakeholder management, and business analysis
• Effectively transition solutions back to private equity portfolio companies
• Develop and maintain relationships with portfolio company representatives and Private Equity sponsors, collaborating with CrossCountry team members to scope, clarify, and deliver excellent client service
• Seek opportunities to integrate additional solutions and service lines into clients to deliver full-scale transformation services aligned with client needs
• Play an active role in talent acquisition, including interviewing, hiring, and retaining top-tier professionals who embody our core values
• Serve as a coach and mentor to team members, fostering their professional growth and development
• Actively participate in business development opportunities and market a full range of services to prospective clients including using existing relationships to generate new opportunities

What You'll Bring :