Executive Director, Workplace Operations

Ankura is a team of excellence founded on innovation and growth.

Ankura Corporate Overview:

Ankura Consulting Group, LLC is an independent global expert services and advisory firm that delivers services and end-to-end solutions to help clients at critical inflection points related to change, risk, disputes, finance, performance, distress, and transformation. The Ankura team consists of more than 1,700 professionals serving 3000+ clients across 55 countries who are leaders in their respective fields and areas of expertise. Collaborative lateral thinking, hard-earned experience, expertise, and multidisciplinary capabilities drive results and Ankura is unrivaled in its ability to assist clients to Protect, Create, and Recover Value.

The goal of Ankura Business Services (ABS) is to provide support and assistance to Ankura’s client facing business groups. All of Ankura’s ABS groups work together to achieve a common goal, which is to create innovative solutions for our clients. ABS includes Finance, Legal, IT Services, Marketing and Communications, Real Estate, Conflict Check, Operations & Workplace Services, and the People Office.  

Role Overview:

The Executive Director, Workplace Operations leads the global Operations & Workplace Services (OWS) team, driving service excellence across business operations and workplace functions for a global consultancy. This role provides day-to-day leadership to Operations Associates and Managers, ensuring accurate, efficient, and cost-effective support for client service teams. Responsibilities span time entry compliance, physical security, corporate card program management, Salesforce data quality, and supplier coordination. The role supports operational transformation through technology-enabled reporting and process optimization, while fostering a strong sense of community and operational acumen. Additionally, the Executive Director develops and executes the firm’s evolving real estate strategy in partnership with firm leadership, aligning capacity with business needs and managing global real estate operations. While this is a remote based position the ideal candidate is located in the greater Washington, DC area.

Responsibilities:

• Support the transformation of the operations function enabling technology solutions to monitor and report on operational activities.
• Partners with corporate card administrators to help manage the firm’s card program, including T&E and P-Cards. Serves as the operations representative to ensure systems, policies, and processes are current and aligned with business needs.
• Responsible for overseeing physical security across all office locations, including access controls, emergency preparedness, and crisis response protocols. Develops and maintains procedures for secure travel, ensuring alignment with firmwide risk and safety standards. Coordinates with internal teams to deploy resources and lead security exercises.
• Responsible for ensuring firmwide time entry compliance by consultants, including generating weekly reports, establishing escalation procedures, and coordinating with business group leaders. Leverages Operations Associates to submit time on behalf of consultants, streamlining compliance and minimizing delays. Implements automated alerts and performance-linked KPIs to reinforce accountability. Serves as the operations representative with IT applications to ensure timekeeping systems are current, functional, and aligned with business needs.
• Partner with Corporate Finance on third party supplier management.
• Oversee Operations Associates in maintaining Salesforce data quality, ensuring accurate and timely entry of pursuit, account, and contact records. Leads data remediation initiatives to resolve duplicates, incomplete fields, and misaligned taxonomy, and partners with data governance teams to refine business rules and support system enhancements.
• Implement the Real Estate playbook and partner with Firm and Business Group Leaders to align real estate strategy and capacity with evolving demands/requirements.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Operations Associates to deliver business operations and workplace services in support of the Firm’s tactical and strategic objectives. 
• Ensure Operations Associates are planning and allocating resources, based on skills, previous experience, availability, or project budget, to meet business and project demands while maintaining a high level of customer service and maximizing resources.
• Manage both real estate and office workplace services budgets while maintaining a strong focus on cost and spend management.
• Use vendors and service providers to the best advantage of the Firm on the dimensions of time, cost, and quality.
• Provide learning and development opportunities to ensure personal growth and build talent pipelines for OWS and other ABS functions.
• Complete interviewing, selection onboarding, and integration of new team members.
• Create an environment of service for Ankura employees, anticipate needs, and provide support to allow senior professionals to be more efficient and effective.
• Work with IT to drive effective use of technology applications and resources to support the client service delivery and related activities of the Firm’s personnel, including Firm-wide and Practice-specific tools, processes, and databases throughout OWS.
• Ensure data privacy and confidentiality in accordance with current records management policy, procedures, and best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement across the team, identifying and implementing changes that improve efficiency and/or service quality.
• Responsible for all Real Estate strategy and execution for a global consultancy that includes 40+ offices worldwide.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in a Business-related field.
• Minimum 10 years’ management experience
• Prior experience in a professional services environment is highly desirable.
• Highly proficient in technology, especially Microsoft Office resources (e.g., Outlook, SharePoint, Teams) and applications (e.g., Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
• Real Estate Strategy experience is desired.
• Demonstrated presentation skills and an ability to influence others.
• Critical thinking skills and initiative to proactively address issues, identify and solve areas of business process improvement.
• Professional presence and consistently exhibit high levels of discretion, integrity, and confidentiality.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with attention to detail.
• Financial acumen and budget management.
• Skilled at effectively managing and prioritizing escalations or business-critical situations.
• Well-developed and professional interpersonal skills, with an ability to interact effectively, in both written and verbal communication, with people at varying levels of the firm.
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability.
• Proven ability to establish, build and maintain relationships with peers, client service delivery professionals, and leadership.
• Has professional network that may be leveraged for industry and functional perspectives on relevant matters.
• Seeks to achieve challenging business goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment with competing demands.
• Ability to coordinate, control, and organize multiple functions and activities.

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Ankura is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Equal Employment Opportunity Posters, if you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening, submit an online application, or participate in an interview/assessment, please email accommodations@ankura.com or call toll-free +1.312-583-2122. This email and phone number are created exclusively to assist disabled job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Only messages left for this purpose will be returned. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or technical issues unrelated to a disability, will not receive a response.