Despite the best efforts of compliance, legal, risk, security and information technology departments, clients can remain uncertain on how to address and respond to the unexpected when corporate disruption occurs. Clients call upon EY to deploy former federal law enforcement officers, forensics accountants, compliance professionals and technology specialists to coordinate response activity and timelines, collect critical information and business intelligence, investigate suspicious activities, summarize procedures and outcomes, and streamline communications and reporting when responding to critical business events that can lead to an organizational crisis.

The opportunity

The Business Operations Manager is an experienced management position that plays a vital role in driving the success of our client engagements by providing critical administrative project support to our consulting staff and reinforcing our engagement team to help them deliver outstanding results to our clients.

The primary focus of the Business Operations Manager (OM) is to build and manage a team that collaborates with our senior professionals and support them and their engagements on all matters related to engagement administration. As OM you will become an expert and develop a team that provides engagement lifecycle workflow and practices within a component of our large professional services firm.

With approximately 4,500 forensic professionals around the world, EY has the ability to assemble the right multidisciplinary and culturally aligned team to work with clients and their legal advisors. EY works to give clients the benefit of our broad sector experience, providing deep subject-matter knowledge and the latest insights from our work worldwide.

Working with clients across all industries, you’ll help assess and develop innovative recommendations for some of the most challenging crisis management, safety & security, intelligence and bribery & corruption issues around. Since we work with such a diverse portfolio of clients, you can expect to take on a wide range of forensic solution based projects, making this a great place to develop your skills and business knowledge.

Your key responsibilities

Because all clients have unique issues, it’s no exaggeration to say you’ll never be doing the same type of investigation for too long. You’ll be part of a team that works with our clients’ legal counsel, internal audit and compliance departments investigating complex issues and developing practical solutions that address operational challenges. It’s all about using your technical skills and problem solving to creatively assess and resolve our clients’ needs from the front lines.

The OM will oversee a team that provides support to our Partners and Senior Managers/Directors in their Business Development and Engagement Administration activities. You and your team will collaborate with engagement teams to play a vital role in success by enabling process best practices and following quality standards.

Skills and attributes for success

• Supervise and provide performance feedback for a team performing the activities described below
• Provide support with engagement-level administration including client acceptance, Mercury (ERP) & CRM maintenance, conflict checks, engagement economics, billing & invoicing, and other engagement-related activities
• Develop and facilitate negotiation of legal documentation on key engagement-related documents, (e.g., engagement agreement, statement of work, non-disclosure agreement, non-reliance letter, etc.)
• Ensure agreements, engagement proposals, and other engagement-related documents are executed and completed with a high degree of accuracy and timeliness
• Provide proposal and credential support through research and knowledge management
• Ensure all Quality excellence standards and compliance requirements (including document retention consistent with EY policies) are adhered to and be a point of reference concerning Quality for the individuals under your supervision
• Facilitate pipeline management and reporting at both a Partner and sector level
• Work with your BE colleagues and practice partners on strategic efforts such as new automations and improvements to enhance and streamline our engagement administration processes
• Liaise with and train the offshore Engagement Management Services team
• Provide support with staffing and resource allocation and other related staffing activities
• Become an expert and mentor others in several aspects of engagement administration
• Help document best practices as they evolve and participate in training both as a trainer and a participant

To qualify for the role you must have

• A Bachelor's degree required with a preference towards a business concentration or equivalent work experience
• At least 7 years of work experience – experience working with senior professionals preferred
• At least 2-3 years managing teams with similar or analogous responsibilities to the Business Operations team
• Detail-oriented with strong planning skills and consistent follow-through
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills and ability to interact with all levels of an organization
• Comfort driving change management, implementation, and quick adoption of technology
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and manage time, multiple tasks, and deadlines effectively
• A strong team player with the ability to adapt to changing requirements or deadlines in support of our clients’ goals.
• Experience with standard business tools such as MS Office, Excel, PowerPoint, PowerBI, SharePoint and CRM systems
• A self-starter who possesses the intellectual curiosity to be a problem solver
• A good collaborator who also can work independently when needed
• An analytical, data-driven mindset
• Experience with the business processes of large organizations
• Experience with modern workflow tools

Ideally, you’ll also have

• Demonstrated ability to lead teams and properly delegate work load through a large and diverse team
• Knowledge and experience with hardware and storage solutions is helpful.

What we look for

We’re interested in passionate and hardworking people that have the intellectual curiosity to actively pursue new knowledge in the rapidly changing world of investigations and crisis management. Naturally you’ll need a solid technical foundation, as well as the ability to translate complex information into meaningful, actionable insights. We’re not just looking for strong technical skills – we’re interested in people that have the ability to nurture relationships, both internal and external, and are committed to intimately understanding our clients’ needs. If you’re looking to become part of a community of advisors where you’ll make a measurable difference across some of the most prestigious businesses around, this role is for you.