Are you looking to join an organization that is growing and dynamic? What about a high-energy, collaborative environment that rewards hard work?

J.S. Held is a global consulting firm that combines technical, scientific, financial, and strategic expertise to advise clients seeking to realize value and mitigate risk. Our professionals serve as trusted advisors to organizations facing high stakes matters demanding urgent attention, staunch integrity, proven experience, clear-cut analysis, and an understanding of both tangible and intangible assets.

The firm provides a comprehensive suite of services, products, and data that enable clients to navigate complex, contentious, and often catastrophic situations.

We are seeking a Managing Director to join our Strategic Advisory Group with a primary focus on operational and profit improvement. This is a unique opportunity for an entrepreneurial, highly driven leader with a well-rounded operating, financial, and commercial skill set. The ideal candidate will have significantly demonstrated experience designing and executing performance transformation and value-creation programs in complex, transaction-driven, private equity-backed, and distressed environments. This person will rapidly identify and quantify high-impact opportunities; translate data-driven insights into practical execution plans; align executives, boards, sponsors, lenders, and other stakeholders; and lead hands-on implementation that delivers measurable improvement in EBITDA, cash flow, working capital, operational efficiency, growth, and enterprise value.

J.S. Held’s Strategic Advisory Group helps organizations improve performance, stabilize operations, protect stakeholder interests, and execute sustainable value-creation strategies. We take a hands-on, operationally focused approach that connects commercial, operational, and financial performance. Our professionals combine experience-based hypotheses with data-driven analysis to identify improvement opportunities, establish accountable implementation plans, and deliver measurable results. The team advises private equity sponsors, portfolio companies, lenders, creditors, legal counsel, executive teams, boards of directors, and investors in both healthy and challenged situations.

Our Strategic Advisory Group has an opening at the Managing Director level for a senior professional who can originate, lead, and deliver operational and profit improvement engagements. The candidate will join an experienced, closely knit team with deep expertise in assessing complex situations, partnering with management teams, and executing initiatives that create durable financial and operational results.

Job Responsibilities

• Originate, scope, and lead operational and profit improvement, performance transformation, value-creation, and related due diligence engagements;
• Rapidly assess businesses and quantify high-impact opportunities across revenue growth, pricing, gross margin, procurement, supply chain, labor productivity, overhead, organizational effectiveness, working capital, capital efficiency, and technology enablement;
• Translate analyses and investment theses into practical value-creation plans with defined initiatives, owners, milestones, financial targets, dependencies, risks, and governance;
• Partner directly with CEOs, CFOs, operating executives, private equity sponsors, boards, lenders, and other stakeholders to align priorities and drive implementation;
• Establish performance-management routines, dashboards, and initiative tracking to validate benefits and sustain improvements in EBITDA, cash flow, working capital, operational efficiency, growth, ROI, and enterprise value;
• Lead hands-on implementation in resource-constrained or time-sensitive environments, including interim or embedded leadership assignments when appropriate;
• Direct integrated teams across operational, financial, commercial, technology, and transaction workstreams; manage multiple engagements and develop junior professionals;
• Deliver clear, executive-level analyses, recommendations, implementation roadmaps, and communications that connect operational actions to financial outcomes;
• Develop and cultivate referral sources and client relationships within private equity, corporate, lending, legal, and investor communities to generate revenue opportunities;
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to develop go-to-market strategies and cross-sell relevant J.S. Held capabilities; and
• Provide support on other strategic advisory assignments and ad hoc initiatives as requested.

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant experience in operational improvement, performance transformation, value creation, turnaround, management consulting, or operating leadership, including significant experience leading client engagements and developing business.
• Demonstrated record of identifying, quantifying, and implementing initiatives that produce measurable improvements in EBITDA, cash flow, working capital, growth, operational performance, ROI, and enterprise value.
• Experience across multiple improvement levers, such as pricing, revenue growth, gross-margin enhancement, procurement, supply chain, labor productivity, organizational design, working capital, or technology-enabled transformation.
• Strong financial acumen and advanced analytical capability, including the ability to link operational drivers to income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, and investment-return outcomes.
• Proven ability to build executive alignment, lead cross-functional teams, delegate effectively, manage multiple workstreams, and mentor professional staff.
• Executive presence and communication skills sufficient to advise CEOs, CFOs, boards, private equity sponsors, lenders, and other senior stakeholders and to translate complex analyses into clear decisions and actions.
• Experience working in private equity-backed, transaction-driven, complex, or resource-constrained environments; turnaround and restructuring experience is strongly preferred.
• Established business-development capabilities and relationships within private equity, corporate, lending, legal, and investor communities, together with the ability to cross-sell J.S. Held expertise.
•  Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; an MBA or other relevant advanced degree or professional certification is preferred. This position requires travel to client locations, at times extensively.

Physical and Mental Job Qualifications

• Travel as needed

Some of the Benefits We Have Include

J.S. Held understands all our employees are people and sometimes life needs flexibility. We work to always provide an environment that best supports and suits our team’s needs.

• Our flexible work environment allows employees to work remotely, when needed
• Flexible Time Off policy
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401k Match
• Commuter Benefit

A reasonable estimate of the salary range for this role is $250,000 - $300,000. Any offered salary range is based on a wide array of factors including but not limited to skillset, experience, training, location, scope of role, management responsibility, etc.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read the J.S. Held Online Privacy Notice and hereby freely and unambiguously give informed consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of your personal information as required and described therein. California residents can click here to learn more about the personal information we collect and here to learn about additional privacy rights that may be available.

Please explore what we’re all about at www.jsheld.com.

EEO and Job Accommodations

We embrace diversity and our commitment to building a team and environment that fosters professional and personal enrichment is unwavering. 

J.S. Held is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process, please email [email protected]. Include "Applicant Accommodation" in the subject line, along with your request and contact information.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.