The opportunity

The Deal Manager is responsible for supporting the firm’s most high-value, strategic deals (those designated Alpha+ and/or Alpha) across the following scope of responsibilities:

• Manage execution of pursuit process, including critical path, timeline, and interdependencies

• Assess competitive situation and help develop differentiated win strategy focused on client priorities while protecting EY’s interests

• Develop power map and tactics to navigate client buying process

• Provide ‘glue’ to focus and guide extended pursuit team through structured sales approach and proposal development

• Collaborate with extended pursuit team define, package and articulate compelling client offer across scope, solution, price, and terms

• Plan storyline/key messages and prepare extended team for orals.

The Deal Manager is expected to be a beacon of pursuit excellence, bringing vast knowledge, tools, and resources from across the firm and their own professional experience to proactively keep the pursuit on track and moving towards a winning outcome.

Assistant Deal Managers will develop foundational deal acumen, leadership, and insight by supporting Deal Leads and/or Associate Deal Managers on Alpha+ and/or Alpha deals, respectively.

Your key responsibilities

• Project Management – Organizes, documents, and drives all pursuit workstreams and activities throughout the pursuit lifecycle.

• Executes the firm’s Gold Standard Pursuit Process (GSPP) using gold standard tools and enablers to manage the pursuit from qualification through close.
• Establishes deal infrastructure, including TEAMS site, calendar, action tracker, team roster, notebook, etc. with support from the Deal Coordinator as needed.
• Develops and maintains the pursuit plan/action tracker and calendar, making certain that all pursuit activities are assigned ownership, tracked and executed according to schedule.
• Ensures all pursuit deliverables (e.g., meeting documents, proposals, presentations) are developed on schedule submitted on time and with the highest quality.
• In coordination with the Deal Leader, sets up and runs a regular cadence of deal status calls with support from Deal Coordinator, as needed. Supports the Deal Leader in developing status call agendas and debriefs.
• Supports Deal Leader in developing and distributing internal status updates for leadership and others as necessary.
• Engages and oversees support resources as necessary/appropriate, including Proofers, EY Knowledge, Pursuit Resource Center, additional Creative Services, etc.
• Act as the centralized knowledge steward for the pursuit.

• Written communications - Crafts articulate and client-centric content across all pursuit deliverables, most notably the win themes and proposal document.

• Responsible for the development of all client-facing, written deliverables (e.g., meeting documents, proposals, presentations) that adhere to the firm style guide in collaboration with the Creative Designer for design and formatting.
• In collaboration with other pursuit team members (e.g., Deal Leader, Engagement Partner, Client Partner), develops client-centric win themes that underpin the entire deal strategy. Ensures the win themes are reflected consistently throughout all client communications and deliverables.
• Authors original content when critical and/or necessary (e.g., cover letter, executive summary) and leverages relevant firm resources to source non-critical, boilerplate content when appropriate.
• Responsible for making sure the final proposal document tells a consistent, winning story and flows as if written in one voice.

• Deal strategy – Leverages gold standard process/tools, innovation, insight, and resourcefulness to help create a differentiated and winning deal strategy.

• Supports discussions/meetings around deal strategy, actively contributing to critical deal meetings such as kick-off, win strategy, orals prep, etc.
• Supports the Deal Leader in the constant qualification of the deal and navigating the deal through firm governance, quality, and approval processes (e.g., Approval to Pursue, Approval to Contract)
• Suggests creative ideas that enhance our win strategy or ability to differentiate.

• Other

• Builds collaborative relationships with pursuit teams, including Service Line, Account and Business Development leaders as well as Senior Managers, Managers and Staff.
• Shares lessons learned, best practices and innovation from pursuits and other experiences with teammates, the broader BD community, and the global firm as appropriate.
• Supports team strategic and/or operational initiatives to develop new or enhance existing best practices, tools, or enablers.
• Flexibility to work outside regular working hours and across time zones
• Moderate travel may be required

Skills and attributes for success

• Must be able to operate in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment

• Influences/challenges the pursuit team to optimize the chances of winning

• Demonstrates versatility and poise in a constantly evolving environment with a wide variety of social styles and interests

• Solution-oriented and makes sound recommendations and decisions

• Champions best-practice pursuit tools and processes, while remaining open to new and better ways of doing things when appropriate

• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)

• Excellent project management and organizational skills with high attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously

• Has a strong ability to influence and direct others

• Self-motivated, resourceful, and able to work from own initiative with limited supervision

• Has a strong understanding of the business development and/or pursuit environment

• The Deal Manager supports opportunities with a great deal of firm leadership exposure/involvement thus the Deal Manager must exhibit strong interpersonal skills.

• Embrace shared philosophy that “great teams” execute a consistent set of behaviors aligned with being a:

• Trusted Strategic Advisor – Build Trust and credibility by proactively providing forward-thinking insights and guidance to help pursuit teams develop and execute a winning pursuit strategy

• Gold Standard Champion – Execute EY’s “gold standard” pursuit process with discipline and expertise to improve consistency and use of leading practices in EY’s approach to winning

• Win-Win Advocate – Drive internal and external clients towards outcomes that deliver compelling and sustainable results for both the client and EY.

• Creativity and innovation Driver – Inspire and challenge teams to differentiate EY through innovative strategies, experiences, and deliverables that compel our clients to choose EY

• Inspirational Change Agent – Invest in developing world-class talent, methods, tools, and capabilities to deliver better results, create exceptional experiences, and develop transformative leaders and teams.

To qualify, you must have

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required, preferably in a related field such as Business Administration, Sales, Marketing, English, Public Relations, or Journalism.

• Approximately 5+ years of relevant experience in pursuits, business development, marketing or project management, preferably in a professional services environment.

• Must have communications and proposal writing experience, including the ability to provide relevant writing samples.

Ideally, you’ll also have

• APMP, PMP certification is considered advantageous