Lead Negotiator, Associate Director - Technology Services

Location: Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Tampa

Lead Negotiator – Associate Director

Job Summary

The Lead Negotiator – Associate Director is a “deal closer” who has the experience and skill to run a holistic negotiation strategy and manage the EY deal team, along with the client’s team, to achieve a collaborative and mutually value-based outcome. The role is primarily responsible for working on EY’s largest, most complex deals, requiring a high level of business acumen, leadership skills, and emotional intelligence to serve as an effective “first chair” on the deal. It also requires the ability to thrive in new and unfamiliar environments, navigate client behaviors and tactics, and maintain the integrity of the deal for EY. The position also includes leading training classes and presentations on best practices in negotiation.

Negotiations

• Lead the actual negotiation process as a “first chair” with the client’s negotiation lead to take the engagement from “sold” to “closed”.
• Collaborate with the EY sales lead on relationship mapping and tiering to align EY’s people with the appropriate client leaders.
• Provide advice and strategies on how to get client commitment to a close plan.
• Lead the deal‑making process to document, and then get agreement via contractual language with the client on the terms of the deal.
• Provide advice or counsel to pursuit teams on the various commercial models available for large complex deals.
• Assist in the activation and implementation of negotiation strategies for the Region.

Deal Support

• Act as a key conduit of information between the account team and Pursuits & Commercial Excellence leadership.
• Team closely with regional business development leaders to advise and strategize on deal opportunities.
• Cascade EY’s negotiation methodology as a global best practice.
• Bring process consistency and synergies for negotiations to the Regions and client accounts by example and through EY training programs.
• Build relationships with Global and Regional leadership to enable successful activation and implementation of EY’s negotiation methodology at the Region level.
• Leverage proximity and relationships with Regional business leads to facilitate and encourage successful integration of EY’s negotiation methodology across priority deals in the region.
• Instill exceptional client service into the end‑to‑end negotiations process across EY.

Analytical / Decision‑Making Responsibilities

• Exercise independent judgment when analyzing information and evaluating results to recommend the best strategy and solution.
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Identify opportunities for increasing sales and drive towards achieving the Engagement Revenue objectives.
• Focus on results‑oriented behaviors and make sound decisions quickly, given tight timeframes.
• Apply strong analytical skills to proposed solutions and seek information on risks and dependencies to capture in drafting.
• Solve challenging and ambiguous problems in a consistently efficient and effective manner.
• Provide exceptional service to the EY account teams across parallel projects by demonstrating the ability to prioritize critical activities to meet business needs in a timely manner, with high quality.
• Demonstrate creativity, versatility, and adaptability in a constantly evolving environment with a wide variety of social styles.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements

• Strong business and commercial acumen to quickly become familiar with a given solution.
• Capable of leading and being part of teams in a complex matrix and unstructured environments with geographically distributed teams.
• Ability to lead EY teams without “authority,” using skills of influence and communication.
• Attention to detail, and ability to produce work of consistently high quality under pressure (time and outcomes).
• A high level of drive, ability to work independently, and deal effectively with ambiguity and change.
• Fluency in best practice in technology services contract drafting and ability to translate these for EY pursuits.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for EY stakeholders.
• Flexibility in working with various EY stakeholders across the world and in different time zones.

Supervision Responsibilities

• Works independently and manages multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Directs a virtual team of resources.
• Operates as a “first chair” to the deal team, leading the drive, giving direction on tasks and timelines, and overseeing drafting of the contracting documents.
• Exposes performance standards with a high degree of independence and autonomy.
• Acts as Counselor to other pursuit team members.

Other Requirements

• Embraces a shared philosophy that “great teams” execute a consistent set of behaviors aligned with being a:
  • Trusted Strategic Advisor – Build trust and credibility by proactively providing forward‑thinking insights and guidance.
  • Gold Standard Champion – Execute EY’s “gold standard” pursuit process with discipline and expertise.
  • Win‑Win Advocate – Drive internal and external clients towards outcomes that deliver compelling and sustainable results for both the client and EY.
  • Creativity and Innovation Driver – Inspire and challenge teams to differentiate EY.
  • Inspirational Change Agent – Invest in developing world‑class talent, methods, tools, and capabilities to deliver better results.
• Flexible hours are regularly required due to varying client needs and time zones.
• Moderate to frequent travel will be required.

Experience

• 10+ years of negotiation and contract drafting experience in commercial and legal terms with substantial experience in the technology services industry (managed services/BPO/system integration/consulting).
• Approximately 7+ years of previous “first chair” negotiation experience in the consulting and managed services industry.
• Experience working in a large complex global organization with strong understanding of leading negotiation practices.
• Experience leading and managing high‑performance teams.
• University/Bachelors’ degree or equivalent qualification required.
• MBA or master’s degree (or equivalent) in Business or related field preferred.

What We Offer You

• We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business. The base salary range for this job in all geographic locations in the U.S. is $160,000 to $308,000.
• Join our team‑led and leader‑enabled hybrid model. We expect most people in external client‑serving roles to work together in person 40‑60% of the time over the course of an engagement, project or year.
• Under our flexible vacation policy, you’ll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You’ll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well‑being.

EY provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, pregnancy, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected basis, including arrest and conviction records, in accordance with applicable law.

EY is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities including veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and either need assistance applying online or need to request an accommodation during any part of the application process, please call 1-800-EY-HELP3, select Option 2 for candidate related inquiries, then select Option 1 for candidate queries and finally select Option 2 for candidates with an inquiry which will route you to EY’s Talent Shared Services Team (TSS) or email the TSS at View email address on click.appcast.io.