Director - Global Entity Management

Job Description – Director, GEM Hub

Joining KPMG means joining a talented team of exceptional colleagues who bring innovative thoughts and a natural curiosity to the work they do each day. Not one type of person succeeds at KPMG; a diverse business requires diverse personalities, characters, and perspectives. There really is a place for you here.

At KPMG, our values define who we are and the way we do business. As a leading professional services firm, we know that our strengths and capabilities come from our people – their different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. From our inclusive leadership strategy to our diversity and inclusion targets – we’re making bold changes to who we are and what we do. Be part of it.

The UK Company Secretarial and Global Entity Management (GEM) business sits within KPMG Law. Its vision is to be a market leading, fully technology enabled, global entity management and company secretarial advisory business. The business supports both UK and multinational organisations across more than 80 countries.

The GEM Hub is central to how the business delivers consistent, high-quality and commercially sustainable entity management services at scale. The GEM Hub is based across Manchester, London and India and supports client transition and onboarding, service delivery co-ordination and oversight, operational management, data (migration and maintenance) and technology, quality and continuous improvement. The GEM Hub works closely with other KPMG member firms to support sales initiatives and with our network of trusted local in-country providers (mix of KPMG and third-party suppliers) for service delivery, using Digital Gateway to manage global workflow orchestration and reporting.

This role is for a Director (A Grade) to lead the GEM Hub Operations.  The Director will lead the GEM Hub operating model, and be responsible for operational people leadership, operational delivery performance (SLA’s and Quality) and the operational continuous improvement/transformation agenda, ensuring that the platform can support continued growth while providing a consistent experience for clients and KPMG teams globally.

What the key responsibilities of the role are:

Strategy and operating model

• Lead the GEM Hub Operations and the GEM Hub operational team across Manchester, London and India, setting a clear direction, operating rhythm and culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Co-own (with the GEM leadership team) and develop the GEM Hub strategy and operating model, including organisational design, roles and responsibilities, capacity planning, governance and performance reporting.
• Develop and execute workforce, location and capability strategies to ensure the GEM Hub can support future growth in services, jurisdictions and client demand.
• Translate the GEM business strategy and growth plan into a practical delivery strategy, ensuring the GEM Hub can scale efficiently as the client portfolio and service offering expand.
• Contribute as a senior leader to the wider GEM strategy, bringing an operational perspective to investment, service design and market growth decisions. Must be willing to spend time with the core GEM Hub team in Manchester and London as required to support outcomes.

Service delivery and client accountability

• Take overall responsibility for service performance on engagements, including quality, timeliness, productivity, utilisation, client satisfaction and adherence to agreed service levels.
• Work closely with the wider GEM leadership team, client leads, KPMG member firms and the international delivery network to clarify service ownership, resolve delivery issues and maintain a consistent global service.
• Provide senior operational oversight for client transitions and onboarding, ensuring that new engagements move into business-as-usual delivery in a controlled and sustainable way.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex delivery matters, coordinating timely resolution and clear communication with client and internal stakeholders.

Commercial and financial performance

• Own the GEM Hub P&L performance inputs, including utilisation, productivity, recovery, delivery margin, working with GEM leadership to support sustainable growth of the business.
• Establish simple, effective governance and management information that gives clear visibility of demand, capacity, delivery risk, SLA and financial performance and improvement priorities.
• Support proposals and client conversations by clearly articulating the GEM Hub model, delivery approach, transition plan, controls and value to clients. Whilst involvement in sales processes will be part of the role, the successful candidate will not be expected to lead pursuits or be given sales targets.
• The successful candidate will be expected to lead the operational side of engagements, perform the role of engagement leader for non-UK led engagements, and be confident to operate strong financial management of client engagements.

People leadership and capacity

• Lead, coach and develop the GEM Hub team, creating strong succession plans, clear career pathways and a consistent people experience in the GEM Hub.
• Build an inclusive GEM Hub global team in which work is allocated effectively, responsibilities are clear and colleagues have the skills and support needed to succeed.
• Own resource management, including recruitment, and support for business cases in the GEM Hub.

Risk, quality and controls

·       Own the operational quality and risk framework for GEM Hub service delivery, ensuring compliance with KPMG policies, engagement requirements and agreed service controls.

Technology & transformation

• Act as the senior sponsor for the GEM technology platform, defining operational requirements, business priorities and investment opportunities. Work closely with the Product Owner to ensure Digital Gateway, data and AI capabilities support the GEM operating model, service delivery objectives and growth strategy.
• Identify and deliver operational improvements to the GEM Hub operating model, service delivery processes, resource utilisation and governance framework. Sponsor technology-enabled improvement initiatives delivered through the Digital Gateway product roadmap.

Why join the GEM Hub:

• You want to lead and shape a strategically important global delivery platform within a growing legal services business – whilst the GEM Hub forms part of the UK firm, it is our global centre of excellence for the delivery of these services.
• You enjoy building high-performing, inclusive teams across locations, cultures and disciplines.
• You are motivated by creating clear, scalable processes that improve quality, client experience and commercial performance and wherever possible leverage technology solutions, including AI.
• You want to influence the future of global entity management through technology, data and new ways of working.
• You value the opportunity to work across borders, connecting KPMG Law member firms and multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex international services.
• You are excited by the opportunity to develop future leaders and create clear career pathways in the GEM Hub team.

Education and qualifications

• A degree or equivalent professional experience in a relevant discipline such as business, operations, law, governance or accounting.
• A Chartered Governance Institute qualification, legal qualification or equivalent governance credential would be advantageous but is not essential where the candidate brings strong global managed-services leadership experience.

Skills and Experience Required

The successful candidate will be an experienced senior leader with a strong track record in global managed services, professional services operations, legal operations or entity management. They will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Significant experience leading sizeable, multi-location teams, ideally including teams based in the UK and India.
• A proven ability to design, build and improve scalable operating models for complex, recurring services.
• Strong people leadership, with experience of developing senior managers, building succession and creating a consistent culture across locations.
• Strong commercial and financial management skills, including workforce planning, budgets, utilisation, pricing, engagement cost management and cost-to-serve.
• Experience of managing service performance through clear metrics, governance, service levels and management information.
• A strong understanding of quality, risk and control requirements in a regulated or professional services environment.
• Experience leading client transitions, operational change and transformation programmes while maintaining business-as-usual delivery.
• Confidence using technology, data and automation to improve workflow, insight, quality and productivity.
• The credibility to influence partners, senior clients, international colleagues and multidisciplinary stakeholders.
• A practical, calm and solution-focused approach, with the judgement to balance standardisation with genuine client and jurisdictional requirements.
• Knowledge of company secretarial, subsidiary governance or global entity management services is desirable; the ability to lead an excellent global service operation is essential.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex operational matters clearly and concisely.