Senior Manager - M&A Consulting

Senior Manager

Cognizant Consulting, Mergers & Acquisitions

ABOUT US

Cognizant is one of the world's leading professional services companies, transforming clients' business, operating, and technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build, and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com.

COGNIZANT CONSULTING

Within Cognizant is Cognizant Consulting, a global consulting organization delivering strategic and domain consulting through industry and technology expertise. With over 6,000 consultants worldwide, Cognizant offers high-value consulting services that improve business performance and operational productivity, lower operational expenses and enhance overall performance. Clients draw upon our deep industry expertise, program and change management capabilities, and analytical objectivity to help improve business productivity, drive technology-enabled business transformation and increase shareholder value. We provide several Business and IT Consulting Services including Business Strategy, IT Strategy & Roadmap Development, Process Re-Engineering & Transformation, Enterprise Architecture & Technology Selection, and Domain Solutions.

The Cognizant Consulting team is a high performing organization that is continually expanding our client base and increasingly being recommended by analysts such as Forrester and Gartner. And we're growing!

The Role

We're looking for Senior Managers who can deliver within Cognizant's Five Pillars of Consulting Excellence, which are: 1) Project Execution, 2) Expertise, 3) Business Development, 4) Practice Development, & 5) People Development. As a Senior Manager (which is an Associate Director level position) this means partnering with clients and project stakeholders, colleagues. In addition to enabling consulting excellence through the Five Pillars of Consulting, the specific requirements for this position are below.

Within the Consulting group is our Post-Merger Integration Advisory practice, which assists the Fortune 2000 in developing a competitive advantage for their organizations by strategically aligning IT with business objectives and emerging industry needs. We are seeking people who are passionate about transformation, want to make an impact, and love working together to deliver flawless results for an end-client. Specifically, we are looking for a Senior Manager to join us in a leadership role on our team.

We believe that involving IT teams early and often during M&A can help enterprises realize more value from the operational and market synergies that bring businesses together. Our team supports projects that are highly visible in the market and you'll have a chance to use your entrepreneurial spirit along with your knowledge and experience to help clients shape their future state and future successes. As part of our overall portfolio, we help clients create a successful business outcome through the M&A Process. We focus on Integration Management, IT Assessments, Production Synergies, IT Operating Models, Portfolio Rationalization, Cost Strategies, and enabling business process optimization to transform the business and contribute to the overall success of the merger. This is a true advisory practice where you'll play a key role in helping CEOs, CIOs, and CTOs solve their most strategic problems. Our focus on Business-Driven IT Strategy, sets us apart from our competition.

Using trusted methodology and cutting-edge technology, we identify the best ways to integrate and operationalize processes and systems, definite future state operating model, and create roadmaps that actually work. If you're interested in being part of a high-performing team that adds value across industries and engagements, this is the home for you.

Responsibilities

• Lead M&A advisory engagements end to end from IT Due-diligence, Day 1 to Post close integration and help client realize synergies
• Conduct IT Due-Diligence assessments to identify potential IT integration risks and red flags for executives and IT management
• Define Day 1 strategy, create Day 1 plan/checklist and manage the Day 1 cutover
• Identifying M&A process improvement opportunities and work with the client to create repeatable solutions
• Conduct the AS-IS assessment of the acquired company's IT application & infrastructure landscape and define the interim/end state of the acquisition
• Manage cross-functional teams to deliver M&A engagements across all of phases of the M&A lifecycle including due-diligence, pre-close, and post-merger integration
• Assess acquired company's current IT organizations and define To-be operating model
• Conduct and lead Application Portfolio assessments to determine the best technology disposition of IT application portfolio following mergers, acquisitions, or divestitures.
• For the above offerings to be successful, the Senior Manager will be responsible to create approach, identify appropriate tools and methodologies, lead client workshops and discussions, perform analysis, draw conclusions, formulate strategic recommendations, and develop business cases and roadmaps
• In addition to executing consulting engagements, s/he is expected to actively contribute towards industry specific offerings, whitepapers, RFP/ RFI responses and client discussion documents
• Ensure the quality of the Practice's work continues to be truly distinctive through innovative, Intellectual Capital development with a focus on client impact and tangible results
• Help recruit, develop, and retain other consulting professionals - both new hires and existing Cognizant consultants who choose to focus on M&A Advisory - to support the firm's ambitious growth targets

Qualifications

• 15+ years of management consulting experience, with a track record of business generation, practice building and on-going client relationships across assignments with experience in M&A Advisory
• A significant track record of success in M&A advisory consulting across industries serving leading companies on a diverse set of strategic and operational issues.
• A broad general manager perspective, including understanding of strategy and marketing, operations, IT, business transformation and performance improvement.
• A minimum of 6 years of experience in leading or managing small teams effectively including planning/structuring analytical work, facilitating team workshops, and developing recommendations
• Knowledge and experience with leading initiatives spanning M&A advisory, establishing IT IMO/PMO, Managing Day 1, TSA management, Defining Integration Strategy, Post Merger Integration, Business Driven IT Strategy, Operating Models, Technology Integration
• Experience in developing detailed, compelling, and analytical PowerPoint/Excel/Word/Visio deliverables to convey complex thoughts and ideas to various stakeholders
• Thought leadership; at least an understanding, if not a track record, of how to develop commercial knowledge capital and build it into the fabric of a practice.
• Senior client leadership experience and executive presence to represent Cognizant confidently and convincingly among the highest levels of client executives.
• The ability to work successfully in a flat, collaborative, highly matrixed environment and be effective with the Cognizant leadership team.
• MBA or master's degree strongly preferred; Bachelor's degree required
• Ability to travel up to 80%

Work Authorization

• Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in Canada without company sponsorship (H-1B, L-1B, L-1A, etc.)