Chief Executive Officer
Reporting to the Board of Directors
Location: North America
BSG has commenced an executive search for a Chief Executive Officer for our client, a global strategy consulting and advisory firm serving industrial and other B2B sectors across North America and Europe. The CEO will lead the company through its next phase of commercial acceleration, operational institutionalization, and preparation for a future liquidity event. The ideal leader combines strategic vision with hands-on operational execution and is passionate about building a scaled, data-driven professional services platform.
Opportunity Overview
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
THE COMPANY
Our client is a global strategy consulting and advisory firm that provides an integrated suite of proprietary data, custom research, benchmarking, strategy consulting, operational improvement, and transaction advisory services to multinational corporations and private equity investors. The company has evolved through a series of strategic combinations and has built a differentiated platform serving industrial, automotive, building materials, construction, and adjacent B2B sectors.
With decades of experience and deep proprietary data assets, the firm helps clients enhance revenues, improve margins, and manage risk in a rapidly changing global economy. The organization is grounded in values such as collaboration, commitment, inclusivity, integrity, and curiosity, and it strives to demonstrate these values daily to clients and colleagues. Today the firm operates as a multi-office, global professional services platform with a growing team of consulting and research professionals.
THE POSITION
The Chief Executive Officer will have full P&L responsibility and will lead the company through its next phase of growth and value creation. Reporting to the Board of Directors and partnering closely with the firm’s financial sponsors, the CEO will be accountable for strengthening the go-to-market engine, driving pricing and margin expansion, building predictive KPI infrastructure, embedding AI-enabled efficiency, and developing a clear M&A roadmap to support scale and transaction readiness.
This role requires a leader who combines strategic vision with hands-on operational execution. The CEO must be equally comfortable shaping market positioning and rolling up their sleeves to drive pricing discipline, sales accountability, and data-backed performance management across the organization.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the company, with full accountability for financial performance, commercial growth, operations, and culture.
- Strengthen and scale the commercial engine by upgrading sales leadership, implementing accountability frameworks, and shifting from discrete service offerings to integrated, higher-value strategy engagements.
- Increase average project value through pricing discipline, repositioning up the value chain, and aligning talent with higher-value work.
- Build and institutionalize a predictive go-to-market dashboard leveraging existing systems to improve visibility into pipeline health, win rates, and forward-looking KPIs.
- Drive measurable improvement in revenue per employee and profit per employee through operational efficiency, process standardization, and scalable delivery frameworks.
- Embed AI tools and capabilities across the organization to improve quality, speed, and cost efficiency, and commercialize AI-enabled capabilities into client-facing offerings.
- Elevate the firm’s institutional brand through thought leadership in growth, transformation, and M&A, without creating a personality-driven platform.
- Develop and document a disciplined M&A roadmap, including identification and evaluation of potential add-on acquisitions, to support future scale and transaction narratives.
- Partner closely with the Board and financial sponsors on capital allocation, reporting cadence, governance, and exit strategy.
- Build, coach, and top-grade the leadership team, ensuring the right talent is in the right roles to support a $100M+ revenue enterprise.
Success in this role will be defined in the first 12 months by:
- Strengthening and professionalizing the go-to-market function, including measurable improvement in pipeline visibility and sales effectiveness.
- Delivering meaningful uplift in average selling price and EBITDA margin expansion.
- Implementing a KPI-driven operating cadence with clear, predictive commercial metrics.
- Demonstrating tangible AI-enabled efficiency gains and early-stage commercialization of internal tools.
- Establishing a credible, board-ready M&A roadmap aligned to long-term value creation.
- Positioning the firm as an institutional-quality platform capable of scaling beyond $100M in revenue and prepared for a successful future transaction.
QUALIFICATIONS
Requirements
- Prior CEO, President, Managing Partner, or enterprise-level P&L leadership experience within consulting, professional services, or strategy advisory environments.
- Experience running or materially contributing to a $75M–$150M business unit or enterprise, ideally within a private equity–backed organization.
- Demonstrated success increasing average selling price and repositioning a consulting firm up the value chain.
- Deep commercial orientation, including sales leadership, pricing strategy, and revenue accountability.
- Experience building KPI dashboards and data-driven operating systems that improve predictability and margin discipline.
- Exposure to transaction environments, including preparing businesses for sale, leading add-on acquisitions, or operating within sponsor-owned companies.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with tactical execution—comfortable both shaping market narrative and driving operational detail.
