Business Technology Business Analyst Role Description
When you join McKinsey as a business analyst, you are joining a firm that will challenge you and invest heavily in your professional development. You will build leadership skills beyond what you thought possible and gain access to the most extraordinary leadership network in the world. The Business Technology BA will enjoy all of the benefits of the firm while being part of a close-knit community. As a part of this highly entrepreneurial culture, innovation and creativity are encouraged and rewarded. You will have exposure to both general consulting topics and be first in line for projects where technology has a major impact on the business. You’ll also receive specialized training on technology topics, including how new technologies are fundamentally changing the business landscape.
The BA at McKinsey is a full member of the client engagement team. You will work closely with your McKinsey colleagues and with the client team on the client site. You will “own” your piece of the project. Some examples of a BA’s work include: interviewing clients, building financial models, making presentations, leading client teams and working with McKinsey subject experts to develop perspectives and insights for the client. Typically, our engagements last between 6 to 12 weeks. As a BA, you will be assigned to one engagement at a time.
About McKinsey Business Technology
Technology is changing the way we live, and the way we do business. McKinsey Business Technology (BT) helps our clients realize that value by formulating technology-enabled business strategies, improving operations through the use of technology, and strengthening corporate IT departments.
BT serves clients across a wide variety of industry sectors including financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, telecom, high tech, media, industrial, and retail/consumer. BT consultants share a passion for technology but also work across other functions including strategy, operations, organization, and marketing in order to build a well-rounded leadership perspective. The combination of breadth, access, and depth of experience will offer you growth within the firm and beyond.
McKinsey Business Technology has over 600 consultants in 47 cities in 23 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
For more information on McKinsey Business Technology, please visit our web site.
Locations
The McKinsey Business Technology BA role is offered in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Montreal, New Jersey, New York, Palo Alto, and Toronto.
Candidate Qualifications
Ideal candidates for the Business Technology BA position:
• Are about to complete, or have just completed, an undergraduate or masters degree (ideally in engineering, computer science or information systems) or 1 to 3 years of relevant work experience after completing your undergraduate degree.
• Have a strong commitment to excellence and personal and professional growth.
• Have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and an aptitude for analytics.
• Have a strong record of leadership in a work setting and/or extracurricular activities.
• Enjoy working in teams.
• Find problem solving exhilarating.
• Are resourceful, responsible, patient, tenacious, informed, independent, confident, and full of energy.
• A strong interest in technology and business.
Training
Depending on your experience before joining McKinsey, you may participate in the five-week online Business Bridge program conducted by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University. This course will provide you with the core knowledge required to help you as a new consultant with McKinsey including skills in the disciplines of finance, financial accounting, managerial economics, and marketing.
You will also attend a one-week learning program upon joining the firm that is designed to equip you with the basic consulting skills you need on your first engagement team. After approximately one year of consulting, you will attend Business Analyst Training, which is a one-week course in advanced problem solving, interpersonal, and communications skills.
As a member of the Business Technology Office, you will also attend functional learning programs. The first set of programs is our Technology Basics program, which consists of three self paced e-learning modules, which you will complete in your first month. After approximately six months, we will schedule you for our Managing Technology Program, which is a one-week course aimed to help our consultants understand how to help senior executives extract business value by leveraging existing technology and/or technology capabilities and to build skills to create buy-in with the CEO, CIO, and other business and technology experts.
Other programs and learning resources will also be available to you, depending on your personal development needs, to build specific skills (such as problem solving or communications), and/or provide additional industry (e.g., electronics, consumer goods, health care, financial services) and functional knowledge (e.g., marketing, sales, corporate finance, business dynamics, strategy).
In addition to formal training, your professional development continues through the range of experiences you gain on engagement teams, which may involve working in other offices or other countries. Every business analyst has a Development Group Leader, a senior member of the firm who offers guidance on career choices and engagement assignments. Also, you will naturally build informal mentor relationships with team members and office colleagues.
Career Path
The business analyst role is your entry into what we hope will be a rewarding, challenging, and highly flexible career at McKinsey. During your first two years with the firm, you will serve on multiple client engagements and work with a number of McKinsey colleagues and clients in a range of industry and functional areas.
After two years, we encourage you to pursue an experience that will truly broaden your leadership and problem solving capabilities within McKinsey by choosing to work internationally, pursue nonprofit externships, or take on client rotations. After this experience, business analysts either stay with the firm to advance to associate roles, begin careers in start-up companies, venture capital, corporations, or attend graduate school with financial support from McKinsey.
We are committed to supporting you in whatever career path is most exciting to you and best fits your development goals. We believe the BA role provides an outstanding starting point for a long-term relationship with McKinsey, and we look forward to working with you to shape a personalized, highly compelling experience.