Board Adviser — Turnaround and Liquidity

Advisory work products

Review the cash forecast, operating performance and recovery initiatives, identifying where the evidence is weak or internally inconsistent. Develop a small number of coherent recovery routes, each with funding requirements, dependencies, implementation risks and decision triggers. Explain the consequences of delaying action and the points at which an option becomes unavailable.

The options paper should contain a clear comparison of minimum funding, implementation lead time, operational disruption and the evidence needed before commitment. Where a recommendation depends on customer or supplier cooperation, distinguish confirmed support from an assumption. The adviser should propose a small set of decision triggers that change the recommended route, such as a failed asset sale or a persistent collection shortfall. This makes the advice usable between board meetings and reduces the risk that management continues following a plan after its central conditions have weakened.

Challenge that reaches the factory

Test whether proposed inventory releases are compatible with delivery commitments, whether purchasing reductions threaten critical supply and whether capacity changes include their full transition costs. Validate the recovery logic with operational managers instead of relying solely on a finance presentation. Prioritise recommendations by cash impact, feasibility and reversibility.

Adviser profile

Qualified candidates should have advised or led an industrial turnaround and be able to demonstrate recommendations that changed an actual decision. Strong financial analysis, operating literacy and concise board communication are essential. Candidates must be comfortable explaining where evidence is insufficient to support a recommendation.

How the assignment should conclude

The board should receive a clear options paper, an evidence-based challenge of management’s plan and a monitoring framework tied to the main uncertainties. Management retains responsibility for execution and directors retain decision authority. The adviser should leave practical tools and reasoning that remain useful after the engagement, rather than an analysis that depends on continued personal interpretation.