General Competencies
- Low-ego, execution-oriented leadership style with strong credibility among senior consultants and sector leaders.
- Commercially aggressive yet analytically rigorous; comfortable managing through metrics and accountability.
- Demonstrated ability to lead in founder-evolved or partner-led environments and professionalize organizations without disrupting culture.
- Strong board presence and fluency working with financial sponsors.
- Clear communicator capable of articulating a compelling growth and exit narrative to investors, employees, and clients.
- High intellectual horsepower with structured thinking and disciplined follow-through.
Education/Experience
- Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) preferred.
- 15+ years of progressive leadership experience within consulting or professional services environments.
- Experience in strategy consulting, specialized advisory, or adjacent consulting verticals preferred.
LOCATION
Location is flexible within North America. Proximity to major hub offices is preferred but not required; exceptional candidates based elsewhere may be considered if willing to travel regularly.
Ideal Candidate Profile
A summary of key competencies required to be successful include the following:
Functional Experience
- Proven enterprise-level P&L leadership within consulting, strategy advisory, or professional services environments, ideally overseeing a $75M–$150M business unit or platform.
- Demonstrated ability to materially increase average selling price and reposition a consulting organization up the value chain from discrete service offerings to integrated, high-value strategy engagements.
- Track record of leading and upgrading go-to-market functions, including top-grading commercial talent, installing accountability systems, and driving measurable revenue and margin expansion.
- Experience building and managing data-driven KPI dashboards that provide predictive visibility into pipeline health, win rates, pricing performance, and overall commercial effectiveness.
- Operational discipline with the ability to improve revenue per employee and profit per employee through process standardization, delivery efficiency, and scalable engagement models.
- Proven track record in the full lifecycle of add-on acquisitions within a private equity environment, including deal sourcing, comprehensive due diligence, post-merger integration, and preparation of investment documentation.
Industry Experience
- Background in management consulting, strategy consulting, transaction advisory, or specialized professional services (e.g., pricing, supply chain, industrial strategy, PE diligence).
- Exposure to industrial, manufacturing, or other B2B sectors is preferred but not required.
- Experience within consulting environments that serve private equity clients, including pre-acquisition diligence, value creation planning, or M&A advisory, is highly attractive.
Stage of Company Experience
- Meaningful experience operating within a private equity–backed or privately owned consulting firm, with direct exposure to board governance, sponsor reporting cadence, and exit-oriented value creation.
- Experience preparing a business for sale, expanding EBITDA margins, and contributing to multiple expansion narratives.
- Comfort bridging a company from roughly $50M in revenue toward a $100M+ scaled enterprise with institutional operating rigor.
- Experience working within founder-evolved or partner-led professional services firms where cultural balance and leadership transition require nuance and emotional intelligence.
Management & Leadership Experience
- A balance of strategic vision and tactical execution—equally capable of setting long-term growth direction and diving into pricing mechanics, dashboard metrics, and talent decisions.
- Low-ego, execution-oriented leader who acts as a coach and enabler rather than a personality-driven front figure.
- Strong commercial instinct paired with disciplined operational follow-through.
- Comfortable making difficult talent decisions, including selective top-grading of commercial and leadership roles.
- High intellectual horsepower combined with structured thinking and measurable accountability.
- Board-ready presence with fluency in private equity dialogue around margin expansion, revenue quality, add-on pipeline strategy, and transaction timing.
General Competencies
- High levels of intelligence, analytical strength, and conceptual ability.
- Strong presentation and team management skills.
- Ability and willingness to set and communicate demanding standards for professional staff and hold people accountable for their performance.
- Decisiveness when necessary, coupled with a willingness to seek input and build consensus where appropriate.
- Unquestioned honesty and integrity, and the ability to inspire loyalty and trust.
- High energy and commitment, with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
- Excellent writing and speaking skills; able to communicate complex ideas clearly and concisely.
- Strong planning and organization skills with attention to detail.
- A strong sense of ownership for the performance and reputation of the company.
Compensation
Compensation will be competitive and aligned with private equity–backed CEO roles within middle-market consulting platforms. The package will include a market-based base salary, a performance-driven annual incentive opportunity, and significant long-term equity participation. In addition, the CEO will participate in transaction-related incentive structures designed to align leadership rewards directly with value creation and a successful future liquidity event.
to apply
For more information or to express interest in this opportunity, please visit the application page.
