Director - HR M&A Transactions

Job Description

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Director - M&A

As a Director in HR M&A Transactions, you will play a critical leadership role across strategy, delivery, people and commercial growth.

Drive strategic thinking

• Develop and shape HR strategies that directly enable M&A objectives, drawing on EY’s global tools, insights and methodologies.
• Translate complex datasets into clear, compelling insights that strengthen client propositions and support practice growth.
• Stay abreast of market trends and emerging insights shaping the M&A landscape, using these to continually refine EY’s M&A People proposition.
• Actively represent EY in the market, promoting our thought leadership, insights and value proposition.

Define and deliver high‑impact projects

• Lead end‑to‑end HR M&A engagements across the full deal lifecycle, including Due Diligence, Sell & Separate, and Buy & Integrate.
• Shape and deliver people‑led transformation programmes that enhance organisational performance and realise deal value.
• Lead the development of high‑quality RFP responses and client proposals, ensuring timely and professional execution.
• Ensure full compliance with EY’s Quality and Risk Management (QRM) requirements, from client acceptance through delivery and programme close.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with clients and multi‑disciplinary delivery teams.
• Uphold EY’s quality, risk and commercial standards across all engagements.
• Strengthen EY’s reputation as a trusted partner in HR M&A and people‑led transformation.

Empower and guide teams

• Lead, coach and develop high‑performing HR M&A consultants in complex and demanding delivery environments.
• Partner closely with client leadership teams to guide them effectively through the delivery journey.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive and high‑performing team culture, acting as both mentor and role‑modelled leader.
• Be recognised as a trusted senior leader and SMR within the HR Transactions team and the wider EY Consulting practice.

Commercial acumen

• Build and deepen senior client relationships across priority sectors.
• Lead business development activity to sustain and grow commercial performance.
• Play a key role in defining and executing EY’s go‑to‑market strategy for M&A People services.
• Track, manage and interpret key engagement and financial performance metrics.
• Translate strategy into actionable plans that drive individual, team and financial performance.

What You Bring

We are looking for a leader who combines deep HR M&A expertise with strong consulting and commercial capabilities:

• Significant experience across HR M&A, HR strategy, HR transformation and HR consulting.
• Proven ability to shape, lead and deliver complex, fast‑paced programmes with confidence.
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with credibility at senior executive level.
• Strong analytical capability, with a talent for distilling complexity into impactful insight.
• A genuine passion for people, M&A and building enduring client relationships.
• Personal drive, resilience and determination to consistently deliver high‑quality outcomes.
• High emotional intelligence and adaptability to lead diverse teams and clients through ambiguity and change.
• Experience working with domestic and international clients, balancing client needs with team wellbeing.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.
• A proven track record of establishing a credible SMR reputation within a professional services environment.

Desirable:

• Degree and post‑graduate qualification (beneficial but not essential).
• Experience working in global and cross‑border M&A environments.

Who Thrives Here

This role is ideally suited to someone who is:

• Proactive, motivated and driven to deliver outstanding results.
• Analytically minded and detail‑focused, while maintaining strong commercial perspective.
• Collaborative and team‑oriented, thriving in dynamic and evolving environments.
• Curious, ambitious and committed to innovation and continuous improvement.
• Self‑motivated and resilient, with the energy to continually evolve EY’s M&A People proposition.

EY | Building a better working world

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.