Strategic Transformation Consultant - Cost Leader

Lenovo•Morrisville, NC

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Strategic Transformation Consultant / Cost Leader owns high-value transformation and cost opportunities from problem framing through recommendation, mobilization, and verified value realization. Working within the Transformation Management Office, this role turns ambiguous business challenges and cost targets into evidence-based decisions, prioritized roadmaps, executable initiatives, and sustainable P&L impact. The position combines consulting rigor, financial and operational acumen, executive communication, and cross-functional influence to accelerate delivery, strengthen internal capability, and establish repeatable transformation and cost-management disciplines. The role leads opportunity discovery, evidence-based diagnosis, benchmarking, and business-case development; presents executive recommendations; designs transformation initiatives and target-state operating models; and leads the idea-to-value pipeline through financial validation and realized impact. It also establishes governance and stakeholder rhythms, aligns leaders across functions and regions, and transfers reusable methods and capabilities to business teams. The work takes place in a hybrid or remote environment, with collaboration across global functions, business units, regions, and time zones. Periodic travel may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Strategy, Finance, Economics, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
At least 8 years of progressive experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, cost transformation, finance, operations, procurement, program leadership, or enterprise transformation.
Demonstrated success owning complex, cross-functional transformation or cost-out workstreams from problem definition through recommendation, mobilization, and measurable financial impact.
Experience developing business cases, financial models, savings baselines, forecasts, and benefits-realization logic in partnership with Finance.
Strong executive communication, facilitation, negotiation, and influencing skills, including producing decision-ready written and presentation materials.
Ability to operate effectively in a matrixed, global, fast-paced environment and drive accountability without direct authority.
Hypothesis-led problem solving, root-cause diagnosis, and structured opportunity framing.
Strategic cost leadership, commercial judgment, financial acumen, and strong P&L understanding.
Opportunity sizing, business-case development, scenario planning, forecasting, and value realization.
Cost governance, pipeline management, prioritization, risk management, and execution discipline.
Executive storylining, decision framing, workshop facilitation, and constructive challenge.
Transformation and operating-model design with a practical bias toward measurable outcomes.
Cross-functional leadership, stakeholder influence, negotiation, coalition building, and conflict resolution.
Intellectual curiosity, resilience, adaptability, sound judgment, pace, and a continuous-improvement mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a strategy or management consulting firm, internal consulting team, enterprise Transformation Management Office, or major cost/productivity program.
Track record in opportunity discovery, external benchmarking, zero-based cost management, operating-model redesign, productivity transformation, or large-scale value creation.
Experience working across Finance, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain, commercial functions, and regional business teams.
Digital and AI literacy, including responsible use of AI-enabled research and analysis with disciplined source validation.
Proficiency with portfolio reporting, analytics, and collaboration platforms such as Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, and Power BI, or comparable tools.

Responsibilities

Discover and qualify high-value opportunities across growth, margin, structural cost, productivity, customer experience, process, operating model, digital, and AI-enabled transformation.
Translate enterprise strategy, cost-bar targets, and business priorities into opportunity theses, hypotheses, scopes, decision criteria, integrated roadmaps, milestones, and accountable owners.
Structure ambiguous problems, diagnose root causes, size opportunities, and identify critical choices for executive sponsors.
Balance sustainable value with customer outcomes, operational resilience, quality, and growth.
Integrate operational, financial, customer, process, market, and competitor evidence into a coherent, defensible fact base.
Lead interviews, workshops, research, and external benchmarking to test hypotheses, challenge assumptions, and identify solution options.
Build scenarios, financial models, sensitivities, value bridges, baselines, benefit logic, and business cases that define timing, assumptions, risks, and expected P&L impact.
Partner with Finance, Value Capture, analysts, and functional experts to validate data, savings methodology, forecasts, and realized benefits.
Develop answer-first recommendations that identify options, trade-offs, risks, implications, and decision asks.
Create concise executive storylines, decision papers, and presentations that translate complex evidence into action.
Design target-state operating models, initiatives, ownership structures, KPIs, benefit measures, and practical mobilization roadmaps.
Translate approved direction into executable interventions and support transition into coordinated delivery while preserving sponsor and business ownership.
Own the end-to-end idea-to-value pipeline, from opportunity identification and prioritization through execution, financial validation, and verified P&L impact.
Accelerate conversion of ideas in the Cost Opportunity Database into approved initiatives and realized savings.
Prioritize resources and leadership attention toward high-value opportunities, material risks, and critical dependencies.
Mobilize cross-functional sprints to resolve complex or stalled opportunities, remove barriers, and restore delivery confidence.
Track forecast and actual impact, identify variance drivers, and lead recovery actions when initiatives are off plan.
Establish a weekly business-management rhythm covering pipeline health, performance, risks, dependencies, decisions, and actions.
Align executive sponsors, cost-bar owners, Finance, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain, regional teams, and functional leaders around shared outcomes and decision rights.
Facilitate executive workshops and cross-functional working sessions to build alignment, ownership, and decision momentum.
Provide concise, fact-based reporting to decision forums and maintain transparent decision logs, ownership, actions, and escalation paths.
Influence without direct authority through sound judgment, constructive challenge, negotiation, coalition building, and clear communication.
Transfer reusable methods, models, playbooks, and knowledge so business teams can sustain transformation and cost-management capabilities internally.
Embed repeatable opportunity-management, value-capture, and continuous-improvement disciplines into business-as-usual operations.
Capture lessons learned, strengthen standards, and reduce dependency on external consulting support over time.
Promote a culture in which cost, productivity, and value creation are integrated into everyday business decisions.