Interim Director of Engagement Economics and Cash Discipline

Trace the full engagement cycle

Review selected assignments from proposal through collection. Identify where estimates diverged from actual work, where changes were delivered without an agreed commercial treatment and where billing depended on evidence that was not captured. Distinguish genuine client dissatisfaction from administrative delay and assess the quality of work-in-progress information.

Implement clearer ownership of engagement budgets, change decisions and billing prerequisites. Equip delivery leaders to discuss commercial consequences while maintaining constructive client relationships. Establish timely review of at-risk assignments and resolve internal disputes over who must act. The aim is earlier judgement, not more forms completed after the problem has matured.

Put the review into live assignments

Lead the approved improvement team, coordinate finance and practice leaders and introduce agreed operating controls. Client concessions, contract amendments and material write-offs remain subject to delegated approval. The director will prepare those decisions with reliable evidence and ensure that agreed actions are completed.

Work with systems owners to improve visibility without treating software replacement as the default solution. Test changes on live assignments and monitor effects on client experience, administrative effort and delivery behaviour. Ensure that stronger cash discipline does not encourage premature billing or unsupported recognition of revenue.

Commercial-finance evidence required

Candidates should demonstrate operational finance or business leadership in project-based services, with a record of improving engagement control and cash outcomes. They must understand the relationship between scope, professional effort, client acceptance and financial reporting. Applications should include a difficult fee-resolution case and the systemic changes that followed.

What engagement leaders should own afterwards

At handover, engagement leaders should understand their economics and finance should receive dependable information promptly. Success means fewer aged disputes, more timely billing of properly earned fees and earlier intervention on loss-making work. The permanent operating model must sustain these improvements without a dedicated recovery team monitoring every assignment.