Managing Director, Business Strategy and Transformation

BDO USA, P.C. – Full-time, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

About the role

The Managing Director, Business Strategy & Transformation is a critical senior leadership role within BDO’s $500M Advisory Business Line. Reporting directly to the Advisory National Managing Principal, this individual is a key partner in driving transformational growth and raising the practice’s overall EBITDA contribution to the firm. The role serves as the main internal strategist and transformation lead, ensuring the Advisory business line has a clear, compelling, and executable strategy for growth and value creation. The Managing Director works at the most senior levels of the business line and the firm, partnering closely with the Advisory National Managing Principal on the growth and operating agenda.

Responsibilities

• Strategy Development & Execution
  • Owns the development and ongoing evolution of the Advisory practice's multi-year strategic plan in partnership with the Advisory National Managing Principal and the business leadership team.
  • Leverages rigorous analysis of market dynamics, competitor positioning, client needs, and internal capability to identify compelling strategic priorities.
  • Translates strategy into clear priorities, accountabilities, and investment decisions; establishes a disciplined planning cadence with annual strategy cycles, mid-year reviews, and horizon scanning.
  • Builds alignment across geographies, business lines, and functional groups around a shared strategic direction.
• Strategic Priorities
  • Leads the shift to a client-centric, solution-oriented selling model, embedding this mindset across go-to-market strategy, client targeting, and pursuit processes.
  • Drives a step-change in delivery excellence by establishing consistent delivery frameworks, quality standards, and client experience benchmarks.
  • Builds and deepens capability expertise in priority solution areas, investing in people, tools, and intellectual capital to position BDO as a market leader.
• Transformation Leadership
  • Designs and guides the Advisory transformation program, including operating model evolution, business development, go-to-market innovation, technology enablement, and workforce transformation.
  • Establishes and governs program infrastructure: workstream design, ownership, milestone tracking, interdependency management, risk oversight, and benefits realization.
  • Mobilizes internal talent to lead and deliver change; augments with external skills where gaps exist.
  • Drives change momentum across a geographically dispersed leadership community, removing structural, cultural, and operational barriers.
• Commercial Performance & Insight
  • Maintains familiarity with the financial performance of the practice, understanding revenue, margin, utilization, and growth drivers.
  • Designs and oversees a KPI framework refinement to provide timely, actionable insight into business performance and strategic progress.
  • Develops business cases for growth initiatives, efficiency improvements, and portfolio realignment.
  • Supports significant client pursuits, strategic partnerships, and investment decisions where strategy or transformation expertise adds value.
  • Influences future platform build-out and acquisition strategy, shaping priorities and evaluating opportunities.
• Stakeholder Leadership & Influence
  • Serves as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the Advisory National Managing Principal, providing honest counsel and challenging thinking.
  • Builds strong relationships with Principals, business line leaders, and functional heads across Finance, HR, Technology, and Risk.
  • Communicates strategy and transformation priorities with clarity and conviction to diverse audiences.
• Capability Building & Culture
  • Partners with People & Culture and Talent Acquisition to ensure the practice has the capabilities and leadership depth required to deliver on strategic ambitions.
  • Drives initiatives that strengthen team effectiveness, leadership development, inclusion, and employee experience.
  • Shapes the Advisory Employee Value Proposition, aligning it with the emerging operating model.
  • Champions a high-performance culture grounded in BDO's values, encouraging innovation, accountability, and results.
• Supervisory Responsibilities
  • Indirect supervision of individuals supporting the function.
  • Other duties as required.

Requirements

• Education & Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s degree, required.
  • MBA or Master’s degree, preferred.
• Experience
  • Fifteen (15) or more years of substantial senior leadership experience in strategy, transformation, or business leadership, ideally within professional services, consulting, or financial advisory.
  • Demonstrated track record of designing and delivering complex, large-scale transformation programs from inception to sustainable outcomes.
  • Experience within a Big 4 or mid-tier professional services firm, with an understanding of the partnership model, preferred.
• Skills & Abilities
  • Strong commercial acumen and financial literacy; able to interpret practice-level performance data and ground strategy in commercial reality.
  • Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with credibility to engage Principal-level and National Executive audiences.
  • Outstanding analytical and structured thinking capability; able to synthesize complexity into compelling strategic narrative and actionable plans.
  • High executive presence and personal credibility; proven ability to lead with influence in a partnership or professional services model.
  • Exposure to agile program delivery, design thinking, or structured change management methodologies.
  • Knowledge and fluency with AI tools and workforce enablement.
  • Demonstrated ability to embrace and lead change in organizations.
  • Inspiring leader who sets a high bar, develops talent intentionally, and builds proud, high-performing teams.
  • Intellectually rigorous and creatively ambitious; pushes business thinking beyond the conventional.
  • Deeply client-oriented; understands that delivery excellence is measured by client outcomes, not internal process compliance.
  • Collaborative and commercially aware; works in genuine partnership with go-to-market leadership.
  • Composed and decisive under pressure; navigates complex engagements and competing priorities with clarity and confidence.
  • Superior written and verbal communication skills.
  • Proven ability to share knowledge through active listening, direct communication, and accountability.
• Software
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office suite, required.
  • Proficient with Smartsheet, preferred.
  • Familiarity with Oracle ERP Platform, preferred.

Benefits

BDO provides a comprehensive Total Rewards benefits package, including an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that offers participants a stake in the firm’s success through beneficial ownership. As a qualified retirement plan, the ESOP reinforces an ownership mindset and enhances financial well-being. Benefits may be subject to eligibility requirements.