Consulting Business Unit Director (Americas)

SBD Automotive•Ann Arbor, MI

2d•Remote

About The Position

SBD Automotive is a global automotive research and consulting company that assists manufacturers, suppliers, and technology firms with strategy, insight, and execution in the areas of connected, electric, autonomous, and software-defined vehicles. As a Business Unit Director, you will be responsible for the performance of a consulting Business Unit, encompassing revenue, margin, and forecast accuracy. You will lead a team of Consulting Directors and Managers, cultivate a robust and sustainable pipeline, and ensure consistent delivery excellence across all engagements. This is a senior leadership position with complete accountability for business performance. You will act as a change agent, fostering improvements in client outcomes, team capabilities, and operational methods, while also contributing to company-wide strategy as part of the Senior Leadership Team. The role emphasizes business performance and leadership over direct project execution. A day in the life will involve focusing on business performance, team leadership, and strategic client engagement. This may include reviewing BU performance, pipeline health, and forecast accuracy, identifying risks and necessary actions. You might collaborate with Consulting Directors and Senior Managers to strengthen the pipeline, resolve key deals, or address team performance issues. Additionally, you could engage with senior client stakeholders to define strategic opportunities, or intervene in critical situations to correct delivery or commercial performance. Alignment with other BU Directors and the Executive team on priorities, resourcing, or cross-BU initiatives will also be part of the role. The core focus remains on owning the numbers, building a high-performing team, and driving sustainable business growth.

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.