Wander is currently unavailable
Wander Azevedo
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Management Consulting Expert
Porto Alegre - State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Toptal member since April 29, 2022
Bio
Wander turns strategy into operating reality for financial services, fintech, and payments businesses—operating model design, market entry, and enterprise transformation built to ship. 20+ years across Roland Berger, Accenture, and Monitor Group, plus operator seats at HSBC (core to the Bradesco sale) and Toptal, where he runs global enterprise delivery. Kellogg MBA; advises CEOs and boards.
Career Highlights
Director of Financial Services
Roland Berger
Education Highlights
Master's Degree
Kellogg School of Management | Northwestern University
Case Studies
Development Banking Benchmarking and Strategic Planning
Corporate BenchmarkingScenario Analysis
Expansion Strategy for a LATAM Fintech Company
International ExpansionMarket EntryGrowth Strategy ConsultantsDigital Payments
Strategic Options for a Family Business Portfolio Company
StrategyM&A (Sell-side)Family Office Consultants
Industry Expertise
- Business Services
- Management Consulting
- HR & Staffing
- Custom Software & IT Services
- Holding Companies & Conglomerates
- Construction
- Finance
- Banking
Other Expertise
- Business Strategy
- Digital Payments
- Fintech
- Growth
- Management Consulting
- Strategy
Work Experience
Head of Enterprise Talent Fulfillment
2024 - PRESENT
Toptal
- Runs a 50-person global delivery organization across 14 time zones (North America, Europe, India), owning end-to-end operations for the largest enterprise accounts.
- Redesigned the operating model from siloed teams into industry-aligned pods embedded with commercial teams — materially improving speed, ownership, and delivery discipline.
- Introduced execution metrics and governance that reset cross-functional accountability; full ownership of hiring, performance, and delivery targets.
- Serves as financial-services SME on enterprise pursuits.
Focus areas: Business Operations
Director of Finance Management Consulting
2023 - 2024
Toptal
- Worked directly with clients ranging from Fortune 500 enterprise clients to early-stage startups to connect them with the ideal talent for their biggest challenges.
- Led a team of four finance directors in the finance and management consulting vertical.
- Oversaw strategic projects in the Matching and Talent Operations teams.
Focus areas: Operations Management, Business Operations
CSO
2022 - 2023
Previneo
- Led the structuring of a VC-backed healthtech, revising its technology roadmap and working as a co-CEO to strengthen the firm's team, pricing, offering, and attractivity.
- Hired and trained four new team members and structured a new product management and design area.
- Appointed by the VC as a CSO and co-CEO and led the relationships with investors, VC fund, and founders, bridging issues and building consensus on key themes.
Focus areas: Business Operations, Business Strategy
Partner
2021 - 2023
FGo Advisors
- Led the strategy and the implementation of a Brazilian e-wallet operator expansion to the Americas.
- Delivered a series of market entry, growth, and market intelligence initiatives for Latin America's growth-stage and digital companies.
- Implemented a major project targeting a payment services provider's human resources restructuring and compensation strategy.
- Spearheaded the launch of a gambling website, from business planning to execution and operations, coordinating all providers and internal teams in business and technical workstreams.
Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Strategy, Change Management, Human Resources (HR), Management Consulting, Product Strategy, Operating Models, Business Transformation, Business Models, Business Modeling, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Cryptocurrency, Growth Strategy Consultants, Digital Payments, Card Payments
Principal
2019 - 2020
Accenture
- Delivered a multi-workstream credit-and-risk transformation for one of Brazil's largest retail banks through the 2020 downturn.
- Owned senior client relationships and follow-on sales across strategy, analytics, operations, and technology.
- Spearheaded the client relationship and delivery of consulting projects for one of the Brazilian largest banks.
Focus areas: Financial Services, Digital Banking, Digital Transformation, Human Resources (HR), Management Consulting, Operating Models, Business Models, Business Modeling, Growth Strategy Consultants, Digital Payments
Director of Financial Services
2017 - 2019
Roland Berger
- Secured board and senior-government approval for a national development bank's redesigned long-term strategy — CEO-sponsored, high-stakes governance.
