Senior Manager, Issues Based Consulting

222 W Adams St, 11th Floor
Chicago, Illinois, 60606
United States

West Monroe isn’t a start-up consulting firm, but we act like one.

From day one, our people have the opportunity to make a strong, personal impact for their clients and their careers. What does this mean? It means we seek out the best of the best, and then we challenge them to make us better. If you aren’t interested in being integrated into the business, this isn’t the place for you. We celebrate driven professionals who thrive in a collaborative environment. You’ll sometimes be a “one-person show” but you’ll work with our consultants on the front lines – partnering with clients to deliver game changing solutions in the most dynamic industries. Sound interesting? Then West Monroe Partners just might be the place fo r you.

Think you’re up to the challenge?
We are looking for a Sr. Manager with strong business acumen and 10+ years of identifying market trends that inform our firm’s ability to solve the complex issues facing buyers of consulting services. This role will be based in Chicago, and report directly to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). This person will help define, lead and own a new strategic Program at West Monroe, “Issues Based Consulting”, a program centered around client-centricity and uncovering new opportunities for WMP to create and provide new, timely services.

This individual will partner with the CMO, CSO, COO, and Leadership at West Monroe to identify market trends that are forcing our clients to fundamentally rethink their business, and have direct impact on our firm’s points of view, approach to client delivery, top-line growth, while drivin g a mindset change across our firm in how we serve clients and refine our operating model. Historical examples of this include: digital transformation, cybersecurity, difficulties attracting, managing, and retaining talent, and refining productivity to prepare for a potential economic downturn. We want to be ahead of these trends, and this person will be instrumental in uncovering new client-facing issues and driving forward new offerings to solve them. This is an internal-facing role at West Monroe, but requires a strong eye to the market.

Market intelligence background, communication, project management experience, client-service orientation, and ability to influence change through training and people development are a must. You must have experience working with senior leadership to define client-facing challenges and drive new offerings into the market.

What will you be doing?
This person will be responsible for managing the IBC program.

Specifically:
* Leverage Market Intelligence to Uncover Future Client Issues
- Conduct research to uncover market trends and customer insights
- Attend industry conferences and read industry publications to stay on top of business pains and competitors in consulting
- Connect with the analyst community to assess viability of market insights and WMP’s ability to serve client needs aligned to a client need
- Refine West Monroe’s Issues Lifecycle – focusing on how we uncover and launch new issues, and sunset existing client issues
- Partner with consultants to develop thought leadership and solutions for issues / topics
* Drive Firmwide Behavior Change to influence a new approach to client delivery
- Design internal training curriculum with Talent Development Team and external vendor to educate firm leadership on new issues / market trends
- Champion an Issues-Based mindset while onboarding new employees
- Develop training to develop and rely on an issues-based approach to client delivery
* Operationalize Issues Based Consulting and Manage the Portfolio of Issues
- Build a network of internal relationships to identify new client issues and new industry-specific client needs tied to existing issues
- Help issue / topic Centers of Excellence (COE) prioritize market-facing/chargeable time and practice development by playing a key role in coordinating COE and business needs
- Drive insights from data to make decisions and recommendations to the COE lea dership and executive sponsor of Issues Based Consulting
- Develop, track and provide insights to progress against the IBC Playbook and Issue Life Cycle
- Partner with practice teams to organize staffing for chargeable client work, practice development needs (e.g. thought leadership), and business development needs
- Help influence and implement changes to West Monroe’s operating model to ensure we can learn about client needs quickly, mobilize to serve, and deliver work in these categories
- Drive New Offerings tied to existing and future client issues to create value for our clients and new revenue streams for West Monroe
- Manage a budget related to Issues-Based Consulting
* Influence Branding to build Client Relationships
- Partner with Content and PR team to develop new thought-leadership concepts
- Partner with marketing and executive leadership to push refined messaging into the market
- Design and plan a Client Summit focused on client education and collaboration around major challenges facing their business

We need someone who can bring the following to the table:
* 10+ years’ experience working in a consulting firm, focused on creating value for clients
* Ability to receive feedback and perspectives of others, encouraging collaboration and inclusion in the creation of new ideas
* Strong managerial adeptness with the ability to organize people, processes, manage stress and make effective decisions involving people
* Extensive experience leading market research
* Extensive experience in project ma nagement
* Excellent organizational, verbal and written communication skills, with ability and comfort level communicating with internal executive management
* Able to work as a team player or team leader
* Able to work with and manage different personalities at all levels of the organization
* Self-sufficient and able to work within a fast-paced and nimble organization
* Strong attention to detail
* Ability to travel up to 25%

West Monroe seeks collaborative, enthusiastic and professional individuals to join our success-driven culture. So, if you’re looking for an opportunity to flex your muscles in a high-energy environment where you own your career, we’d love to hear from you.

West Monroe Partners is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer -
We believe in treating each employee and applicant for employment fairly and with dignity. We base our employment decisions on merit, experience, and potential, without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, religion, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by federal, state or local law.