Transformation & Strategic Operations

Advisory Services for Organizations Navigating Rapid Change

High-stakes change doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. Whether you’re navigating a major transformation, scaling for growth, or aligning leadership around new priorities, I help you cut through complexity and deliver results that stick.

With two decades of leading enterprise change in global, matrixed organizations, I bring the discipline of operational excellence together with the insight of behavioral science—ensuring your strategy doesn’t just live in a slide deck, but becomes part of how your business runs every day.

What We Deliver

1. Strategy & Operational Alignment
We establish operational protocols that embed strategic goals into daily business management—making objectives visible, measurable, and directly tied to performance reviews, incentive structures, and business outcomes.

2. Operating Model Optimization
We assess and refine talent, processes, and technology to ensure they are efficient, effective, and directly enabling your most critical strategic objectives—eliminating bottlenecks and closing capability gaps.

3. Transformation Maturity
We design, execute, and operationalize your change management function—covering policies, procedures, controls, and systems—while linking everything to OKRs for capital planning, resource allocation, and ROI tracking.

4. Culture-Ops
We create organizational engagement programs that build trust, strengthen teaming, and reinforce a meritocratic culture—creating the conditions for sustained high performance.

Chief Operating Officer

“Mary demonstrated expertise in organizational design, change management and data driven insights through leading broad programs for a large department. Her ability to analyze and understand complex organizational structures, coupled with her strategic mindset, enabled us to streamline our operations and enhance overall efficiency significantly.”

Technology Executive

“Mary possesses a unique blend of analytical rigor and creative problem-solving abilities. She has a keen eye for identifying inefficiencies and a talent for devising innovative solutions that align with the company's strategic goals. Her communication skills are exemplary, allowing her to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively to stakeholders at all levels.”

Are you attracting, retaining, and developing high performers?

Does your company inspire curiosity, continuous learning, and innovation? Does it have meritocratic policies, procedures, performance and rewards programs that incent and reward the right behaviors? Do formal processes, leadership capabilities and informal ways of working drive desired outcomes? Does the work environment and office structures operate in a way which support mentorship, collaboration, and problem-solving?

MSA

Lay the groundwork for high performance start-ups and enable executive to recalibrate performance expectations through business models.

Do you have a plan to ensure you have future-ready skills?

Have you defined your future skills strategy? Are you tracking attrition and acquisition relative to gaps? Do you have proactive reskilling program aligned to target state? Are strategy, talent management, and acquisition capabilities captured in regular reporting and KPIs? Do you hire talent into formalized career pathways aligned to succession and growth plans? Do engagement programs align to cultural tenets and support high performance and resiliency?

MSA

Design talent models for a modern world, and executives transition from legacy workforce models and operations to be “future ready”

Is your operating model ready for a post-AI work world?

Have you codified workforce responsibilities, tasks and have clarity on what can be optimized through strategic prioritization, automation or AI? Have you modeled your future state workforce model and road mapped the transition plan to it? Have these plans been integrated into capital planning, capacity planning, and cost reduction programs? Do you have monitoring and controls in place to ensure the transition to AI does not exceed your risk threshold? 

MSA

Design workforce structures in preparation for AI, to enable executives to  realign roles, processes and the organization to a future state model

Are you able to design, execute, and sustain, complex change?

Have you formalized change practices in policies, procedures and controls with mechanisms in place to approve, monitor and assess risk? Is change integrated with capital planning processes and with cross-enterprise alignment? Are stakeholders adequately engaged and participate collaboratively? Is acceptance formally tracked in alignment with communications and training programs? How is adoption, sustainability and ROI monitored?

MSA

Build and scale change capabilities enabling leadership and senior management to elevate or redesign mature change capabilities

Customizable Engagement Models to Fit Your Needs

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Subject Matter Expert (SME) - Ad Hoc

On-demand expertise for high-stakes decisions, critical reviews, or targeted challenges. Ideal when you need a seasoned perspective without a long-term commitment.

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Fractional Executive — Short Term, Embedded Leadership

Step-in leadership for transformation, operations, or change management functions. Perfect for filling temporary leadership gaps, stabilizing teams, and accelerating progress without the overhead of a full-time hire.

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Programmatic — Structured, Ongoing Partnership

A results-driven engagement to design, implement, and sustain large-scale programs or complex change initiatives. Brings accountability, momentum, and measurable outcomes over time.

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Public Speaking & Facilitation

Keynotes, executive workshops, and facilitated sessions that inspire, align, and energize teams around transformation, leadership, and change resilience.

Case Studies

  • [01] Start-up Media Company – Rapid Impact

    A start-up media company co-founded by dynamic and seasoned entrepreneurs needed to establish a solid foundation for growth. With limited resources and a tight budget, they required a comprehensive strategy to develop their brand, streamline operations, and expand their reach. M. Schaub Advisory collaborated closely with the founders, including facilitating Rapid Impact workshops, to create a brand and marketing strategy, a detailed resource plan, a production schedule, and formalized operational processes. Despite the cost and resource constraints, we helped the company establish internal operations, production workflows, and resource allocation—all within four weeks. As a result, the company launched media products across multiple channels within a month. In just 12 weeks, they built a diverse, international audience of over 200 subscribers, and averaged 50,000 downloads per podcast. Within six months, the company had secured a strong brand presence, receiving paid invitations for keynote speaking engagements and guest appearances on other media platforms.

