Associate Director, Aviation
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About the role
Our client is a specialist management consultancy building a dedicated infrastructure and capital advisory practice. They are looking for an Associate Director to take a leading role in their Aviation work - carrying full commercial accountability for client accounts while delivering complex programme advisory at the most senior levels.
At this level, you will not just lead delivery, you will lead the account. You will own the commercial relationship, shape account strategy, and play an active role in developing the practice alongside your client responsibilities. This is a role for someone ready to operate with genuine seniority in a firm that is building something and wants you to help define it.
What you will do
Advisory and programme leadership
- Advise senior sponsors (including SROs, C-suite, and programme boards) on strategy, governance, and mobilisation; provide the independent perspective that enables clients to make well-founded decisions under pressure
- Lead the design and structuring of complex programmes: operating model, delivery architecture, team design, and the conditions required for successful mobilisation
- Carry concurrent programme leadership responsibilities with full accountability for advisory quality end-to-end
Stakeholder engagement
- Own senior stakeholder relationships across operational, commercial, and executive audiences; relationships that extend well beyond the immediate engagement
- Translate complex, multi-strand programmes into clear, compelling narratives that earn buy-in and sustain momentum at board level
Commercial and account leadership
- Lead the commercial relationship end-to-end: own account strategy, structure follow-on work, manage the commercial process, and sustain the client relationship over time
- Take an active role in practice development, shaping service offerings, methodology, and market positioning in Aviation and Infrastructure
People and team development
- Build and develop the engagement team; own the development of junior colleagues as a deliberate part of your role, not an afterthought
- Model the firm's values and consulting standards; contribute to a culture where quality and feedback are embedded in how the team works
What you will bring
Experience
- A track record of concurrent programme leadership in management consulting (not gained solely in-house), with full commercial responsibility - spanning operating model design, organisational change, capital programme strategy, or infrastructure mobilisation
- A proven history of operating as a trusted advisor to Director-level, SRO, or C-suite stakeholders - shaping the approach, not just executing within it
- End-to-end commercial ownership: leading account strategy, structuring deals, and managing the client relationship independently
- Experience developing and managing consulting teams, with a genuine investment in the growth of junior colleagues
- Aviation experience preferred but not essential; a desire to build and grow in Aviation is essential
Knowledge
- Deep grasp of the strategic and organisational dimensions of large programme mobilisation including governance, sponsorship structures, stakeholder alignment, and the conditions that make complex programmes succeed or fail
- Ability to assess complex client situations quickly and translate ambiguity into structured, actionable approaches that senior audiences trust
- Understanding of what it takes for change to land inside large, operationally complex organisations - not just strategy, but adoption, culture, and capability
Character
- Builds trust with senior clients rapidly and sustains it - your relationships generate work beyond the immediate brief, consistently
Why this role
You will have genuine advisory and commercial ownership from day one - this is not a role where the most interesting work sits with someone else. You will join a firm that is actively building its infrastructure and capital advisory presence in aviation, and that wants an Associate Director to help shape what that looks like.
Expect visible leadership, real influence over practice direction, and an environment that takes quality seriously and invests in the people who deliver it.