Director/Senior Director, Digital Transformation (IT Services)

Ankura; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Global exposure

Leadership opportunity

Job summary

Ankura invites applications for a Senior Director/Director to lead and grow our IT Services capabilities in a hybrid role near a US office. You will guide IT strategy, operations, governance, and transformation programs, while managing multiple engagements and executive client relationships.

Strong business development and leadership skills are essential. The position emphasizes infrastructure, cloud, applications, service delivery, and cost optimization, with minimal travel.

Qualifications

• Typically 12+ years of experience in IT leadership, IT operations, technology consulting, managed services, or digital transformation.
• Deep expertise in IT operations and management, including infrastructure, cloud, applications, service delivery, vendors, governance, budgets, and organizational performance.
• Experience serving in or advising senior IT leadership roles, such as CIO, CTO, or Head of IT Operations, is strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, business, or a related field is required; an advanced degree and relevant certifications are preferred.

Responsibilities

• Advise CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, and other executives on IT strategy, operations, organization, investment priorities, and transformation.
• Assess IT organizations, infrastructure, applications, service delivery, technology costs, vendors, risks, and performance.
• Develop and implement IT strategies, operating models, transformation roadmaps, governance structures, and performance-management frameworks.
• Improve IT operations, including service management, infrastructure, cloud, applications, support, monitoring, incident management, and business continuity.
• Help clients increase reliability, resilience, scalability, service quality, security, and cost efficiency.
• Oversee engagement scope, staffing, schedules, budgets, risks, delivery quality, economics, and client satisfaction.
• Originate new opportunities, develop proposals, support contract negotiations, and grow a book of business.

Skills

Executive leadership

IT operations

IT strategy

Client advisory

Business development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, business

Advanced degree and relevant certifications preferred

Tools

ServiceNow

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Job description

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

Practice Overview Ankura’s Digital Transformation practice helps clients modernize their organizations through technology, data, analytics, automation, and AI. Our IT Services professionals help clients establish high-performing, secure, reliable, and scalable IT functions that enable business transformation and growth.

Role Overview We are seeking a Senior Director or Director to help lead and grow our IT Services capabilities. Level will be determined by candidate qualifications and the interview process. This senior role combines deep IT operations and management expertise with executive client advisory, transformation leadership, team development, and business development. This is a hybrid-based role and must be located near an Ankura US office. The individual will help clients assess, stabilize, modernize, and improve their IT functions, including infrastructure, cloud, applications, service delivery, organization, governance, vendors, costs, resilience, and performance. The role will also oversee multiple engagements and client relationships while contributing to the growth of the practice.

Responsibilities

• Advise CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, and other executives on IT strategy, operations, organization, investment priorities, and transformation.
• Assess IT organizations, infrastructure, applications, service delivery, technology costs, vendors, risks, and performance.
• Develop and implement IT strategies, operating models, transformation roadmaps, governance structures, and performance-management frameworks.
• Improve IT operations, including service management, infrastructure, cloud, applications, support, monitoring, incident management, and business continuity.
• Help clients increase reliability, resilience, scalability, service quality, security, and cost efficiency.
• Evaluate organizational structures, staffing, capabilities, sourcing models, managed services, and vendor arrangements.
• Identify opportunities to modernize technology, simplify application portfolios, reduce technical debt, and optimize costs.
• Coordinate with cybersecurity, data, and AI specialists to establish secure and scalable technology foundations.
• Lead complex IT assessments, stabilization efforts, modernization programs, and operational improvement initiatives.
• Oversee engagement scope, staffing, schedules, budgets, risks, delivery quality, economics, and client satisfaction.
• Build trusted executive relationships and manage multiple clients and engagements.
• Originate new opportunities, develop proposals, support contract negotiations, and grow a book of business.
• Recruit, lead, mentor, and develop multidisciplinary IT and transformation teams.
• Develop methodologies, assessment frameworks, accelerators, and thought leadership that strengthen the practice.

Qualifications

• Typically 12+ years of experience in IT leadership, IT operations, technology consulting, managed services, or digital transformation.
• Deep expertise in IT operations and management, including infrastructure, cloud, applications, service delivery, vendors, governance, budgets, and organizational performance.
• Experience assessing, stabilizing, modernizing, or transforming enterprise IT functions.
• Experience serving in or advising senior IT leadership roles, such as CIO, CTO, or Head of IT Operations, is strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to develop and implement IT strategies, operating models, governance frameworks, and transformation roadmaps.
• Strong knowledge of IT service management, cloud and infrastructure modernization, application management, cost optimization, and operational resilience.
• Demonstrated success leading complex programs, multidisciplinary teams, and executive client relationships.
• Business-development experience, including originating opportunities, developing solutions, and expanding client relationships.
• Experience managing a book of consulting business is strongly preferred for the Managing Director level.
• Strong commercial judgment and experience managing engagement economics, staffing, and delivery risk.
• Excellent executive communication, presentation, facilitation, and relationship-management skills.
• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, business, or a related field is required; an advanced degree and relevant certifications are preferred.

Travel expectations are minimal / as needed.

Up to 10% max #LI-Hybrid #LI-MJ1 For individuals assigned and/or hired to work in California, Colorado, New York or other states with relevant pay transparency laws, Ankura is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This compensation range is specific to the said markets and considers a broad range of factors including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. The range does not include additional benefits outside of salary. At Ankura, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each role. A reasonable estimate of the current base pay range is between $110,000 to $200,000; this range is not a promise of a particular wage.

Ankura is an Affidative 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 [e-mail] 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.

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 conflict, crisis, performance, risk, strategy, and transformation. The Ankura team consists of more than 2000 professionals serving 3,000+ clients across 55 countries who are leaders in their respective fields and areas of expertise.

Collaborative Lateral Thinking That Delivers, hard-earned experience, expertise, and multidisciplinary capabilities drive results and Ankura is unrivalled in its ability to assist clients to Protect, Create, and Recover Value.

For more information, please visit, ankura.com.