Engagement Manager (Financial Services)Application Deadline: 30 September 2026
Department: Client Delivery
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Chicago
DescriptionAbout This PositionWe are seeking experienced financial services (FS) management professionals interested in generating strategies and delivery of those strategies to drive a greater future for our clients. As an Engagement Manager at Kenway, you will have the opportunity to manage a diverse set of stakeholders, drive critical decisions, and solve complex problems. From day one, you'll lead projects, teams, and solutions that target the latest business and technical challenges companies are facing today.
Engagement Managers at Kenway are responsible for leading end-to-end delivery of complex client initiatives and managing scope, budget, risks, and teams to ensure high-quality outcomes while applying deep industry and technical expertise. Engagement Managers are also expected to build trusted client relationships, drive account growth, mentor team members, and contribute to cross-functional initiatives that enhance Kenway's impact and capabilities.
Within Kenway's Financial Services vertical, Engagement Managers are expected to demonstrate, deploy, and deepen proficiency delivering across the financial services ecosystem, inclusive of banking and capital markets, insurance, wealth and asset management, payments and fintech, and related industries.
Core Traits We Are Seeking - Delivery Excellence - Engagement Managers are first and foremost consulting practitioners. Candidates must embrace and demonstrate the ability to deliver exceptional quality firsthand throughout Kenway's engagements, while leading, coaching, and enabling broader project teams to do the same.
- Accountability: Engagement Managers must demonstrate a deep sense of integrity, personal responsibility, and commitment to holding others to the same standards. Engagement Managers are the ultimate point of accountability for the health and quality of all activities within and across their projects.
- Tenacity: Under all circumstances, dynamics, and conditions, Engagement Managers are expected to think, behave, and act proactively. Doing so is crucial for preemptively identifying, mitigating, and preventing issues, while proactively driving progress and taking advantage of opportunities.
- Design Thinking: In addition to maintaining the integrity of their projects, Engagement Managers are expected to demonstrate creativity, innovation, and intellectual fluidity, flowing between strategic thought leadership, conceptual problem solving, and executional rigor. Engagement Managers must be capable of designing solutions, translating them into executable plans, and flowing between the spectrum of strategy and execution throughout engagements.
- Professionalism: Given the complexity, magnitude, visibility, and strategic importance of Kenway's projects, we consistently interface with a diversity of executive leadership. Engagement Managers are expected to demonstrate executive presence, poise, and cogency in all communications and interactions with client, prospect, and internal stakeholders.
- Aptitude: While Kenway possesses deep institutional expertise and proprietary frameworks, no two projects are the same. Engagement Managers are expected to demonstrate curiosity, climb learning curves quickly, and adapt solutions to the uniqueness of each client and project.
- Industry Acumen: Engagement Managers within the HLS vertical are expected to demonstrate proficient understanding of industry trends, regulatory landscapes, value chains, business operations, and technical nuances unique to the life sciences and healthcare sectors, while engaging in continuous learning to broaden and deepen their expertise.
- Functional Acumen: Engagement Managers must have a sound command of programmatic skills to lead projects, while demonstrating an understanding of Kenway's full suite of services to design solutions and lead engagements with technical and/or non-technical scope.
- Commitment to Kenway's Guiding Principles: As critical leaders influencing and interfacing with a breadth of internal and external stakeholders, Engagement Managers must steward Kenway's culture and demonstrate unwavering commitment to our Guiding Principles.
ResponsibilitiesDelivery Excellence - Own end-to-end delivery for client engagements, managing scope, budget, timeline, risks, and quality, while taking ownership of bookings, minimizing variance between bookings and actuals, and managing discrepancies
- Lead complex business and technology initiatives across multiple industries
- Apply deep industry, business, and technical knowledge to solve client challenges and achieve project objectives
- Drive project teams to deliver high-quality outcomes, coaching, and empowering team members
- Lead working sessions, presentations, and executive discussions, communicating complex topics clearly and confidently
- Proactively manage risks, escalations, and resource needs, ensuring alignment with project and account objectives
Client & Relationship Management - Build trusted, long-term relationships with client stakeholders, understanding their goals and challenges
- Identify business problems and opportunities, facilitating discussions and connecting clients with Kenway expertise
- Support account-level strategy by contributing to proposals, SOWs, pitches, and revenue forecasts
- Expand and nurture client networks, driving engagement beyond immediate projects, and strategically leverage Kenway deliverables to broaden our footprint and influence
Kenway Impact - Leverage mastery of client industries, documenting and sharing knowledge to grow Kenway's expertise
- Coach and mentor team members, preparing talent for future leadership opportunities
- Contribute to initiatives and passion projects that drive Kenway's growth, culture, and capabilities
- Leverage Challenger Sale behaviors to advance client outcomes, delivering insights, recommendations, and innovative solutions
Qualifications & Credentials- 8+ years of experience in leading complex business or technology initiatives
- Financial services strategy consulting experience is preferred, but a combination of strategy consulting and financial services industry experience will be considered
- Bachelor's degree, with advanced degrees or certifications in related finance, business, economics, or quantitative fields preferred (e.g., MBA, CFA, CPA, CAMS)
- Proficient understanding of one or more of the unique value chains across the Financial Services ecosystem, including but not limited to the following:
- Banking & Capital Markets: Retail and commercial banking, lending and credit, treasury, capital markets operations
- Insurance: Underwriting, claims processing, policy administration, actuarial and risk assessment
- Wealth & Asset Management: Investment management, wealth advisory, fund administration, trading operations
- Payments & Fintech: Payments processing, digital banking, embedded finance, fintech platform integration
- Deep understanding of key financial services data domains and concepts (e.g., transaction and payments data, credit and risk data, customer/KYC data, regulatory reporting data) and experience translating data into actionable business, risk, and compliance outcomes
- Strong command of the financial services regulatory and compliance landscape (e.g., Dodd-Frank, Basel III/IV, BSA/AML, KYC/CDD, GLBA, SOX, PCI DSS, GDPR and state privacy laws) and its implications for project delivery across the FS ecosystem
- Familiarity with industry-standard platforms (e.g., core banking platforms such as FIS, Fiserv, and Temenos; CRM/wealth platforms such as Salesforce Financial Services Cloud; trading and portfolio systems such as Bloomberg AIM, Charles River, and Aladdin; policy administration systems such as Guidewire and Duck Creek) and an understanding of the technical nuances unique to the financial services sector
- Demonstrated success identifying, scoping, and implementing high-impact financial services use cases (e.g., fraud and AML detection, regulatory reporting automation, customer 360/personalization, risk and credit analytics, digital transformation) with measurable business outcomes
- Deep knowledge of core consulting skills, including, but not limited to, strategic planning and road-mapping, program governance, risk management, stakeholder management, financial and resource allocation, and change management
- Proven experience in leading resources, preferably in a project-based model
- Demonstrated success in client business development, identifying new opportunities, and authoring impactful client proposals and SOWs
