Director - Power & Utilities - Cost and Performance Benchmarking

KPMG United Kingdom; City Of London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consulting firm is seeking a Director for its Cost Assessment practice in the UK. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in the utilities and energy sectors, with a strong track record in performance and cost assessment. As a key leader, you will advise major projects, manage client relationships, and drive business growth. Excellent communication and team leadership skills are essential for this role, which offers significant opportunities for personal and professional development.

Qualifications

• Experience advising on cost assessment with a track record of delivering high-quality outputs.
• Strong understanding of policy, regulation, financing, and market investments.
• Proven ability to lead teams and manage client relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead advice on major projects for companies, investors, and regulators.
• Identify and recruit talent to support business growth.
• Develop and manage sustainable business relationships.

Skills

In-depth knowledge of utilities and energy sectors

Performance and cost assessment expertise

Excellent presentation and communication skills

Client relationship management

Commercial awareness

Education

Formal education in economics at advanced level

Job description

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Job description

The Team

The Infrastructure team consists of c400 professionals and is widely recognised as a leading independent business, financial and regulatory advisers in the infrastructure space.

We provide in-depth advice on strategic, financial, regulatory and commercial issues driving investments in infrastructure across Transport, Power & Utilities, and Social Infrastructure in the UK and globally. Our work includes market and policy design, economic and regulatory analysis, deal structuring and execution, as well as strategic and transaction advice to enable private and public capital to fund infrastructure. We work closely with other functions within KPMG to advise clients on mergers and acquisitions, valuations, tax, accounting, and due diligence.

Power & Utilities (P&U) is one of the largest business areas of the Infratstructure team and encompasses work for large clients in the sector, including all energy and water companies in the UK as well as some of the largest utilities in Europe and beyond. We provide in-depth strategic and technical advice on corporate finance and corporate financial management, regulatory finance, regulatory policy, business and financial planning, cost assessment and benchmarking as well as in other areas directly affecting value. Our work combines elements of policy, finance, strategy and economics to assist our clients in structuring investments, securing financing, supporting regulatory regimes and maximising shareholder value. We are widely recognised by many industry stakeholders as market leaders influencing the future of the utilities sector.

Our P&U business is currently divided into several practices including Finance, Regulation, Projects, Transactions and Cost & Performance Benchmarking and is continuously expanding achieving double digit growth every year over the last 12 years. We are looking for high quality candidates to support our growth and development of existing and new service lines, while building on the work already undertaken in the Group.

The Role

The candidate should have a very good understanding of the water and energy sectors in the UK, extensive experience of working on cost and performance assessment in the context of price reviews (including advanced cost modelling, cost benefit analysis and business case development), business transformation and transactions. They should also have a good track record of working in professional services, including leading a team, and both winning and delivering advisory services, supported by a proven reputation in the sector.

The role involves working with other teams inside P&U as well as across KPMG more broadly. Building and maintaining a strong working relationship with the other teams will be important.

Services provided by the Cost and Performance Benchmarking team in IAG P&U include inter alia the following:

• Understanding and analysing drivers of companies' activities, performance and efficiency
• Benchmarking companies' costs and performance using different techniques including econometric modelling
• Use of cost benefit analysis and business case development to support corporate business plans and cost estimates
• Use of cost assessment techniques to identify and support business transformations, turnaround and business improvement plans
• Regulatory and commercial due diligence on transactions involving regulated utilities and other companies in the P&U sector

Role and Responsibilities

As a Director working within the Cost Assessment practice in P&U the individual will be responsible for:

• Leading advice on major projects for companies, investors and regulators
• Operating at the C suite and board level with companies and investors
• Growing the business
• Identifying and recruiting talent
• Be the focus for our cost and performance assessment capability in P&U and bring insights and leading practices
• Ensuring KPMG's quality and risk management procedures are completed to the appropriate standard
• Pro-actively keeping up to date with cost assessment thinking at a global level
• Playing a key part in the P&U leadership team
• Coaching and mentoring other staff
• Being a role model for less experienced staff and for the firm's values
• Working with the other senior staff in the P&U team to define and implement the strategy for the unit

Business development activities will include:

• Working closely with our colleagues in other parts of P&U to develop and maintain business relationships with key companies and investors
• Targeting key companies in-line with our strategy and developing a pipeline of opportunities to support the growth of the cost assessment business as well as wider P&U team
• Building and managing sustainable business relationships with corporates and regulators
• Building a strong external and internal network to promote our services and the value provided
• Supporting the development with thought leadership and speaking engagements
• Pro-actively promoting our services

The Person

We are looking for a person who can work at pace and bring experience and best practice and collaborate closely with other parts of the team and other parts of the firm. The person should have proven experience of advising on cost assessment with a high level of client relationship management and a track record of delivery high quality outputs and securing further work

Skills, Qualifications and Experience

• In depth knowledge of utilities and energy sectors in the UK (key market segments)
• Extensive experience of working on performance and cost assessment in utilities and infrastructure, including price reviews and transactions
• Understanding of key value drivers in utilities including policy, regulation, financing, investments, markets etc
• A strong track record of working in professional services, including leading a team, and both winning and delivering advisory services
• Excellent presentation and communications skills
• Skills successfully to develop and manage client relationships
• Preferably formal education in economics at advanced level or similar qualifications
• Strong commercial awareness