Associate, Performance Improvement & Transformation

Meet the Company:

We are MERU. A values-driven, impact-oriented team dedicated to fixing companies. We provide advisory services and data analytics support to middle-market companies ($50M - $2B in annual sales), and our clients include private equity firms, credit funds, investment banks, and law firms. We bring deep turnaround experience, a group of veteran operators, and an incentive-aligned approach to any situation. MERU was founded by professionals from Alvarez & Marsal and McKinsey and has seen rapid growth in the five-plus years since its founding.

The MERU Way & Valuing Our Team:

We're Partners, not consultants. When you join MERU, you will help our clients solve their most pressing problems, supported by a team of people who will challenge you, support you, and inspire you.

In order to be Partners, we don't silo people into just one functional area of the business, instead advancing our team's capabilities by providing training for every service that MERU offers. Additionally, we don't just focus on technical skills but also leadership style and soft skills, so MERU team members not only know what it means to manage a client engagement but to lead a team to success. In training team members to be well-rounded individuals, we can deliver an overall higher impact to clients, allowing each individual the ability to gain experience in diligence, turnarounds, interim management, data science, and more.

To aid this career advancement and development, MERU provides an internal Coach to each team member in order to guide and maintain their professional development plan goals. Unlike most Firms, we actually focus on the achievement of those goals for each individual team member, providing opportunities that would not usually be offered.

Finally, MERU values personal time, only traveling when necessary, in order to celebrate and respect your personal life. We believe that by encouraging and mandating balance, it will lead to happier and longer-tenured team members.

When you come to MERU, you come to further your career and maintain your entrepreneurial spirit, never losing sight of the desire to provide meaningful impact, solutions, and value to clients. Learn more about our colleagues’ core characteristics and culture here: https://wearemeru.com/meru-way/

Role Responsibilities for a MERU Associate:

• Thinks critically and applies rules to produce accurate and reliable analyses independently
• Supports in developing Firm Contribution areas, such as Recruiting, Professional Development, Marketing, etc.
• Quality check one’s own work product to ensure that it addresses the subject question, flows logically, and is free from error
• Assist in the proposal preparation process by performing company and industry research and drafting situational overviews
• Proactively communicates progress and roadblocks to senior team members on an ongoing basis; proactively develops solutions to the roadblocks
• Develops high-quality presentation materials with coaching and direction from senior team members
• Creates high-quality analytical models (e.g., 3-statement and 13-week forecasts, EBITDA opportunity assessments) with coaching and direction from senior team members (required)
• Validates all data used in calculations and reconciles models and reports
• Thinks critically about the information provided by clients and anticipates questions

Role Qualifications for a MERU Associate:

• Ability to travel (<10-30%) based on client and business needs
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team with people at all levels of an organization
• Ability to work full time in an office and remote environment; physically able to sit/stand at a computer and work in front of a computer screen for significant portions of the workday
• Support internal firm initiatives (e.g., marketing, recruiting, client pitches)
• MUST be familiar with and have the ability to develop and maintain financial modeling needs (e.g., 3-statement models, 13-week forecasts, EBITDA opportunity assessments)
• 2-4 years of work experience in corporate restructuring or management consulting positions with a financial or accounting focus (required)
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office (specifically Excel and PowerPoint)
• Commitment to living MERU’s values and core characteristics
• Bachelor’s degree from a top undergraduate business program; MBA, CFA, or CPA preferred but not required
• Authorization to work in the United States
• Confident and efficient speaker, presenter, and business writer
• Conduct analyses from large sets of data to support strategic recommendations
• Team player who can excel in a fast-paced, challenging work environment
• Ability to develop and analyze business plans and pro-forma financial models to identify key assumptions and value drivers

Overview of MERU Service Offerings:

Performance Improvement:

Help companies identify and achieve their full potential by leveraging a value-focused approach to driving sustainable margin expansion impact. Services include MERU 360° Assessment, Transformation Plan Development, Chief Transformation Officer placement, Cash Cycle and Working Capital Optimization, and Implementation Performance Management.

Turnaround & Restructuring:

Partner with clients during uncertain times to help stabilize operations and rapidly triage the causes of financial distress, charting a path back to long-term sustainability. Services include Interim Management, Turnaround Plan Development and Execution, Liquidity Management, Stakeholder Negotiations, Strategic Alternatives Assessment, Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Case Management.

Transaction Services:

Partner with private equity firms across the investment lifecycle, from due diligence to portfolio value creation and exit planning. Services include Due Diligence, Pre-Close Planning, Post-Close Implementation, and Exit Planning.

Data Insights:

Work with companies at all stages of their digital transformation journey to automate reporting processes, build scalable data platforms, and leverage predictive analytics to transform data from a liability into an asset. Services include Data Discovery and Analysis, Data Prep and Integration, Self-Service Analytics, Data Visualization and Reporting, Data Science and Advanced Analytics, and Strategy Enablement.

Salary Range:

$100,000 – $150,000. In addition to benefits, MERU also offers an extremely competitive bonus program that is based on firm contribution efforts, adherence to our core values, and performance.

Voluntary Inclusion:

It is MERU’s policy to provide and promote equal opportunity in employment, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment without discrimination because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service, pregnancy, marital status, family status, religion, national origin, age or disability or any other non-merit based factor in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Unsolicited Resumes from Third-Party Recruiters:

Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters unless such recruiters are engaged to provide candidates for a specified opening. Any employment agency, person, or entity that submits an unsolicited resume does so with the understanding that MERU will have the right to hire that applicant at its discretion without any fee owed to the submitting employment agency, person, or entity.