Director, Engagement

Proto•New York, NY

5h•$165,000 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Engagement is a senior client and delivery leader responsible for overseeing complex engagements and building trusted client relationships. The role balances strategic oversight with day-to-day delivery, ensuring teams are set up for success while identifying opportunities to deepen relationships and grow Proto’s impact. It requires strong commercial judgment and operational rigor, anticipating the needs of clients and teams, and providing leadership and guidance to more junior members of the Engagement team. A key focus is supporting and growing relationships with private equity firms and their portfolio companies. The Director understands how PE clients operate, gets up to speed on their investment priorities and value-creation goals, and translates those priorities into opportunities for Proto. The position reports to the Partner, Head of Engagement. Proto is based in New York City, with offices at 120 Broadway. Staff are encouraged to work from the office on days that suit their preferences, collaboration needs, client meetings, and company gatherings. Core business hours are generally 9:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m. EST, but individual hours fluctuate based on client deadlines and deliverables. The role requires at least 25% travel.

Requirements

8–12 years of experience leading complex digital, brand, product, service, innovation, and/or transformation engagements.
High emotional intelligence and situational awareness, with the ability to navigate challenging situations tactfully and with sound judgment.
Ability to maintain a high bar for engagement craft and quality.
Skill in managing up, anticipating needs, and bringing a calm, pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach under pressure.
Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to distill complexity and communicate with clarity and confidence.
Experience building, managing, and growing relationships with senior stakeholders and C-level executives.
Proven ability to navigate ambiguity, anticipate risk, and lead clients and internal teams through complex engagements.
Strong communication and leadership skills, including experience mentoring and developing others on engagement teams and supporting craft and growth outside the immediate discipline.
Comfort with collaboration tools and communication platforms such as Slack, Google Suite, Figma, and Teams.
Willingness to travel at least 25%.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a consultancy, branding, innovation, or corporate strategy environment.
Experience working with private equity firms and PE-backed portfolio companies, including understanding their pace, commercial priorities, value-creation mindset, and complex stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

Lead complex, multidisciplinary client engagements, overseeing the approach, delivery, financial health, team needs and dynamics, and client relationship from start to finish.
Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders and act as a strategic partner who understands their businesses, anticipates needs, and connects those needs to opportunities for Proto.
Build relationships with private equity clients and portfolio company leaders, developing an understanding of their investment theses, business priorities, and value-creation goals.
Partner with PE clients to identify portfolio opportunities where Proto’s capabilities can accelerate growth, transformation, or innovation.
Translate complex client challenges into engagement approaches, scopes of work, proposals, timelines, and budgets that support successful delivery.
Oversee multiple projects or workstreams, ensuring appropriate staffing, anticipating risks, and maintaining consistently high-quality work.
Partner with discipline leads and Partners to make casting, process, financial, and delivery recommendations across engagements.
Serve as a senior escalation point for clients and internal teams, navigating ambiguity and difficult situations with sound judgment, clarity, and calm.
Identify opportunities to deepen and grow existing client relationships, partnering with senior leadership to shape follow-on work and new opportunities.
Identify broader opportunities within PE relationships and across portfolio companies, helping turn successful work into longer-term partnerships.
Monitor the commercial health of engagements, including scope, budgets, resourcing, profitability, and potential risks.
Negotiate scopes, proposals, timelines, and budgets with senior internal and external stakeholders.
Lead, coach, and guide Engagement team members, strengthening their client management, commercial, and delivery capabilities.
Continuously improve the systems, processes, and ways of working that support successful engagements across Proto.
Represent Proto confidently with senior clients and demonstrate curiosity about their businesses, industries, and evolving challenges.