Consulting Business Unit Director (Americas)
SBD Automotive
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Posted on Apr 30, 2026
Location within the US is flexible, however the role requires regular travel to ensure strong proximity to our clients and effective engagement with the US team.
Ready to Own a Consulting Business and Drive Performance at Scale?
SBD Automotive is a global automotive research and consulting company, supporting manufacturers, suppliers, and technology companies with strategy, insight, and execution across connected, electric, autonomous, and software-defined vehicles.
As a Business Unit Director, you will own the performance of a consulting Business Unit, including revenue, margin, and forecast accuracy. You will lead a team of Consulting Directors and Managers, drive a strong and sustainable pipeline, and ensure consistent delivery excellence across all engagements.
This is a senior leadership role with full accountability for business performance. You will operate as a change agent, driving improvements in client outcomes, team capability, and ways of working, while contributing to company-wide strategy as part of the Senior Leadership Team. This role is focused on business performance and leadership rather than just or only hands-on project delivery.
A day in the life
Your day will focus on business performance, team leadership, and strategic client engagement.
You might start the day reviewing BU performance, pipeline health, and forecast accuracy, identifying risks and actions required to stay on track. Later, you could be working with Consulting Directors and Senior Managers to strengthen pipeline, unblock a key deal, or address a performance issue within the team.
You may spend time engaging senior client stakeholders to shape strategic opportunities, or stepping into a critical situation to course-correct delivery or commercial performance. You could also be aligning with other BU Directors and the Exec team on priorities, resourcing, or cross-BU initiatives.
No two days are identical, but the focus remains the same: owning the numbers, building a high-performing team, and driving sustainable business growth.
Your key responsibilities include:
Business ownership and performance
- Own BU revenue, margin, and forecast accuracy, including driving actions to manage variance and risk.
- Build and maintain a strong, balanced pipeline to support current and future performance.
- Take accountability for overall account performance and BU results.
- Drive actions to address performance gaps and deliver targets.
Sales and account leadership
- Build a sustainable sales engine across the BU rather than relying on individual contributors.
- Own account strategy and total account performance for key clients.
- Drive consistent sales performance across the BU, embedding seller-doer behaviours.
- Support and challenge Consulting Directors to build and convert pipeline.
- Engage senior client stakeholders to shape strategic opportunities.
- Ensure long-term account growth and client value.
Delivery oversight and quality
- Accountable for delivery quality across the BU, holding Consulting Directors, Senior Managers, and Managers to account and intervening where required.
- Hold Consulting Directors accountable for delivery outcomes.
- Step in where required to resolve critical delivery or client issues.
- Maintain consistency in delivery standards and client experience.
People leadership and capability
- Own the BU resource pool, including headcount planning, utilisation, and capacity management.
- Lead hiring decisions and shape the capability mix of the BU.
- Drive performance management across the BU, addressing underperformance directly and consistently.
- Develop Consulting Directors and Managers to improve delivery and commercial outcomes.
- Build a high-performance culture aligned to SBD expectations.
Change leadership and operational discipline
- Act as a change agent, driving measurable improvements in performance, capability, and ways of working across the BU.
- Drive strict operational discipline across forecasting, utilisation, timesheets, and margin management.
- Implement and embed processes that improve consistency and scalability.
- Lead BU-level change initiatives and support company-wide transformation efforts.
Company leadership
- Actively contribute to SLT decisions and company-wide strategy at SLT and Exec level.
- Contribute to company-wide strategy and cross-BU initiatives.
- Collaborate with other BU Directors to drive overall business performance.
About you
You are a senior consulting or automotive industry leader with a strong track record of owning business performance, building high-performing teams, and driving sustained revenue growth. You are comfortable owning business performance under pressure and making decisions that drive results.
You bring:
- A proven track record owning revenue, margin, and business performance.
- Strong experience building and converting pipeline at scale.
- Experience managing senior client relationships and driving account growth.
- A track record of leading and developing high-performing teams.
- Strong commercial acumen, including pricing, margin management, and forecasting.
- The ability to drive change and improve performance across teams and clients..
Ideally you also have:
- Experience in automotive, mobility, or related technology sectors.
- Experience in areas such as connected vehicles, EVs, ADAS, software-defined vehicles, or digital services.
- Prior experience in a senior consulting leadership role.
- Experience operating within a global or multi-region business.
- Experience in driving change, implementing new value propositions, and keeping your teams focused on opportunities to support clients effectively whilst maximising revenue.
Why SBD Automotive
At SBD Automotive, you will play a key role in shaping the performance and direction of a global consulting business.
We offer:
- A senior leadership role with real ownership and impact.
- The opportunity to shape a Business Unit and drive its growth.
- Exposure to cutting-edge mobility technologies and strategies.
- A collaborative, international leadership team.
- Competitive salary and benefits.
Interested?
If you are ready to step into a role where you will own business performance, lead teams at scale, and drive meaningful change, we would like to hear from you.
Apply now to join SBD Automotive and help shape the future of mobility.