Jobs › Ankura

Director, Turnaround & Restructuring

Ankura · Chicago, IL · $85,000–$200,000 a year · Full time

Posted Sep 24, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a time you had to manage lenders who had lost trust in management.

What they are checking: Whether they can rebuild credibility with creditors through transparent reporting and forecasts that hold up.

Describe an operational improvement you identified that actually changed a distressed company's cash position.

What they are checking: Whether they go beyond financial modeling to find real levers like working capital, footprint or pricing.

How do you keep a junior team productive and accurate during weeks of long hours on a live restructuring?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead and review work under pressure without letting quality slip or burning people out.

What would you do

You arrive at a distressed client and find they have three weeks of cash left. What do you do in the first 48 hours?

What they are checking: Whether they can triage fast, stabilizing cash and stakeholders before doing deeper analysis.

A key vendor threatens to stop shipping unless they get paid in full on old invoices. How do you handle it?

What they are checking: Whether they can balance critical vendor needs against preserving cash and treating creditors consistently.

The CEO resists your recommendation to close an unprofitable business unit he built himself. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they can push hard truths to senior management with tact while keeping the board informed.

About the work

Walk me through how you build a 13-week cash flow forecast for a company that's running out of liquidity.

What they are checking: Whether they can build the core restructuring tool from receipts and disbursements, not from an income statement.

How do you decide whether a company should pursue an out-of-court restructuring or file for Chapter 11?

What they are checking: Whether they understand the tradeoffs in cost, control, creditor holdouts and the tools only bankruptcy provides.

How do you approach a liquidation analysis, and why does it matter in a plan of reorganization?

What they are checking: Whether they know the best-interests test and how recovery comparisons shape creditor negotiations.

How do you build a business plan that lenders will believe when the company has missed its last three forecasts?

What they are checking: Whether they know how to ground projections in bottom-up drivers and stress cases that survive diligence.

Explain how you would negotiate a forbearance agreement and what you'd want in it for the company.

What they are checking: Whether they understand the practical terms that buy a company time, like milestones, reporting and covenant relief.

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The full job description

As published by Ankura.

Ankura is a team of excellence founded on innovation and growth. Practice Overview: An underperforming or distressed company can often face tight liquidity constraints, unprofitable business units, and adverse industry conditions. Ankura advisors partner with senior management to assess the situation and quickly develop and implement a strategic plan that addresses multiple aspects of the business and the restructuring. Ankura’s team provides strategic and financial advice to companies, boards, and investors. Our consultants bring critical problem-solving skills to every engagement, thereby delivering innovative and practical solutions that can be executed in today’s marketplace. With a consistent process-driven approach aimed to stabilize, rehabilitate, and restructure the situation, Ankura experts bring a level of stability to unstable situations, allowing for successful resolutions focused on creating value and maximizing recoveries among stakeholders. Our firm specializes in the following company advisory services: • In-court and out-of-court restructuring advisory • Liquidity management • Financial modeling and forecasting • Operational improvement • Strategic business plan development • Management of communications with key stakeholders, including lenders, boards of directors, employees, investors, and creditor constituencies • Customer and vendor management • Negotiation and dispute resolution • Debt and capital restructuring • Expert witness testimony • Distressed and/or special situation M&A advisory • Post-transaction business stabilization Role Overview: We are currently recruiting a Director to join our Turnaround & Restructuring (T&R) team. This role could be located in New York, Dallas, or Chicago with potential for other locations. Responsibilities: • Critique and provide guidance on complex analyses • Independently identify patterns in complex data and drive hypotheses • Independently develop understanding of analytic tools including and outside of Excel • Work directly with Client to obtain relevant data • Independently disaggregate complex problems into simpler parts • Actively challenges assumptions and hypotheses • Understands complex corporate finance and accounting concepts • Analyzes risks to existing or proposed covenant packages • Demonstrates clear understanding of different credit products • Understands various restructuring concepts informed by engagement experience and able to clearly articulate those views to others • Drives team to develop an understanding of analytic tools including and outside of Excel • Has an experienced/informed view on how to approach building certain common Excel based analyses (cash flow forecast, financial statement model) • Understands key elements of bankruptcy case management • Helps to set priorities across multiple work streams • Coordinates with team on schedules to meet agreed upon deadlines • Identifies key milestones and manages accordingly • Directly manages work of Associates and Senior Associates • Lays out an effective approach to a presentation with guidance from more senior teammates • Prepares full decks and presents sections of a report both internally and to clients • Presents effectively to C Suite level clients and other professionals related to basic and moderately complex analyses/issues • Handles client interactions at multiple levels • Provides guidance and feedback to early career professionals • Maintains constant communications with senior professionals to ensure coordination of activities and manage expectations Requirements: • Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience with a top tier management consulting firm • An undergraduate degree from a top academic institution with a strong GPA • Advanced degree(s) and applicable professional certification(s) are preferred (CFA, CIRA, CPA) • Restructuring experience preferred and/or relevant financial consulting experience including M&A transaction advisory and/or investment banking • Ability and willingness to undertake extensive travel is required • Willingness to work at times, long hours during the week and on weekends due to client demands may be necessary • Experience with analytical tools and financial analyses that show a proper understanding of competing needs (timing, flexibility, detail, risk) with limited direction • Experience with financial modeling preferably with 3 statement analysis and/or 13-week cash flow models • Identifies and articulates opportunities for more advanced analytic approaches outside of basic Excel • Demonstrates ability to contribute to identification of key issues • Able to understand concepts of data patterns and trends • Exhibits critical thinking and problem-solving capability • Demonstrates ability to synthesize analysis and draw conclusions For individuals assigned and/or hired to work in California, Colorado, or New York, Ankura is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This compensation range is specific to the said markets and considers a broad range of factors including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. The range does not include additional benefits outside of salary. At Ankura, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each role. A reasonable estimate of the current base pay range is between $85,000 to $200,000; this range is not a promise of a particular wage. #LI-MJ1 #LI-Hybrid * Ankura is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Equal Employment Opportunity Posters, if you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening, submit an online application, or participate in an interview/assessment, please email accommodations@ankura.com or call toll-free +1.312-583-2122. This email and phone number are created exclusively to assist disabled job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Only messages left for this purpose will be returned. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or technical issues unrelated to a disability, will not receive a response.

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