Associate Director - Financial Due Diligence - Private Equity Advisory

About the role

Join our Financial Due Diligence practice to serve as a trusted partner to our clients. You will bring your experience, perspectives, and knowledge to deliver tailored, integrated solutions.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight of financial due diligence engagements, challenging assumptions, identifying risks early, and ensuring analyses are aligned with valuation drivers and transaction objectives
• Own the overall narrative, positioning, and messaging of diligence reports; ensure conclusions are commercially sharp, negotiation-ready, and tailored to the buyer or seller context
• Serve as the primary senior point of contact for clients and deal teams, leading high-visibility meetings, negotiation discussions, and executive-level readouts with CFOs, Controllers, Partners, and Private Equity sponsors
• Take full accountability for final deliverable quality, ensuring reports are concise, commercially focused, and aligned with client objectives; shape executive summaries and key messages for Investment Committee and Board-level audiences
• Lead financial due diligence for buy-side and sell-side transactions, including Quality of Earnings, Net Working Capital, Net Debt, cash flow analysis, and key financial metrics
• Oversee and manage multiple engagement teams simultaneously, setting priorities, driving efficient execution, ensuring quality control, and developing junior team members
• Lead engagement scoping discussions, defining strategy, risk areas, staffing models, timelines, and scope alignment with transaction complexity and fee structure
• Manage day-to-day client relationships and proactively advise on deal strategy, risk mitigation, and transaction mechanics
• Review SPA/APA documentation and advise clients on financial mechanics related to Net Working Capital, Net Debt, earnouts, and related deal terms
• Operate with a high degree of independence across engagements with limited Partner oversight, making informed technical and accounting judgment calls and escalating complex or high-risk issues as appropriate
• Enhance Manager-level drafts by sharpening messaging, strengthening linkage to deal drivers, and synthesizing key themes into clear, actionable insights for decision-making
• Maintain accountability for engagement economics, including profitability, leverage, realization, and effective resource deployment across a portfolio of projects
• Support business development efforts, including proposal development, pitch participation, and expanding existing client relationships
• Train and mentor junior staff and lead internal initiatives related to recruiting, training, and methodology development
• Leverage data, analytics, and technology effectively; guide teams in the use of Excel, Power BI, Alteryx, and visualization tools to improve quality and turnaround time
• Support the implementation of firm-approved, technology-enabled and AI-supported approaches within engagements and contribute to continuous improvement efforts in alignment with firm policies

Requirements

• 6+ years of professional experience in audit and/or financial due diligence, preferably within a Big 4 or comparable professional services firm
• Minimum of 4+ years of current Financial Due Diligence (FDD) experience, with direct ownership of buy-side and sell-side engagements
• Proven experience issuing Quality of Earnings reports, with a strong understanding of Adjusted EBITDA, Net Working Capital, and Net Debt
• Demonstrated ability to lead engagements and work directly with senior stakeholders, including CFOs, Controllers, and Private Equity deal teams
• Strong technical accounting background with deep knowledge of GAAP and financial statement analysis
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, including building and reviewing complex financial models and client-ready presentations
• Experience leveraging data and analytics tools (e.g., Power BI, Alteryx) to analyze large data sets and support diligence insights
• Experience managing multiple concurrent engagements in a fast-paced, transaction-driven environment
• Experience mentoring and developing junior team members and contributing to team performance and engagement quality
• Demonstrated comfort responsibly adopting firm-approved AI and technology-enabled tools to enhance productivity, quality, and efficiency
• Ability to operate with a high degree of independence and sound professional judgment, escalating complex or high-risk issues appropriately
• Ability to work effectively in a hybrid work environment, with flexibility for in-person collaboration as business needs dictate

Qualifications

• Degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics
• CPA, CFA, or advanced degree preferred