Consulting Manager | Commercial Excellence & Performance Improvement

Cape Town, South Africa | Strategy & Management Consulting | Competitive Package on Offer

Our client is seeking an accomplished Consulting Manager to join its Cape Town-based consulting team.

This role offers the opportunity to lead complex strategy and performance improvement engagements, working with senior stakeholders to address business challenges and deliver measurable results.

You will lead commercial analysis, identify opportunities for improved business performance and guide multidisciplinary teams in translating data-driven insights into practical solutions. You will also contribute to a diverse portfolio of consulting engagements across industries, supporting clients in developing and implementing effective strategies.

The ideal candidate combines strong analytical and strategic capabilities with proven consulting leadership, stakeholder management and a hands-on approach to delivering sustainable business improvements.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead complex consulting engagements: Manage day-to-day delivery of high-intensity commercial strategy and performance improvement assignments, maintaining exceptional analytical quality and delivery standards.
• Structure and solve complex business problems: Frame commercial challenges, develop hypotheses, establish analytical approaches and guide rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Direct commercial diagnostics: Lead investigations into pricing, sales effectiveness, contracting, margin performance and commercial processes across multiple business units, identifying opportunities for measurable value creation.
• Guide and develop consulting teams: Provide direction, coaching and quality assurance to engagement managers, consultants and analysts working across multiple jurisdictions.
• Translate analysis into executive-level insights: Develop compelling storylines and produce high-quality presentations, reports, financial models, tools and supporting materials for senior decision-makers.
• Engage and influence senior stakeholders: Work confidently with group-level and business-unit leaders, facilitating project planning, workshops, training and steering committee discussions.
• Drive implementation and value realisation: Translate recommendations into practical commercial initiatives, operating model improvements and measurable performance outcomes, supported by change management and adoption activities.
• Coordinate complex programme delivery: Collaborate with internal teams, client stakeholders and external partners to maintain alignment, resolve issues and ensure effective delivery across interconnected workstreams.
• Maintain strong project governance: Oversee workplans, risks, dependencies, milestones and decision points, ensuring proactive issue management and consistent delivery.
• Support consulting practice growth: Contribute to thought leadership, capability development, proposal development and business development initiatives.

Qualifications and Experience

Required

• A postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline.
• 7–12 years of experience in private-sector strategy and/or management consulting, with a demonstrated track record of leading and delivering complex assignments in team-based, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Strong capabilities in commercial analytics, diagnostic problem-solving and business operational modelling.
• Experience working in high-intensity programme environments involving multiple workstreams, senior stakeholders and rapidly evolving priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex analysis into clear commercial insights, actionable recommendations and practical solutions.
• Experience guiding consulting teams and maintaining high standards of analytical quality and client delivery.

Advantageous

• An additional postgraduate business qualification, such as an MBA, CFA or equivalent.
• Experience leading corporate change management and embedding new commercial operating models, processes and behaviours into business-as-usual operations.
• Exposure to large-scale, multi-business commercial excellence or performance improvement programmes.

Key Skills and Attributes

• Structured problem-solving: Ability to break down complex challenges, test hypotheses and develop evidence-based solutions.
• Analytical and quantitative capability: Confidence interrogating complex datasets and translating findings into commercially meaningful insights.
• Executive communication: Exceptional storytelling and presentation skills, including the ability to produce presentations to leading management consulting standards.
• Stakeholder management: Strong relationship-building and influencing skills across organisational levels.
• Team leadership: Ability to guide, support and develop multidisciplinary teams in demanding and ambiguous environments.
• Collaborative leadership: A commitment to enabling others, sharing knowledge and maintaining high standards of performance.
• Strategic and implementation orientation: Ability to move between commercial strategy, detailed analysis and practical delivery.
• Resilience and adaptability: The judgement and composure to navigate complexity, competing priorities and rapid decision-making.
• Results orientation: A focus on measurable improvements, sustainable value creation and tangible client outcomes.

To apply, please forward your detailed CV to: Nicole Spamers: nspamers@elev8recruitment.co.za AND Andrea Jones: ajones@elev8recruitment.co.za

Contact information

Nicole Spamers