Consulting Business Unit Director (Americas)

SBD Automotive•Ann Arbor, MI

19h•Remote

About The Position

SBD Automotive is a global automotive research and consulting company that supports manufacturers, suppliers, and technology companies with strategy, insight, and execution across connected, electric, autonomous, and software-defined vehicles. As a Business Unit Director, you will own the performance of a consulting Business Unit, including revenue, margin, and forecast accuracy. You will lead a team of Consulting Directors and Managers, drive a strong and sustainable pipeline, and ensure consistent delivery excellence across all engagements. This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for business performance. You will operate as a change agent, driving improvements in client outcomes, team capability, and ways of working, while contributing to company-wide strategy as part of the Senior Leadership Team. This role is focused on business performance and leadership rather than just or only hands-on project delivery.

Requirements

A proven track record owning revenue, margin, and business performance.
Strong experience building and converting pipeline at scale.
Experience managing senior client relationships and driving account growth.
A track record of leading and developing high-performing teams.
Strong commercial acumen, including pricing, margin management, and forecasting.
The ability to drive change and improve performance across teams and clients.

Nice To Haves

Experience in automotive, mobility, or related technology sectors.
Experience in areas such as connected vehicles, EVs, ADAS, software-defined vehicles, or digital services.
Prior experience in a senior consulting leadership role.
Experience operating within a global or multi-region business.
Experience in driving change, implementing new value propositions, and keeping your teams focused on opportunities to support clients effectively whilst maximising revenue.

Responsibilities

Own BU revenue, margin, and forecast accuracy, including driving actions to manage variance and risk.
Build and maintain a strong, balanced pipeline to support current and future performance.
Take accountability for overall account performance and BU results.
Drive actions to address performance gaps and deliver targets.
Build a sustainable sales engine across the BU rather than relying on individual contributors.
Own account strategy and total account performance for key clients.
Drive consistent sales performance across the BU, embedding seller-doer behaviours.
Support and challenge Consulting Directors to build and convert pipeline.
Engage senior client stakeholders to shape strategic opportunities.
Ensure long-term account growth and client value.
Accountable for delivery quality across the BU, holding Consulting Directors, Senior Managers, and Managers to account and intervening where required.
Hold Consulting Directors accountable for delivery outcomes.
Step in where required to resolve critical delivery or client issues.
Maintain consistency in delivery standards and client experience.
Own the BU resource pool, including headcount planning, utilisation, and capacity management.
Lead hiring decisions and shape the capability mix of the BU.
Drive performance management across the BU, addressing underperformance directly and consistently.
Develop Consulting Directors and Managers to improve delivery and commercial outcomes.
Build a high-performance culture aligned to SBD expectations.
Act as a change agent, driving measurable improvements in performance, capability, and ways of working across the BU.
Drive strict operational discipline across forecasting, utilisation, timesheets, and margin management.
Implement and embed processes that improve consistency and scalability.
Lead BU-level change initiatives and support company-wide transformation efforts.
Actively contribute to SLT decisions and company-wide strategy at SLT and Exec level.
Contribute to company-wide strategy and cross-BU initiatives.
Collaborate with other BU Directors to drive overall business performance.