Researcher in management and strategy (M/F)

Circle reinvents strategy consulting by building on the individuals the most capable of grasping the current transformation challenges in a pragmatic manner: entrepreneurs. Our approach builds on the best of the two worlds, the “corp-up” model: the power of corporates and the pragmatism of entrepreneurs.
Circle questions the status quo of typical strategy consulting by building on its team of more than 20 strategy consultants having a strategy consulting experience combined with proven entrepreneurial experience or a senior management role in an organization. Owing to this entrepreneurial DNA, we address topics pragmatically with a constant goal: the impact we will create. All the while constantly taking in account the human factor, the economic stakes and the internal policy of our clients.
To reach our ambition, we have recently joined the Square group, which counts over 800 consultants, and is the largest independent consulting firm in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

What do we offer?

Circle, a high growth strategy consulting firm, wants to develop its intellectual assets by integrating into its teams a young researcher who will lead a research mission.
Circle wants to deliver the largest added value to its clients.
In this context, it appeared crucial to validate scientifically the validity of some of our recommendations. This is why we wished to deepen a research project allowing to measure the relevance of our methods, so that we can innovate in our way to perform Strategy in the era of disruption. We are especially interested in:

  • the study of the legitimacy phenomenon as a key success factor for organizational strategy
  • “resilience” as a key indicator for the strategic approach
  • modelling the impacts/effects of legitimacy on strategic design
  • critical analysis of the models of strategic performance assessment.

Starting from existing work, the state of the art and concrete business cases, you will be in charge of leading research on these difference aspects of performance drivers. The goal is to design a qualitative model of support to organizations, based on their strategic objectives, to allow them to design and lead development plans adapted to their structure.
You will be in charge of tackling a true intellectual and scientific challenge, in an applied R&D logic, building on field and case data.

Who are we looking for?

  • You graduated from a business school, a school of engineering or have a Master’s degree.
  • You are preparing a PhD in business management / business strategy or have completed your PhD and have not yet held a post-PhD position, connected to your Doctor status (“Jeune Docteur” status is mandatory).
  • You have an entrepreneurial spirit, are proactive, creative and curious.
  • You are passionate about new growth models and corporate strategy
  • You have strong analytic skills and a proven synthesis capability
  • You are motivated by challenge and always eager to go past the obvious and anticipate the most complex issues and offer solutions always more innovative for organizations.
  • You enjoy working autonomously, while collaborating cross-functionally with other parts of the organization, being proactive in the research work you’re leading in collaboration with other researchers and consultant teams.
  • You want to carry out applied research in the challenging and innovative consulting environment, while participating in consulting assignments.
  • Your English is fluent.

Why join us?

  • Be part of a great entrepreneurial adventure: the transformation of the strategy consulting sector.
  • Lead exciting and highly strategic projects for the survival and development of large organizations.
  • Join a talented team that is rich of its differences.
  • Benefit from an environment that will make you grow, discover new industries, strengthen your strategic analysis skills, thanks to the different methodologies developed by Circle.

Our values

The world of strategy consulting now needs to establish recommendations all the more pragmatic and pertaining to the specifics of its clients that economic cycles are shortening and organizations need to demonstrate their resilience to succeed. execute this mission, we have focused on 3 crucial values reflecting our culture and our actions:

  • Transparency: By definition, each problem has a solution and we believe that transparency is the first step toward solving a problem. For efficiency purposes, we apply this strict transparency principle at each and every second. Internally and externally, we go to the essential and deliver clear and concise solutions to develop trusting relationships.
  • Pragmatism: Because of our DNA, our approach combines excellence and efficiency. The excellence, an essential quality of our achievements, and the efficiency with an optimal allocation of resources (time, people, budget).
  • A place that makes you grow: Growing is what should be expected from working with or within Circle. Which means that we also expect from each individual connected with Circle (employee, client, partner) that he or she helps others to grow.

Our approach

Our approach is based on the study of legitimacy in organizations, which we are using to address typical strategic topics and our favorite topics: growth and diversification, CSR, Data, HR and transformation plans.
The legitimacy of an organization can be defined as the sum of its purpose and its Assets.
The purpose, more than a mere communication tool, lies in the answer to 3 key questions:

  • Why do employees stay working at my firm?
  • Why do customers continue buying my products or services?
  • Why do shareholders/markets continue betting on my firm?

Once the purpose has been defined, it is crucial to understand the organization’s tangible and intangible assets, which are all too often under-used because they appear too obvious.
Legitimacy is not a framework that encloses the organization within fixed boundaries, but rather a set of pillars on which one can lean to build the future. It is also the very essence of the organization’s differentiating factors.

Application