AlixPartners appoints David Ellis as Partner and Managing Director in Australia

AlixPartners has appointed David Ellis as Partner and Managing Director in its Performance practice in Australia, strengthening its senior leadership team as the consultancy expands its presence in the country.

Ellis joins from IBM Consulting, where he served as Managing Partner for Australia and led a team of more than 1,000 employees. He has more than 25 years of experience across transformation, turnaround and operational leadership, with earlier partner roles at Bain & Company and Managing Director experience at Accenture.

The appointment follows AlixPartners' launch in Australia earlier this year and comes as the firm builds its local team to support its growth plans and increasing client demand.

Australian expansion

Ellis will support the firm's Performance practice as AlixPartners expands its work with Australian clients across transformation, operational improvement and turnaround mandates.

The appointment follows the addition of Directors Felicity Edwards, Max Albrecht and Maximilian Fischer-Muriyadan to the Australian team, signalling the consultancy's efforts to build a deeper senior leadership bench in the market.

“Since launching in Australia earlier this year, we have made significant progress in building a highly experienced, specialist team focused on helping clients address their most critical challenges. Our proposition is deliberately different: small, senior teams working alongside clients to deliver practical, measurable outcomes at pace,” said Peter Saville, Australia Country Leader, Partner & Managing Director, AlixPartners.

“David brings a strong combination of transformation, turnaround and hands-on leadership experience, making him an important addition to our team as we continue to expand our presence and support clients across Australia,” he added.

Transformation expertise

Ellis' career spans consulting and operational leadership roles, with experience in financial improvement, organisational change and transformation programmes. His work has also included the use of AI and emerging technologies in business transformation.

At IBM Consulting, he led the Australian business during a period of restructuring. His previous roles at Bain and Accenture included local, regional and global assignments across strategy, operations and implementation.

His experience comes as Australian businesses navigate slower growth, tighter capital conditions and the need to modernise technology and operating models while maintaining margins.

Senior leadership model

Ellis said, “As someone who has worked across transformations and turnarounds, I've known and admired AlixPartners and its work for many years. The firm's model is genuinely unique, serving clients in moments of truth with senior, operational specialists who are hands-on with sleeves rolled up. It is particularly well-suited to the AI age, where lean, experienced teams like ours can be disproportionately impactful. I'm especially delighted to join at this time,” said Ellis.

AlixPartners' Australian expansion reflects its focus on experienced advisers for complex transformation, restructuring and performance improvement mandates.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in New York, AlixPartners advises companies, boards, law firms, investment banks and private equity firms on complex business issues. The firm operates across more than 20 cities globally.