  • [02] Global Technology Multinational – Executive Advisory

    The President of a global technology multinational engaged M. Schaub Advisory for an eight-month project to support a board-mandated pivot in the company’s business model. The company's long-tenured global workforce resisted the change and actively undermined its progress, complicating the transition.

    MSA conducted a comprehensive assessment and developed a new operating model, go-to-market and talent profile/acquisition strategies . We also crafted a detailed report and remediation plan to address challenges with an ongoing acquisition. To overcome resistance, we created an employee engagement strategy, performance metrics, and an executive support plan to address key barriers to success and ensure long-term sustainability.

    The organization successfully transitioned from a purely transactional staff augmentation model to offering high-value digital strategy consulting services, resulting in higher project revenues and longer client engagements. Additionally, the company achieved its highest-ever post-merger retention figures following the integration of a high-profile acquisition.

  • [03] Global Engineering Firm - Program Advisory

    The President of a European headquartered global engineering firm engaged M. Schaub Advisory to support post-merger integration (PMI) activities. The focus was on developing a new operating model, employee engagement, and a comprehensive change management plan. Both the acquiring and acquired employees needed support in understanding and accepting the transition.

    Over a twelve-week program, MSA established an integration PMO function, developed new processes, and designed a target operating model. We also led change-related activities to guide employees through the transition. The program also involved defining a refined mission and vision for the new organization, forming a leadership team, and creating a prioritized project plan under the governance of a centralized PMO structure.

    The newly formed organization, "NewCo," successfully hit near-term sales targets with its newly established go-to-market teams, eliminated redundant activities, and minimized regrettable attrition. A comprehensive employee change program was fully integrated into the PMO structure, ensuring cross-functional alignment and executive governance, enabling long-term sustainability of the new model.

  • [04] Global Consulting Firm – Project

    The Founder of a global consulting firm engaged M. Schaub Advisory to assess and provide recommendations for optimizing the firm’s knowledge management function. The project aimed to enhance the firm’s intellectual capital (IC) strategy, including marketing, go-to-market approaches, as well as its functional model, processes, tools, and risk management practices.

    In a three-week engagement, MSA conducted a comprehensive assessment of the firm’s existing knowledge management function. We provided recommendations related to data management, cybersecurity, and the commercialization of benchmarks. Additionally, process optimizations were proposed, and MSA identified opportunities to create symbiotic links between IC development, information management, and talent management—including training, development, and career progression mapping.

    Following MSA’s recommendations, the firm improved its knowledge management tools, enhancing search functionality, information access, and cybersecurity. The new model established a consistent approach to IC creation, reinforced by performance processes that aligned with promotion criteria and go-to-market strategies. The result was a more integrated and secure knowledge management system that supported both the firm’s intellectual capital and its talent development efforts.

  • [05] Global Digital Marketing Network – Executive Advisory

    M. Schaub Advisory was retained for a six-month engagement by the EVP of a global digital marketing network to establish a new consulting center of excellence. The scope included developing the operating model, commercial platforms, and professional services processes, as well as partnering to drive rapid growth and commercial success.

    MSA designed a new "hub" operating model that integrated with over seventy international agencies across thirty-four countries. We developed and executed an internal marketing campaign, organized road shows, and created MVP-level operational processes to launch the center. MSA’s Senior Partner also supported external client marketing efforts and projects. Additionally, MSA developed the first-generation operating model and processes, aligned with a lean, rapid-growth strategy. A comprehensive suite of marketing collateral and a targeted sales approach were created to support the center’s newly defined capabilities.

    MSA played a key role in growing the practice, including independently securing the first client project, which accounted for 80% of the practice’s overall revenue for the year. The new operating model and processes provided a strong foundation for scalable growth and commercial traction.

  • [06] Global Private University, Public Safety Risk Assessment – Project

    M. Schaub Advisory was retained for an eight-week engagement by the Head of Operations of a global private university to conduct an operational risk assessment for its Public Safety department. The university sought to evaluate the maturity of its operational processes following a departmental overhaul that introduced external hires with no prior academic experience. There were concerns about the department’s ability to operate effectively within a liberal arts institution with a large student population spread across thirteen global academic centers.

    MSA embedded itself within the department’s leadership team, gathering data through internal and external sources, media reports, interviews with staff, students, and parents, as well as through direct observation. The assessment produced a prioritized list of recommendations, including the identification of critical risks requiring immediate attention.

    Within two weeks of receiving the risk assessment, the university addressed the most critical risks. Four weeks later, the executive leadership acted on MSA's findings, replacing the entire leadership team of the Public Safety department. The swift actions ensured improved operational integrity and alignment with the institution’s needs.