Commercial Architect Assistant Director

EY GDS - Commercial Excellence - Assistant Director

Reports to: Associate Director

As an Assistant Director in Strategic Pricing & Insights team under Commercial Excellence, you will specialize in financial and commercial leadership for EY's large and complex opportunities to improve for winnability and profitability. You will design and execute pricing strategies, work on innovative commercial models, help shape deal constructs, build compelling business cases, architect differentiated competitive strategies, advise engagement teams and articulate the value of EY's offers to clients.

Your key responsibilities

• • Architect and lead pricing strategies for complex pursuit: Collaborate with pursuit teams and stakeholders to prepare business cases, design commercial structures, analyze proposed solutions, create fit-for-purpose charging models, optimize deal positioning and value proposition, and develop client facing proposals and presentations.
  • Build trust-based relationship with leadership: Provide actionable insights that enable EY leadership to make pricing and commercial decisions that create superior returns for EY by understanding the total value creation of an opportunity and identifying client's willingness-to-pay.
  • Monetize the value of EY's differentiated solution, mitigating commercial risks: Design and execute innovative pricing and commercial models (e.g., outcome-based, risk-reward, consumption-based) incorporating behavioral economics techniques to accelerate client value while safeguarding EY's margin and risk exposure.
  • Oversee, execute and validate financial modelling and commercial structuring: Use applications such as Microsoft Excel and EY's pricing and analytics tools to create financial structures and model forecasted economics based on accounting standards and internal guidelines, ensuring alignment with EY's profitability and risk frameworks.
  • Shape pursuit, integrating solution intelligence and EY gold standards: Collaborate with solution architects to test the solution design for alignment with expected value, client's willingness to pay, and internal ROI expectations. Validate solution estimates against typical market approaches to identify sources of differentiated value and/or optimize them for competitiveness.
  • Refine the pricing strategy aligned with the differentiated value of our solution: Develop detailed price-to-win assessments to refine price positioning strategy leveraging market benchmarks, macro and micro economic indicators, knowledge of client pain points and objectives, and competitor intelligence.
  • Synthesize sales, price and solution insights into actionable intelligence: Collaborate with competitive intelligence, analytics, and other internal teams to perform research and refine the pursuit's pricing strategy, positioning and offer design to help build compelling proposals.
  • Showcase pursuit experience to build intelligence and optimize win odds: Bring forward relevant insights and ideas from pursuit experience, knowledge of service lines and sectors, research and network connections on a consistent basis.
  • Active contributor to negotiations and client communications: Lead development of client-facing financial and commercial documents, assist in high-stakes negotiations, and articulate deal constructs and value propositions to engagement partners and pursuit leaders to support securing of strategic agreements and strengthen client relationships.
  • Drive commercial transformation through training and facilitation: Contribute to thought leadership activities for development of pricing and commercial acumen within the organization. Develop collateral, assets and white papers for spreading commercial knowledge outside of the function.
  • Adept at team building: Mentor and coach team members to enhance performance.

Skills and attributes for success

• • Experience with a broad spectrum of pricing and commercial strategies applicable to professional services with a holistic view on value-based pricing, client's willingness to pay and competitive landscape to determine pricing power.
  • Collaborate effectively across a matrix organization displaying pursuit and relationship management skills to deliver a high-quality work product while navigating conflicting interests.
  • Executive-level communication and negotiation skills to influence senior stakeholders and articulate differentiated value propositions.
  • Possess natural coaching skills, ease team discussions, speak in large group settings, handle difficult conversations and objections, influence without authority and write persuasively.
  • Execute with a high degree of independence and autonomy.
  • Ability to demonstrate innovation and creativity.
  • Strong data driven or statistical and problem-solving skills.
  • Be a transformative leader, both as an individual and as a counsellor.
  • Ability to prioritize strategic decisions under ambiguity and high-stakes timelines.

Qualifications for the role:

• • Graduate in relevant field(s) like finance, accounting, statistics, engineering or a related field along with equivalent practical experience.
  • MBA and / or certifications covering financial knowledge (CFA, CMA, CPA) would carry significant advantages.
  • At least 6 years of relevant experience in professional services, preferably in functions like pricing and commercials, Price-to-Win, strategy consulting, financial planning & analysis, SaaS/cloud commercialization etc.
  • Advanced excel knowledge with expert proficiency in financial modelling, accounting, budgeting and associated metrics.
  • English language fluency (oral and written).
  • Experience in solution architecture or design is highly desirable and will be an added advantage.

Additional notes:

• • Must be flexible with working hours according to the needs of the geography being supported.
  • May be needed to travel on occasions.