Role: Separation Management Office Manager
Location: London
Mobility : Up to 100%
Career Level: Manager (ML7)
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced Separation Management Office (SMO) Manager to join our newly established Transformation Office within the Strategy & Consulting division. This individual sits at the intersection of M&A and Enterprise Transformation, playing a central role in delivering separations on large global transactions.
The SMO Manager will bring a strong understanding of the M&A lifecycle and will work closely with functional leaders and senior client stakeholders, with exposure to C-suite, on buy-side and sell-side mandates. They will bring hands-on experience across diligence, separation planning, TSA drafting and negotiation, Day 1 and Day 100 readiness, and SMO and workstream delivery. Platform experience in SAP, Oracle and/or Workday is desirable.
Key Responsibilities
1. Separation Management Office Delivery
Manage day-to-day SMO operations on large-scale transactions, working with the SMO Lead to provide programme governance across separation workstreams
Maintain the integrated plan, critical path and interdependency tracking across Technology, Data, Finance, HR, Legal, and Commercial workstreams
Set up and run programme tooling and reporting, preparing materials for steering committees and senior stakeholders
Manage the RAID log and escalation process, raising key risks to the SMO Lead and client leadership
Support value definition and benefits realisation tracking, identifying risks of value leakage
2. Workstream Lead
Lead one or more separation workstreams (e.g. Technology, Data) end to end, accountable to the SMO Lead for delivery against plan
Act as day-to-day client contact for workstream leads across RemainCo and NewCo, building trusted relationships
On smaller transactions, may act as deputy deal lead
3. Day 1 & Day 100 Readiness
Coordinate cutover planning and Day 1 readiness tracking across all workstreams, preparing go/no-go materials for decision-makers
Help define and execute the post-close stabilisation plan through to steady-state operations
Manage hypercare period governance and issue resolution to ensure continuity of business operations
4. Separation Strategy & Budget
Develop and cost separation approach options, including technical architecture alternatives, for review by senior client and Accenture leaders
Analyse and quantify stranded costs for RemainCo and track the stranded cost elimination plan
Support the development of auditable carve-out P&Ls and standalone cost models for diligence and separation budgeting purposes
5. Separation Planning
Build and maintain detailed separation plans for assigned workstreams, contributing to the integrated separation plan, with particular specialism in:
Technology: application landscape separation, infrastructure decommission, network and identity management
Data: data boundary definition, data migration planning and execution, data cleansing and quality
Business Readiness: operational cutover, change management, and employee communications
6. TSA Drafting & Negotiation
Draft Technology and Data Transition Service Agreement (TSA) schedules, including service descriptions, service levels and pricing inputs
Support TSA negotiations with cost modelling and exit planning analysis
Manage TSA governance post-close, tracking delivery obligations and exit milestones
7. Practice Development & Business Development
Contribute to the development of the M&A practice through creation of offerings, playbooks, tools, and accelerators
Contribute to proposals and RFP responses, including solution content, plans and estimates
Build strong client relationships and identify follow-on opportunities to raise with leadership
Manage, coach and develop a team of consultants and analysts day to day, contributing to a high-performance separation delivery community
8. Diligence (Preferred)
• Support commercial and/or technical diligence, leading specific…