Operating Executive · Chicago
I adapt the model so PE-backed and enterprise services businesses perform differently — not just run more efficiently.
Background
I've operated across the full growth spectrum — from $20M PE-backed platforms to $1B+ enterprise mandates. The businesses are different. The discipline is the same: take the strategic direction, build the operating architecture, and make the business perform differently.
Most recently Chief Services Officer at a PE-backed growth-as-a-service platform — scaled 3x and from 500 to 1,200 people in under three years, expanding gross margin by 350 basis points, driving churn down, and shifting the model. A major growth equity firm came in at a significantly higher valuation than the original acquisition price, proving the shift in the model.
Before that: global practice leadership at Accenture Strategy, Capgemini, and Havas Media Group — where I learned what good looks like at scale.
Career stages
What I do
01
Rebuilding the model so the business performs differently — not just runs more efficiently. Delivery redesign, managed service transitions, margin architecture.
02
Building the operating architecture that moves the valuation multiple. Revenue quality, NRR improvement, churn reduction, capability ahead of the next stage.
03
Integrating acquisitions without breaking the business. Four completed integrations. Unified operating systems built across distinct founding cultures.
04
Operating model redesign disguised as technology deployment. Workflow change, adoption engineering, governance for the agentic workforce — from the operator seat, not the observer seat.
05
Full operating mandate in PE-backed or corporate environments. Owner-operator mindset. I own the outcome; you own the execution.
06
Operating advisory with real equity participation and a defined path to full-time. Only when the mandate is real and the equity is meaningful.
Positioning
Service or tech/software business with a recurring revenue model — where services are an important element of the value proposition, not an accessory. With a clear mandate to build or transform that service layer as a core component of the investment thesis.
Ideally PE-backed with real equity participation and a defined exit horizon. Open to senior operating or practice leadership in a professional services firm with a genuine build mandate. Based in Chicago. Full travel flexibility. Not relocating.
"I turn strategic ambition into reality."
Contact
If you're evaluating a COO or operating leadership mandate — or you're a search partner working a relevant engagement — I'm in a focused search. A conversation takes 20 minutes to determine fit.
Chicago-based. Available for substantive conversations anywhere. Response same day.