Operational & Leadership Due Diligence Consultant

A private equity investor is seeking an experienced consultant to undertake an operational and leadership due diligence review of a UK-based logistics business as part of a potential investment. The assignment will assess organisational capability, operational effectiveness, leadership strength, and succession readiness, identifying risks and opportunities that will inform both the investment decision and the post-acquisition value creation plan.

Duration: 10–20 days

Day Rate: £1,500 per day

This will be a role that requires an estimated 25% of the time on face to face or Teams assessment discussions as is a people-based process.

Scope of Work

The consultant will:

• Assess the effectiveness of the company's operating model, governance, and organisational structure.
• Evaluate the capability, performance, and scalability of the Board, senior leadership team, middle management, and key operational leaders.
• Identify critical people dependencies, succession risks, and leadership capability gaps.
• Review organisational design, talent management, and succession planning processes.
• Assess whether the current leadership team has the capability to deliver the investment thesis and future growth plans.
• Identify immediate and medium-term organisational priorities following investment.

Deliverables

The assignment will culminate in a comprehensive due diligence report, including:

• Executive summary of key findings and investment implications.
• Assessment of operational capability and organisational effectiveness.
• Leadership capability review across Board, senior management, middle management, and operational leadership.
• Succession planning assessment identifying key-person dependencies and business continuity risks.
• Gap analysis highlighting capability shortfalls at:

Board level

Executive and senior leadership level

Middle management level

Operational and frontline leadership level

• A leadership capability matrix and succession readiness assessment for critical roles.
• Prioritised recommendations, including a 100-day post-acquisition people and organisational action plan.

Consultant Profile

The successful consultant will have:

• Extensive operational leadership or operational due diligence experience within logistics, transport, supply chain, or distribution.
• A strong track record supporting private equity transactions, investment due diligence, or post-acquisition value creation.
• Expertise in leadership assessment, organisational design, succession planning, and talent evaluation.
• Excellent analytical, interviewing, stakeholder management, and report-writing skills.
• The ability to provide commercially focused recommendations that balance operational risk with investment opportunity