Vice President – Financial Services & Insurance SME

Proxima•Chicago, IL

29d•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Vice President at Proxima, you will lead complex Financial Services workstreams within the Professional Services category, manage senior stakeholders, deliver innovative solutions, and mentor junior consultants. You will work on client-facing teams delivering commercial and supplier initiatives, supporting insight development and solution design, and taking an active role in delivering outcomes. This subject matter expert role is for professionals with deep Financial Services industry experience who want to apply that expertise in consulting. You will help large corporate clients evaluate, negotiate, and optimize relationships with financial institutions and service providers. Proxima describes its consultants as practitioners who take responsibility early and work alongside clients to deliver measurable change. The role involves leading Financial Services engagements, collaborating with stakeholders across client functions, conducting commercial analysis and supplier assessments, leading negotiations and workshops, and contributing to category thought leadership. Work is conducted in a flexible hybrid model involving client, home, and office-based work, with travel as required.

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience working within the Financial Services industry, ideally in a commercial, sales, account management, commercial strategy, product, advisory, or consulting capacity.
Strong first-hand understanding of Financial Services products, providers, commercial models, and client relationships across areas such as banking, treasury, payments, insurance, brokerage, or financing.
Experience working on or supporting Financial Services areas such as commercial banking, treasury and cash management, insurance and brokerage, payments and merchant services, financing and credit facilities, or other services relevant to large organizations.
Strong understanding of Financial Services providers, services, supplier landscapes, pricing structures, commercial models, and client relationship management.
Ability to apply first-hand industry knowledge to help clients evaluate providers, negotiate commercial relationships, and identify opportunities to drive value.
Experience supporting project delivery and managing stakeholder engagement across workstreams.
Strong analytical capability and confidence working with data.
Strong senior stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
A proactive, ownership-oriented approach and comfort working in a fast-paced, delivery-focused environment.
Willingness to travel as required.
Curiosity, adaptability, and a strong desire to learn and develop.
Motivation to build a long-term consulting career in a growing global firm.

Nice To Haves

Experience on the provider or supplier side of Financial Services, such as at a bank, payments company, insurer, broker, treasury provider, or other financial institution.
Consulting experience, particularly Financial Services consulting.

Responsibilities

Lead client engagements across Financial Services and build trusted relationships with stakeholders across Finance, Treasury, Procurement, Legal, and business leadership.
Apply Financial Services expertise across commercial banking, treasury and cash management, insurance and brokerage, payments and merchant services, financing and credit facilities, and other services used by large organizations.
Use knowledge of providers, products, services, and commercial models to identify opportunities, evaluate suppliers, conduct commercial analysis, and assess markets.
Identify opportunities that support client value and revenue growth.
Coach and develop junior consultants.
Contribute to Proxima category thought leadership and intellectual property.
Work directly with senior client stakeholders to gather requirements and align objectives.
Lead complex commercial negotiations with financial institutions and Financial Services suppliers, including banks, insurers, brokers, and payment providers.
Communicate findings clearly and professionally to team members and senior client stakeholders.
Lead workshops, working sessions, and day-to-day client interactions.
Work across client, home, and office-based settings in a hybrid environment.
Travel as required to support client delivery and team collaboration.