POSITION OVERVIEW

As a Business Advisor, Strategy and Operations within BDC Advisory Services, you act as a trusted advisor to entrepreneurs and leadership teams seeking to improve operational performance, accelerate growth, strengthen organizational capabilities, and ownership transition.

This position resides within Advisory Services and serves Canadian small and medium-sized businesses through advisory mandates.

The successful candidate combines deep operational expertise with strong knowledge of the technologies that enable modern manufacturing, distribution, logistics, and service operations. They understand how strategy, business processes, operational technologies, automation, and artificial intelligence work together to improve productivity, scalability, decision-making, and business performance.

The Business Advisor delivers both standard and customized consulting mandates, manages end-to-end project delivery, acts as a subject matter expert, supports solution development, and contributes to business development activities.

CHALLENGES TO BE MET

• Lead complex, high impact advisory mandates for entrepreneurs and senior leadership teams, focused on enterprise level strategic planning, operational efficiencies (Business process optimization, Operational performance improvement, Manufacturing), organizational effectiveness (e.g. Operations Process Automation and artificial intelligence), and leadership decision making within SME and mid market environments.
• Maintain full accountability for mandate outcomes across multiple concurrent engagements, ensuring delivery excellence related to scope, budget, timelines, risk management, and quality of deliverables.
• Act as a trusted senior advisor during periods of ambiguity, transformation, and change, applying market insight, competitive analysis, and practical experience to guide high-stakes decisions.
• Contribute to the evolution of the Centre of Expertise by developing, refining, and scaling advisory solutions, tools, and methodologies aligned with emerging client needs and market trends.
• Support business development and revenue growth by partnering with senior client managers on complex sales cycles, including executive level diagnostics, value articulation, and proposal development.
• Enable strong internal collaboration by connecting advisors, delivery teams, and relationship managers, ensuring continuity of client strategy and effective knowledge transfer across engagements.
• Represent BDC Advisory Services externally through thought leadership, content development, speaking engagements, and participation in targeted events that promote Business and Organizational Capabilities solutions. At BDC, we think and act differently, and we value inclusion, equity, and authenticity—you can be yourself at work while making a tangible impact on Canadian businesses.
  

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR (Must-have)

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, Strategy, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field
• Professional certifications (Lean, Six Sigma, PMP, or equivalent)
• 5-10 years of consulting, advisory, operational leadership, or transformation experience
• Demonstrated success delivering operational improvement, strategic planning and business transformation initiatives
• Proven experience leading consulting or advisory mandates from diagnosis through implementation, in strategy consulting and business transition, and operations management

• Ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels, translating strategy into actionable, measurable plans.

• Experience working directly with executive teams, business owners, and senior operational leaders
• Experience managing project scope, budgets, timelines, risks, and stakeholder expectations
• Strong business analysis and problem-solving capabilities

• Ability to engage credibly with executives, operational leaders, and technical stakeholders
• Excellent facilitation, communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to translate complex operational and technical concepts into practical business language

• Professional proficiency in English, spoken and written.
• Willingness to travel within a designated region and occasionally across Canada