Kearney Associate, Private Equity & Principal Investors (PEPI) - Restructuring & Special Situations

Job Description

As an Associate within Kearney's Private Equity & Principal Investors (PEPI) practice, you will be a core contributor to a growing team specializing in restructuring, turnaround, distressed transformation, and special situations. We partner with private equity sponsors, private credit investors, lenders, Fortune 500 companies, and management teams to help organizations navigate periods of financial and operational distress.

Our work focuses on helping clients stabilize performance, improve liquidity, preserve enterprise value, and execute operational turnarounds across large enterprises and middle-market businesses. Leveraging Kearney's operational expertise together with deep restructuring capabilities, we deliver practical solutions that create sustainable outcomes during some of the most critical moments in a company's lifecycle.

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of Kearney's fastest-growing capabilities at the intersection of restructuring, turnaround, special situations, and private capital while helping clients solve complex business challenges and build one of Kearney's newest and most differentiated practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Structuring and conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses
• Supporting restructuring, turnaround, distressed transformation, and special situations engagements
• Advising private equity sponsors, private credit investors, lenders, Fortune 500 companies, and management teams through restructuring and operational turnaround initiatives
• Supporting Fortune 500 special situations and credit-informed transformation engagements
• Contributing to middle-market restructuring and distressed advisory engagements
• Synthesizing findings into clear, concise storylines and client-ready materials
• Supporting business development efforts, including proposal development and client presentations
• Working collaboratively with team members and client stakeholders in a fast-paced environment

Who You Are

Experienced: An MBA (preferred) and 4–7 years of professional experience, ideally within restructuring consulting, turnaround advisory, special situations, private credit, or a top-tier management consulting firm.

Restructuring-focused: Demonstrated experience supporting restructuring, turnaround, distressed transformation, special situations, or private credit engagements.

Financially astute: Strong understanding of financial statements, liquidity management, cash flow improvement, enterprise value drivers, and operational performance metrics.

Analytically rigorous: Strong quantitative and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex information into actionable insights.

Collaborative: You thrive working across multidisciplinary teams while building trusted relationships with clients and colleagues.

Structured thinker: Able to navigate ambiguity, solve complex business challenges, and develop practical, data-driven recommendations.

Academically accomplished: Undergraduate degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.

Professional certifications preferred: CIRA, CDBV, CTP, CFA, CPA, or other restructuring, turnaround, insolvency, or financial advisory credentials.

Location flexible: Located near or willing to relocate to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington D.C., or another Kearney office location.

What We Can Offer You

Every day, our people work to be the difference for our clients, our communities, and our colleagues. Helping them make an impact, they are sustained by a competitive remuneration package plus comprehensive benefits and perks, including but not limited to:

• Structured and on-the-job learning and development opportunities
• Generous retirement/pension savings contributions
• Comprehensive medical insurance for employees and their families
• Personalized opportunities including talent mobility, flexible work programs, and externships to help you chart a unique career journey to pursue your own personal and professional goals

Associate Base Salary (post MBA) - $188,000 - $194,000: Candidates without an MBA will also be considered for the role. Such candidates will be eligible for a base salary of $157,000. Under exceptional circumstances, candidates without an MBA may be considered for a base salary of $188,000. However, it is important to note that at Kearney, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the top of the range for their role. Individual salaries within each range are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, office location, knowledge, and skills. Kearney reviews compensation regularly and may adjust base salaries to reflect market competitiveness. In addition to salary, individuals may be eligible for a discretionary performance bonus. Our full suite of benefits includes paid time off, paid sick time off, 401(k) match and profit sharing, medical, dental and vision coverage, healthcare concierge, backup child/adult care, annual employer HSA contribution, home office stipend, subsidized Wellhub and annual wellness program, and leaves of absence when needed to support employees’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being. 

Read more about our benefits and a career at Kearney.com/careers.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Non-Discrimination

Kearney prides itself on providing a culture that allows employees to bring their best selves to work every day. Our people can feel comfortable, confident, and joyful to do great things for our firm, our colleagues, and our clients. Kearney aims to build diverse capabilities to help our clients solve their most mission critical problems.

Kearney is committed to building a diverse, unbiased and inclusive workforce. Kearney is an equal opportunity employer; we recruit, hire, train, promote, develop, and provide other conditions of employment without regard to a person's gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, pregnancy status, veteran status, genetic information or any other differences consistent with applicable laws. This includes providing reasonable accommodation for disabilities, or religious beliefs and practices. Members of communities historically underrepresented in consulting are encouraged to apply. #LI-DNP