Associate Director

Associate Director – (SSG) Strategy and Execution – EY Parthenon 

Our SSG (Software Strategy Group) sits within the Strategy and Execution team, which is EY’s leading market team providing Technology, Operations and Financial advice to corporate and private equity firms who intend to acquire, divest or restructure businesses. The team comprises advisors with specialist commercial, operations, software, technology, cyber, finance and deal / transaction experience from industry, advisory and audit backgrounds.

SSG has competencies in Product and Technology, Enterprise Technology and Cybersecurity:

• Product and Technology provides investment and acquisition guidance to clients across commercial, product, and technical topics needed to assess and advise companies leveraging their own proprietary software for commercial advantage
• Enterprise Technology assesses major technology risks and opportunities related to a transaction across key areas of enterprise technology holistically including enterprise and business systems, infrastructure, data and reporting, tech operating model, tech spend
• Cybersecurity focuses on understanding the business operating model, then applying our experience, benchmarks and tools to determine where Cyber is critical to the brand, operations, assets and applicable regulations.

The team has completed thousands of diligence engagements and provides a unique capability to help companies make critical choices and complete successful transactions. 

As part of EY, you’ll have the chance to build a career as unique as you are, with global scale, support, inclusive culture and technology to become the best version of you. And we’re counting on your unique voice and perspective to help EY become even better, too. Join us and build an exceptional experience for yourself, and a better working world for all.  

The opportunity 

We are seeking to further expand our team with consultants who work across a range of sectors that include Private Equity, Digital, Software and tech-enabled services.

The opportunity sits in the Product and Technology competency of the SSG team

As an Associate Director in our team, you’ll advise clients across software and tech-enabled services sectors, supporting in developing and executing strategies for transactions, use your knowledge and enthusiasm to apply your technical skills across the M&A transaction lifecycle; ranging from diligence to technology strategy assignments including pre-deal diligence, portfolio review and post deal value creation engagements. 

Your key responsibilities 

Our Associate Directors manage teams that engage with clients on a variety of topics, ranging from diligence to strategy assignments:  

 Diligence 

• Product and Technology diligence: We provide market-leading product and technology diligence of companies in the Software Economy, an "inside-out" assessment of product capabilities, product road map, software architecture, technical debt, R&D organisation, and software development processes, enabling investors to understand a software company's capabilities and ability to execute against its corporate strategy, while also identifying risks and opportunities. 
• Integrated diligence: When EY-Parthenon teams combine product and technology diligence with guiding commercial due diligence "outside-in" capabilities, we provide clients with a cohesive view of their target investment from both a market and an operational perspective, providing insights that each diligence workstream may not uncover separately. We are a leader and innovator in this integrated offering and bring extensive capabilities to the marketplace.  

Strategy 

• Software development optimisation: We assess a company's software development organisation for capacity, talent, and process, and provide actionable recommendations to improve productivity, timeliness, predictability, quality, and overall alignment with the corporate strategy. This assessment is conducted through site visits, interviews, reviewing data, hands-on evaluation, primary research, and benchmarking. 
• Technology strategy and roadmap: By studying clients' technology roadmaps and potential alternatives, as well as assessing cost, risk, and alignment with strategic objectives, we help companies identify and build a suitable technology strategy and architecture road map — sometimes building on internal efforts and sometimes on brand-new ideas. This type of engagement typically revolves around  a potential re-platforming initiative or a major transformational effort, such as a substantial acquisition or a SaaS transformation. 
• Product strategy and roadmap: We examine a company's product roadmap and provide recommendations for improvement in product strategy and road map based on market and research, team capabilities, development cost and risk, and technology underpinnings. This type of engagement typically includes primary research on the competitive landscape and market greenspace. 
• It may also entail post-merger consolidation or rationalisation of a product portfolio. Like other engagements, it leverages the combination of capabilities in understanding and assessing marketplaces and deep technical knowledge.  

