Business Services Director – Lisbon Hub - Boston Consulting Group

Description

WHAT YOU'LL DO

The Enterprise Services (ES) organization was set up in 2022 to provide efficient, resilient, and scalable services to BCGers around the world. It includes a range of business-critical services and expertize, including Global Finance Operations, Procurement & Payables, Travel, Meetings & Events, Case Team Services, ClientView, Real Estate, Executive Support Services, and Business Insights and Analytics; supported by transversal expertise in our product portfolios and excellence functions. ES has undertaken to provide a management service for BCG hubs around the world, and in 2024 a new hub will open in Lisbon.

The Lisbon hub will bring together a diverse range of teams, hosting Business Services Team (BST) colleagues from regional and global teams delivering activities including, for example, Executive Support Services, Finance Operations and HR Operations. The hub will be a dynamic and collaborative environment, enabling the teams to deliver impact for BCG across the world, and at the same time – connect, affiliate, and engage as OneBCG.

A new role has consequently been created to lead our Lisbon hub. This highly collaborative role will have the following primary focuses:

Hub Build-Up:

Support leaders in the Europe, Middle East, and South America (EMESA) region, the Global Services functions, BCGX and Enterprise Services, with realization of resource plans that involve leveraging the Lisbon hub.

• Provide insight to EMESA teams for planning purposes, including costs, scalability, language skills, lead-time etc. connecting to sources of expertise in Finance, Recruiting and HR Operations as applicable.
• Host leaders from the EMESA region, the Global Services functions, BCGX, Enterprise Services and other parts of BCG that wish to visit the hub to experience the environment with a view to transitioning activities.
• Manage the Lisbon hub capacity plan to ensure that the ramp-up is smooth and well-planned.
• Act as BCG's representative for the Lisbon hub in the local community, liaising with ES Communications, GS Marketing and EMESA Internal Communications team as appropriate to ensure interactions are in line with BCG branding guidelines.

Office Experience:

Actively set the agenda to help shape a positive work culture and community in the Lisbon hub.

Liaise with key stakeholders, including the Enterprise Services teams, the Lisbon Consulting office, the EMESA region and Global Services functions, as well as external parties as required, to represent interests of BCG employees in the Lisbon hub. Exercise strong judgement in decision-making, balancing a range of considerations to reach the best outcomes for the hub and BCG as a whole. Specifically:

• Set up the new hub with support from the project team, ensuring that the infrastructure is in place to provide a quality office experience for new Lisbon hub colleagues.
• Represent Lisbon hub needs back into ES and EMESA on topics that could be as diverse as affinity groups, office benefits, changes in suppliers, facilities considerations, processes, contingent workers and affiliation.
• Engage with Global Real Estate and other GS stakeholders, on real estate topics, global mandatory training compliance and implementation of global rollouts.
• Ensure the office meets risk requirements such as data retention, health & safety on our floorplates & incident response topics, as well as partnering with HR Ops on office behaviour and more.
• Activate regional finance or travel policy changes as required, ensuring colleagues in the hub fully understand the changes.
• Role model office attendance and encourage a regular and consistent in-office presence for all employees.
• Act as a singular escalation point and provide oversight to hear issues, share feedback, input into projects, processes and pilot initiatives, to ensure best in class delivery across end-to-end office experience. This includes remits for which the Business Services Director is not directly responsible, such as:
• Catering & meeting support: End to end meeting solutions (setup/breakdown, catering/clean up and conference room support)
• Facilities management: Mailroom/kitchen stock supplies and effective organisation/oversight of maintenance and repairs, ad hoc admin tasks
• IT service coordination: collaboration and input to ensure high quality office IT service

Engagement & Affiliation

Define and deliver the Lisbon hub engagement and affiliation agenda to drive a strong sense of BCG connection and pride for colleagues, with clear affiliation to EMESA, Enterprise Services, and the other Global Services functions. Specifically:

• Partner with the Enterprise Services and EMESA Communications teams to align the Lisbon brand and culture with its parent organizations and lead regular initiatives to continuously embed the hub to BCG. Act as a culture ambassador for the hub, role modelling & giving visibility to the BCG values.
• Manage the Lisbon hub affiliation budget and provide financial oversight of procurement to maximize experience, ensuring balance between ES and EMESA flagship events and locally valued events.
• Organize on- and off-site meetings and events for Lisbon hub employees, from planning to execution, including Connect days, parties and OneBCG events.
• Coordinate DEI events/activities connected to global, regional and local agendas, as well as the office Inclusion Accelerator, a volunteer group ensuring the office is a diverse and inclusive environment and working on initiatives to further that cause.
• Set up and facilitate Office Networks, including the Functional Affiliation Network. Listen to their input enabling the creation of events that achieve the objectives informed by the network.
• Run Lisbon Hub elements of ES and regional recognition programs, including but not limited to the Key to Purpose awards, anniversary celebrations and EMESA BST award selection.
• Collaborate with HR to support a positive and successful onboarding experience for all new staff, owning, shaping and delivering content on office orientation and affinity and engagement insights.
• Plan and oversee hub comms plans, including production of content, digital signage and Slack campaigns to amplify ES and EMESA messaging and drive engagement on key topics, activities and events.
• Regularly convene local managers (and non-local managers where appropriate) to discuss and align on office-specific initiatives/guidelines/policies.
• Set up and coordinate employee-led social impact volunteering and events.

#LI-JE1

YOU'RE GOOD AT

The Business Services Director will also be responsible for the management and development of a small office experience team, which will initially comprise an Office Experience Coordinator with support from a Business Operations Manager, on assignment from BCG's New York office.

YOU BRING (EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS)

Required

• Experience of team-working with colleagues from different parts of the world, demonstrating cultural sensitivity and an ability to develop relationships in a virtual context
• A positive, pragmatic and solution-oriented approach, with a high degree of flexibility & professionalism
• A structured, polished and clear communicator, both in emails and in-person interactions
• Fluency in English and good working knowledge of Portuguese and excellent knowledge of Portugal's business practices and ways of working.
• Excellent organizational skills, gained in a consensus-driven and matrix-structured environment
• Several years of experience reporting to a leader located in a different time-zone
• A track record of experience and proven success in:
• An operational role reporting to a leader located in a different region
• Coordinating across large, multidisciplinary, diverse, global teams and networks
• Influencing towards desired outcomes without positional authority
• Securing alignment & buy-in across a diverse set of stakeholders
• Delighting internal clients through service excellence
• Driving engagement and community through an agenda of diverse and inspiring activities
• Organizing and delivering large-scale events (e.g. 300 people plus)

Preferred

• Experience of consciously building a carefully-defined culture amongst a new group
• An understanding of and ability to articulate the key tenets of BCG culture
• An understanding of BCG's business model and structure
• Existing network across EMESA business services teams
• Fluency in Portuguese and understanding of Portuguese culture
• Experience of partnering with facilities, catering, security and IT teams to deliver impeccable results

Our business management and operations team members work to ensure that BCG is running smoothly, efficiently, and productively. We are made up of executive and administrative (or case team) assistants, visual service artists, receptionists, facilities staff, and the team leaders and office coordinators who manage these operations and business management jobs.