EY-Parthenon - Strategy and Execution - Corporate and Growth Strategy -Media and Gaming- Sr Director

The opportunity

EY-Parthenon’s unique combination of transformative strategy, transactions and corporate finance delivers real-world value – solutions that work in practice, not just on paper. Benefiting from EY’s full spectrum of services, we’ve reimagined strategic consulting to work in a world of increasing complexity.

With deep functional and sector expertise, paired with innovative AI-powered technology and an investor mindset, we partner with CEOs, Boards, Private Equity and Governments every step of the way – enabling you to shape your future with confidence.

The interactive media and gaming industry is being reshaped by device-agnostic player behavior, rising content costs, and the shift of platform value toward franchise depth and developer experience. Operating models built for a prior era are straining to keep up, and clients need partners who can reframe the questions, not just answer them. As a Senior Director in our Interactive Media and Gaming practice, you will help shape how EY-Parthenon shows up in the sector, leading the delivery of our most complex engagements and the development of the next generation of gaming leaders within the firm.

Your key responsibilities

Within EY-Parthenon’s Strategy and Execution - Corporate and Growth Strategy – Interactive Media and Gaming practice, Senior Directors will serve as the primary client point of contact on EY-Parthenon engagements and the Partner's day-to-day counterpart on delivery. You own the case end-to-end, set the answer trajectory, manage one or more Directors leading individual workstreams, and are accountable for the quality of the work, the strength of the client relationship, and the commercial outcome of the engagement. You also play a leading role in business development, working alongside Partners to originate, shape, and close new opportunities, including preparing for and leading pitch meetings, designing proposals, and structuring the sale.

Our Interactive Media and Gaming practice engagements span the issues shaping the future of the industry: long-range growth and portfolio strategy, M&A and investment diligence, content and live-services monetization, platform and storefront economics, franchise extension, and operating model transformation across studios, central services, and hardware. Senior Directors are expected to bring a point of view on where the industry is heading that shapes how engagements are scoped, sold, and delivered, and that contributes to the broader direction of the practice.

Skills and attributes for success

• Lead full engagements end-to-end across multiple concurrent cases, owning the answer, the client relationship, and the commercial outcome in partnership with the engagement Partner.
• Define the objective, scope, and structure of strategy and diligence engagements in consultation with the Partner and translate ambiguous client problems into the right answer trajectory before work begins.
• Hold the bar on intellectual rigor, pressure-testing hypotheses and chasing disconfirming evidence so the work reflects what is actually true rather than what is convenient to conclude.
• Continually deepen subject-matter knowledge by engaging directly with the games, player communities, creators, and operators that define the industry, and carry that depth into every client conversation.
• Serve as the primary senior client contact, building durable relationships at the C-suite, Board, and investor level, and acting as the day-to-day strategic counterpart on the most important client conversations.
• Originate and close new work by leading proposals, shaping pursuit strategy, and converting client relationships into sold engagements that grow the practice’s footprint.
• Form, defend, and externalize a differentiated point of view on the gaming industry's trajectory, shaping engagement scope, client dialogue, and the practice’s thought leadership.
• Help shape the direction of the Interactive Media and Gaming practice through sector strategy, hiring, capability investments, and external presence alongside Partners.
• Build, coach, and retain talent across the Director, Consultant, Senior Associate, and Associate levels, raising the bar on analytical rigor, industry fluency, and client leadership.

To qualify for the role, you must have

• A bachelor's degree with outstanding academic performance and 8 years of related work experience; or a graduate degree and approximately 7 years of related work experience.
• Direct, substantive experience in the interactive media and gaming sector, through prior strategy consulting work, senior in-house roles at a publisher, developer, platform, or investor, or a combination, sufficient to lead C-suite and Board conversations credibly from day one.
• Genuine investment in gaming, evidenced by ongoing engagement with the games, platforms, and communities the sector revolves around rather than professional exposure alone.
• A track record of owning full engagements end-to-end, including delivery quality, scope, commercial outcome, and senior client relationship, across complex strategy, transaction, and transformation work, and of doing so across multiple concurrent cases.
• The operational discipline to manage a portfolio of concurrent engagements, balance delivery quality against commercial outcomes, and protect team capacity while meeting client deadlines.
• A record of business development, including originating opportunities, leading proposals, and converting senior client relationships into sold work.
• You must either reside in or be in a commutable distance to your office location for this position.
• The ability and willingness to travel and work in excess of standard hours when necessary. In certain circumstances, travel may be required beyond your work location based on client and project needs.

Ideally, you will have

• An MBA with six years of related experience, or a graduate degree with at least nine years of related experience, ideally focused on client advisory, strategic planning, or corporate development within a professional services or operating environment serving interactive media and gaming clients.
• A track record of transformative rather than incremental thinking, with examples of having reframed a client or company strategy rather than simply optimizing the existing one.
• Established senior relationships within the gaming ecosystem (publishers, studios, platforms, investors, industry bodies) that can be activated for origination, delivery, and thought leadership.
• Knowledge of how to leverage firm-approved AI tools in a business setting, including Microsoft Copilot.

What we look for

We are looking for Senior Directors who genuinely care about gaming and are unwilling to stop at convenient answers. Leaders who build real subject-matter depth by engaging directly with the games, players, creators, and clients the industry revolves around, and who carry that depth into every C-suite conversation and team they lead. Strong analytical skills and the ability to link business strategy to performance are table stakes. What sets candidates apart is the combination of intellectual restlessness and authentic investment in the sector that lets them own senior client relationships, win new work, develop the team, and help shape the direction of the Interactive Media and Gaming practice alongside Partners