Director - People Centre of Excellence - ERP

Job description

The Team 

KPMG’s Strategy Transactions / Deal Execution practice is looking for exceptional candidates for a Director role, with a People-focused specialism in deals and specifically in pre-deal HR Due Diligence, people related synergies and value creation.

The Deal Execution team is part of KPMG’s rapidly expanding Strategy Group, which delivers value for clients by challenging conventional thinking, bringing deep industry and functional insights and executing with investor-grade rigour.  We are a diverse team of over 200 practitioners, working collaboratively with and orchestrating KPMG’s broad set of capabilities within our Advisory business, and are focused on continually enhancing value for clients across the deal and economic cycle. 

Our teams comprise of specialists capable of helping clients right through from conceptual thinking of buying or carving out a business to identifying and delivering value from the deal.

People in M&A

At the heart of every successful deal is one constant: person. In our People in M&A team, we go beyond the numbers to shape the human side of deals.

We support clients across the entire employee journey—from early strategy through to execution—ensuring that people considerations are embedded in every stage of the deal. Whether it's assessing people related risks, value creation opportunities, designing future-ready organisations, identifying and realising synergies, aligning corporate cultures, leadership & talent, or managing employee transfers, 

we help businesses navigate complex transitions with empathy, clarity, and impact.

We work side by side with our clients to solve people-related challenges, assess financial risks and opportunities from a workforce perspective, and ensure a smooth and effective people transition.
Above all, we’re driven by a shared passion: helping our clients deliver deals that succeed not just on paper, but in practice—maximising value through people.

The Role

Roles & Responsibilities 

To be an effective Director within our People in M&A team applicants will be expected to:
•Take a senior leadership role with the team, with clients and in the broader industry
• Have existing client relationships, particularly with the UK/European Private Equity and M&A community, which reinforce the team’s credibility and generate project opportunities – extensive experience in HR Due Diligence and Value Creation will be key
• Take responsibility for client relationships and act as a key contact point for those clients
• Have the ability to anticipate, understand and articulate client requirements – in advance of and during projects
• Demonstrate excellent communications skills – in written, slide and other reporting formats as well as verbal communications in informal and more formal situations
• Lead the presentation of findings to senior clients and be comfortable in challenging the thinking of both clients and more senior KPMG colleagues
• Design and run complex projects, delivering to client requirements whilst acting as primary client liaison and be an 'ambassador' for the firm
• With limited input, guide the team to client-ready deliverables that exceed expectations 
• Support and test/review the design and execute complex analyses to ensure these are credible and accurate
• Identify go-to-market, thought-leadership and marketing opportunities to lead on, and take responsibility for taking these to clients
• Actively seek out leadership opportunities, take responsibility for a selection of internal processes, and generally act as a leader in the People CoE and an inspiration to more junior team members
• Take overarching responsibility that the firm's risk management frameworks are adhered to, by identifying and reviewing any key judgements – but also consulting with other senior staff members as appropriate
 

The Person

At KPMG, we seek candidates who can thrive in our high-performance culture and can demonstrate the following behaviours:
Deliver Impact:
• Make sound decisions: Exercises sound business judgment when making decisions
• Foster innovation: Embraces a culture of innovation and experimentation to create value
• Apply a strategic perspective: Uses diverse sets of inputs to develop a broad perspective on business and people issues

Seek Growth:
• Take opportunities to learn and adapt: Uses insights and self-reflection to build capability and embrace new challenges
• Develop and motivate others: Engages teams, instils confidence, and coaches people to find meaning in their work and achieve exceptional results
• Build collaborative relationships: Establishes strong relationships internally and externally and builds wide and productive networks

Inspire Trust:
• Drive quality: Delivers high-quality products and exceptional service that provide value
• Act ethically and responsibly: Behaves ethically and encourages others to do the same
• Advocate for Equality: Creates opportunities to address inequity and enables all people to feel like they belong
 
Skills, Qualifications & Experience
Successful applicants will demonstrate the following:

Work Experience:
• Demonstrable experience working in a leading strategy consulting business, Big 4 firm or strategy / Corporate Development team in industry
• Strong foundational understanding of the People in M&A value drivers across different sectors, and in particular with PE clients – and clear view on how these sectors are likely to evolve going forward.
• Experience of leading mid-sized and large projects: scoping and delivering diligence engagements to (i) excellent client output and (ii) strong project economics 
o    This should include an extensive coverage of recent M&A transactions, eg HR Due Diligence, VDD and M&A Strategy projects.
• Ability to independently as well as collaborate with others to generate sales opportunities and maintain strong client relationships
• Initiating marketing and sales efforts, proposals, scopes and pricing for mid-sized and large consulting assignments
• Acting as the source of new business development initiatives and taking these from idea, through design and execution all the way to clients
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively with team members and broader (internal and external) stakeholders
• Strong track record of building followership among more junior staff members
• Taking on internal responsibilities on topics like team management, technical tool insight, liaison with service suppliers etc

Technical skills:
• Strong academic track record
• Evidence of strong problem-solving & analytical capabilities
• Structured thinking skills combined with creativity
• Ability to evaluate complex challenges and deliver insightful recommendations that can be practically executed
• Ability review and assess large volumes of technical data and distil the key strategic insights – and the ability to guide a team through this process to focus on most important issues
• Strong numerical capabilities combined with sound commercial acumen 
• Ability to build complex financial models that support our recommendations to clients
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
•Other language skills would be a strong bonus