Skills and attributes for success 

• Contributing to pre deal, post deal, value creation engagements with clients across all sectors including private equity across the UK and EU. 
• Associate Directors manage an engagement’s successful execution and lead junior team members. On any given day, an Associate Director might take the lead role on more challenging analysis, coach/ mentor junior team members, conduct industry research, interview industry experts, conduct qualitative and quantitative investigation, or participate in discussions with our clients   
• Lead discussions to develop hypotheses, insights, and key findings critical to the engagement  
• Executing qualitative and quantitative reviews (e.g., R&D Spend analysis, feature functionality benchmarking, competitor studies, organisational capabilities, technology capabilities) to support the formulation and validation of strategic recommendations 
• Conducting in-depth interviews with key organisational stakeholders, industry experts and customers 
• Performing secondary research using a variety of sources (e.g., analyst reports, market research reports, news articles) 

• Analysing business plans and pro-forma financial models to help identify key assumptions and drivers 
• Contribute to people initiatives; mentoring, coaching, recruiting, retaining and training staff. 

Desirable knowledge and experience

• A bachelor's degree (or equivalent) with outstanding academic performance.  (Computer science or similar field would be a plus) 
• Prior experience as team lead or senior engineer within a software company, or the software function of a more traditional company, especially in fields such as product management, software engineering, data science or DevOps
• Track record of applying structured methodologies and industry standards for Product Management, UI/UX design principles, Software Architecture, Software Development Life Cycle methods and the ability to provide insights based on experience
• Prior experience in a transactions context, ideally performing technology due diligence and/or strategic value creation assignments 
• Detail-oriented and good at sifting through datasets quickly to identify patterns and develop insights 
• Ability to make detailed assessments of industry, products, markets, competitors and customers to identify risks and opportunities, along with recommendations to achieve investment thesis goals and/or mitigate risk 
• Flexibility with working locations, as we occasionally perform work onsite in the UK, EU and globally 

Ideal candidate characteristics 

• You will be a charismatic and effective leader of diverse teams
• You will be a strong and articulate communicator
• You’ll be a trusted business consultant to our clients and use your deep knowledge of technology trends to work closely to their needs
• Your proven project management and stakeholder management experience will be key to the role

If you’re ready to take on a wide range of responsibilities and are committed to seeking out new ways to make a difference, this role is for you 

About EY Parthenon

EY-Parthenon teams work with clients to navigate complexity by helping them to reimagine their eco-systems, reshape their portfolios and reinvent themselves for a better future. With global connectivity and scale, EY-Parthenon teams focus on Strategy Realized — helping CEOs design and deliver strategies to better manage challenges while maximizing opportunities as they look to transform their businesses. From idea to implementation, EY-Parthenon teams help organizations to build a better working world by fostering long-term value. EY-Parthenon is a brand under which a number of EY member firms across the globe provide strategy consulting services. For more information, please visit ey.com/parthenon

What working at EY offers 

We offer a competitive remuneration package where you’ll be rewarded for your individual and team performance. Our comprehensive Total Rewards package includes support for flexible working and career development, and with FlexEY you can select benefits that suit your needs, covering holidays, health and well-being, insurance, savings and a wide range of discounts, offers and promotions. Plus, we offer:

• Continuous learning: You’ll develop the mindset and skills to navigate whatever comes next.
• Success as defined by you: We’ll provide the tools and flexibility, so you can make a meaningful impact, your way.
• Transformative leadership: We’ll give you the insights, coaching and confidence to be the leader the world needs.
• Diverse and inclusive culture: You’ll be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs.

 
Please note: Prior to finalizing your application, you will be asked to provide personal information across several dimensions of diversity and inclusiveness. The information you provide is kept entirely confidential and will not be used to evaluate your candidacy. We collect this data to help us analyse our recruitment process holistically and implement actions that promote diversity and inclusiveness. While optional, we encourage you to provide this information to hold us accountable towards our goal of building a better working world. We ask because it matters!

If you can demonstrate that you meet the criteria above, please contact us as soon as possible.

The exceptional EY experience. It’s yours to build.

Apply now.