- Headed the Financial Services & Digital competence centers for Latin America; owned fintech evaluation, integration, and due diligence.
- Published industry perspectives on Brazilian development, mid-size, and cooperative banks.
Focus areas: Global Banking, Financial Institutions, Fintech, Financial Services, Digital Banking, Digital Transformation, Change Management, Human Resources (HR), Management Consulting, Operating Models, Growth Strategy, Business Models, Business Modeling, Digital Payments, Card Payments
Senior Manager, Financial Services
2016 - 2016
Kearney
- Led an enterprise risk-and-governance transformation for a top Brazilian insurance group.
- Stood up a centralized CRO function as the structural output of that transformation.
- Built growth and exit scenarios for a major family office's long-term strategic review.
Focus areas: Strategy, Organizational Strategy
Strategy and Planning Superintendent
2013 - 2016
HSBC
- Core member of the team that executed the sale of HSBC Brazil to Bradesco, running scenario evaluation for continued in-country presence.
- Led a 16-person Commercial Banking strategy team across analytics, performance management, and target-setting through the integration.
- Restructured Latin American SME distribution — recommendation implemented in 2015.
Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Strategy, Planning, Change Management, Product Strategy, Operating Models, Business Transformation, Growth Strategy, Digital Payments
Engagement Manager
2009 - 2013
Monitor Group
- Directed strategic due diligence on a ~USD 500M pharma-retail acquisition, from growth-strategy origination through to deal.
- Built and piloted a value-based pricing methodology for a pharma client's drug launch across multiple LatAm markets.
- Drove a ~15% EBITDA margin lift via strategic pricing for a global equipment manufacturer.
Focus areas: Business Strategy, Due Diligence
Manager - Special Projects (prev. McKinsey-Unibanco Fellow)
2006 - 2008
Itaú Unibanco
- Cut branch operating costs ~18% via a redesigned staffing and operating model; rolled out payroll-linked credit across 260+ branches.
- Launched Banco Fininvest, a low-income banking model — designed channels, products, and commercial processes end to end.
- Lifted customer credit usage ~80% by redesigning the credit-granting process for supermarket banking accounts.
Focus areas: New Business Development, Business Strategy
Project Manager
2003 - 2006
ABB
- Managed a USD 20M industrial automation program with a 50+ person cross-cultural team, alongside ABB France.
- Turned a critical assembly-line project from a projected 20% loss to on-time, on-budget delivery.
- Invited as a guest speaker at SAE Congress Brazil, 2006 for a panel on success cases of 6 sigma in Project Management, based on the transformation of sales application process created for ABB Robotics Brazil.
Focus areas: Project Management
Education
2020 - 2022
Master's Degree in Vineyard and Winery Management
Bordeaux Sciences Agro - Bordeaux, France
2008 - 2010
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Kellogg School of Management | Northwestern University - Evanston, Illinois, USA
1998 - 2003
Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering
State University of Campinas | UNICAMP - Campinas, Brazil
Skills
Output Software
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint
Industry Expertise
Financial Services, Financial Institutions
Data & Analysis Software
Tableau, R, SQL
Finance
Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), M&A (Sell-side), Due Diligence
Other
Strategy, Growth, Project Management, Fintech, Management Consulting, Business Models, Business Modeling, Business Strategy, Trello, Marketing, Change Management, Human Resources (HR), Product Strategy, Operating Models, Business Transformation, Growth Strategy, Growth Strategy Consultants, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Business Operations, Digital Payments, STATA, Finance, Managerial Economics, Marketing Strategy, Engineering, Wine & Wineries, Operations Management, Digital Banking, Digital Transformation, Global Banking, Scenario Analysis, Corporate Benchmarking, International Expansion, Market Entry, Family Office Consultants, Planning, Cryptocurrency, Card Payments, New Business Development, Claude Code, Claude, Python, Organizational Strategy
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring