Disputes & Valuations Consultant - Senior Vice President

At AlixPartners, we solve the most complex and critical challenges by moving quickly from analysis to action when it really matters; creating value that has a lasting impact on companies, their people, and the communities they serve. By understanding, respecting, and honouring the needs of our employees, clients, and communities, AlixPartners actively promotes an inclusive environment. We strongly believe in the value that diversity brings to our experiences and are committed to the perpetual enhancements of initiatives, policies, and practices. We hold ourselves accountable by providing the space for authenticity, growth, and equity for everyone.

AlixPartners has embraced a hybrid work model to provide flexibility and support our employees’ work-life integration. Our hybrid model combines a mix of in-person (at client site or AlixPartners office) and remote working. Travel is part of this position, but the frequency may vary based on client, team, and individual circumstances.

An opportunity has become available for a Senior Vice President to join our Disputes & Valuations team in our London Risk Advisory practice. We provide independent, objective critical thinking to help companies, and their stakeholders address high-stakes disputes, litigation, and investigations. Our clients include a wide array of organisations and their legal counsel, who we assist with expert testimony, valuation models, forensic accounting, investigations, and financial and economic analyses. Recent cases include performing financial analyses in a cartel case, providing expert valuations of companies in a billion-dollar claim, providing advice in claims following high profile acquisitions and investigations ranging from financial institutions to high profile sports clubs. We also work closely with our teams around the globe.

As we regularly provide expert witness evidence for Courts, Tribunals and in other situations. Our work often includes assessing losses suffered by a company or individual, providing expert technical accounting evidence in dispute settings. Our success relies on thinking through complex issues and presenting logical analysis in a clear, concise manner and preparing accurate, reliable, and robust analysis and reports. You will direct research and analysis, determine the approach to damages and valuation assessments, oversee the development of integrated financial models, critically assess the work of the opposing expert and draft expert reports and other deliverables, adapting to the writing style of the expert.

We also support legal teams and organisations by performing forensic accounting and investigative procedures where companies face allegations of fraud, financial irregularities, bribery, corruption, or employee misconduct. These can be cross-border issues that may attract regulatory focus. Therefore, organisations need to understand the facts and respond quickly. You will assist with the scoping of investigations, considering stakeholders, time constraints, the availability of information and any jurisdiction specific rules, prepare investigative interview questions and direct the team in the forensic analysis of complex chains of transactions, the review of electronic data (working with our digital forensics team) and the drafting of investigative reports.

You will play a leading role in the day-to-day delivery of fast-paced forensic accounting engagements and complex scenarios, working closely with Directors and testifying Experts. You will also work alongside digital forensic experts to build, handle, and interrogate large data sets, and with economics, M&A, restructuring and industry specialists across a variety of projects. In addition, we are a global company, and there may be opportunities to work with our offices that are based abroad. Throughout these different experiences, AlixPartners will provide you with a constant challenge, stretching your technical, consultative and leadership skills whilst putting you at the heart of supportive and collaborative teams.

Our Senior Vice Presidents play a central role to deliver our engagements, managing work streams, client relationships and developing Vice Presidents and Consultants. You will work in highly skilled, purpose-built teams with experienced accounting, economics, and digital forensic professionals.

From the first day, we focus on your development. You will be supported throughout your career with a dedicated Performance Partner who is focused on your career, opportunities to integrate your skills with those from other areas of the business, and access to a wealth of training resources.

What you’ll do

You will manage the delivery of complex projects across a spectrum of industries, working closely with senior leadership and project teams on a day-to-day basis.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

- Managing large work streams, or multiple smaller work streams, on litigation, arbitration, valuation and investigation matters, and identifying potential project issues and risk areas

- Managing client and lawyer relationships and communicating progress

- Providing clear guidance to the team on research activities, reviewing output and synthesising complex research findings into actionable insights

- Developing strategies for efficient document management and review, overseeing the set up and operation of eDiscovery tools, preparing and reviewing document requests and presenting preliminary findings internally and to clients

- Ownership of data provided by clients, pre-empting key issues to be addressed, overseeing financial statement and data analysis, seeing “the bigger picture” and challenging client explanations on complex issues

- Creating integrated financial models to forecast cash flow and financial performance, using sophisticated scenario functionality, dashboards and ensuring modelling best practice across the team

- Identifying relevant types of damages claims, determining the approach to calculating damages, including counterfactual scenarios and the impact of potential mitigation, accounting for the facts of the case and the legal position

- Assessing reasonableness of assumptions, including those provided by clients, and preparing robust, logical damages calculations, identifying any issues or weaknesses in approach

- Interpreting and applying relevant accounting standards, interrogating accounting data and forming an opinion on the most appropriate approach

- Assessing the opposing expert’s analysis, modelling and report, directing and reviewing the work of team members in response, and communicating findings to the client

- Preparing written deliverables independently, adapting to the writing style of the Expert, drafting short expert reports with guidance from the Expert and developing project specific style guides where required

- Directing the compilation and organisation of materials for expert preparation, participating in sessions to prepare the Expert, collaborating with the team and counsel on cross-examination questions and assisting counsel with queries during testimony

- Contributing to practice development projects, such as internal training, presentations and the production of marketing literature and other aspects of practice development as the business seeks to continue to grow.

- Preparing and monitoring budgets, assisting with managing the utilisation of Vice Presidents and Consultants, and assisting with billing and collections

What you’ll need

- A recognised accountancy qualification such as the ACA or ACCA and Degree qualified

- Significant post-qualification experience in forensic accounting, disputes or valuation advisory

- A strong understanding of damages methodologies (including counterfactual scenarios and mitigation), valuation bases, approaches and techniques, and technical accounting under IFRS and UK GAAP

- A strong track record of managing work streams on expert witness engagements, including drafting expert report sections and responding to opposing experts

- Experience of supporting Experts through the expert preparation and testimony process

- Expert Microsoft Excel skills, including building and reviewing integrated, fully dynamic financial models

- Experience of managing client and lawyer relationships, project budgets and billing

- A proven ability to supervise, review and develop the work of junior colleagues and strong communication skills, both written and spoken, including the ability to communicate findings clearly and persuasively

- Fluency in English is essential; knowledge of an additional language would be advantageous.

- Must become familiar with, and promote and abide by, our Core Values as defined by the AlixPartners’ Code of Conduct (https://www.alixpartners.com/media/17527/2021_alixpartners-codeofconduct_web.pdf) and foster an inclusive environment with people at all levels of an organization

The firm offers market-leading benefits that provide flexible options to support our employee’s needs including health benefits to help prioritise their physical and emotional well-being, time-off policies to help to recharge and financial/ retirement benefits that offer income protection and support long-term planning.

AlixPartners is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other characteristics, race, religion, gender, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status or status as an individual with disability.

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