Consultative Offerings - Summer Scholar - Functional & Operations Strategy

Do you want to help executives navigate disruption at a scale and speed they’ve never faced before? Are you the kind of person who sees a hard problem and leans in instead of looking away? You’re exactly who we’re looking for.

AI is reshaping industries overnight. Global markets are shifting faster than playbooks can keep up. Entire business models are being rewritten in real time. For the leaders steering through it, this isn’t a moment for more of the same…it’s a moment that demands fresh thinking, bold moves, and partners who can see around corners. There has never been a more exciting time to be a strategic advisor — join us for this moment!

Is This You?

You’re fascinated by the complexity inside organizations: how they’re built to perform, how they adapt under pressure, and what it really takes to transform them. You want to master that terrain, and you’re ambitious enough to want to be exceptional at it.

You don’t need to have it all figured out yet. But you care about creating value for organizations, not just how a plan might read on a page. You’re sharp enough to find the signal in messy data. You’re genuinely excited about AI, not as a buzzword, but as something you want to learn to use in real, high-stakes situations. And, you want your work to matter starting now, not eventually.

If you want to become the kind of advisor executives trust with their hardest decisions, it starts at Deloitte as a Functional & Operations Strategy Summer Scholar

Recruiting for this role ends on 11/01/2026.  

What You’ll Do

Your work will feed the decisions executives can’t afford to get wrong.

Here’s what that looks like day to day: you’ll get a problem that isn’t fully defined, and part of your job is figuring out the right question before you can even get to an answer. You’ll dig into data, build the analysis, and find the insight that changes how a client sees their situation; you’ll be exposed to the latest AI tools and accelerators. You will learn to communicate your recommendation clearly to Executives who’ve been running companies longer than you’ve been in the workforce.

The questions you’ll wrestle with live at the heart of how organizations function:

• How should we modernize our human resources function as AI reshapes what work means, and how do we bring people through that change without losing momentum?
• How does the CFO build a finance function that’s a true strategic partner, not a reporting machine? What operating model gives a business the agility to execute its strategy at scale?
• How do we modernize a supply chain that’s one disruption away from breaking?
• What does a risk and governance framework look like when it’s designed to enable speed, not just prevent failure?
• How should a company rethink its physical footprint and infrastructure in a world that keeps shifting underneath it?
• How can we configure our Real Estate footprint and workplace to help us achieve our evolving strategic business objectives?
• How do we unlock value from core operations to deliver on our company’s mission?
• How do we move beyond automating old processes to reimagining what’s possible with agentic AI?
• How can leaders build a customer experience that is seamless across every channel? What combination of customer strategy, data, technology, and operating model turns moments of interaction into lasting relationships?
• How does an organization become truly customer-centric — not just in its marketing, but across sales, service, product, and operations? What capabilities and ways of working make customer obsession scalable?

These are the questions our clients bring to us because they trust that no one is more equipped to answer them.

The work spans the full arc of strategic advising: diagnosing where a business function stands, charting where it needs to go, and designing the transformation required to get there. You’ll be expected to think, not just execute, and to bring a perspective into every conversation.

The best strategies aren’t measured by the quality of the deck; they’re road-tested and measured by the value they create. Strategy and execution aren’t separate disciplines. As a Functional & Operations Strategy Summer Scholar at Deloitte, you’ll learn how to connect the two.

How You’ll Grow

Here’s the honest version: this work will stretch you. You’ll be dropped into problems that don’t come with instructions, asked to have a point of view before you feel fully ready to have one, and expected to keep going when the first answer isn’t the right one. That’s where growth happens.

You won’t do it alone. Our apprenticeship model means coaching and feedback are woven into the work itself, not just in a formal review, but in the moment, on the job. What makes it different here is who you’re learning from. The professionals coaching you are widely recognized as the best in the specific functional domain you’ve joined. They’ve shaped how the market thinks about these problems. They’ve run the most complex engagements in the space. That proximity accelerates you in ways that are hard to find anywhere else.

The skills you’ll build as a Functional & Operations Strategy Summer Scholar are the foundation of a modern strategic advisor: how to turn messy data into a clear insight, how to build the analysis and financial fluency that earns credibility in the room, and how to communicate a point of view clearly enough that it actually changes someone’s thinking. You can be a future executive advisor or future CXO. We’ll get you ready for both.

Where You’ll Focus

We advise Fortune 500 clients across all industries, serving both Corporate and Private Equity sponsors. From early in your career, you’ll be placed into a specific practice and grow your expertise there — building real command of a functional domain alongside the people who have set the standard in that space. The range comes from the clients and industries you’ll serve within your practice. The edge comes from the compounding advantage of going deeper with every engagement: sharper insights, faster pattern recognition, and the kind of know-how that makes you indispensable to the clients you serve.

Our teams have built, and continue to hold, the deepest expertise in their respective functional domains, and clients know it. When you join, you’re stepping into a team that’s already winning at the highest level. Your job is to learn from the best and build fast and, over time, to become the expert executives call when a specific challenge lands on their desk.

Required Qualifications 

• Must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university and expected to graduate by Spring/Summer 2028 pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher in one of the following majors or a related/equivalent program 
• Business (e.g., Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Org Behavior)
• Science
• Technology
• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Operations
• Supply Chain
• Liberal Arts (e.g., Psychology, Industrial and Labor Relations)

• Strong academic track record (3.3 cumulative GPA required, 3.5 cumulative GPA preferred).  

• Must live within a commutable distance to your assigned office (g. 100-mile radius) with the ability to commute daily, if required, upon start date  

• Ability to travel up to 50%, on average, based on the work you do and the clients and industries/sectors you serve  

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future 

• Candidates must be at least 18 years of age at the time of employment 

This is an entry-level opportunity intended for candidates interested in beginning or building a career in this field. We welcome applicants from a range of educational and professional backgrounds who meet the qualifications for the role. For roles that require a year or more of work experience, please review the experienced jobs within our careers site.  

The wage range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions 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.  At Deloitte, 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 case.  A reasonable estimate is $50/hour.