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Kirk Rieckhoff

Senior PartnerWashington DC

Leader of McKinsey’s US federal work and coleader of the firm’s Aerospace & Defense Practice in the Americas

Kirk is the leader of McKinsey’s US federal work and coleads McKinsey’s Aerospace & Defense Practice in the Americas. His expertise lies in the public sector and government strategy and organizational design. Previously, he was the global leader for the firm’s organizational design work.

Kirk’s experience and knowledge include making acquisition programs more agile and affordable, organizational change, agile transformations, and shifting cultures.

Examples of Kirk’s recent projects include the following:

  • working with a US government department to improve speed in governance and decision-making processes without compromising decision quality, while reducing the number of steps and stakeholders involved by 50–80 percent
  • developing the strategy for a major US military service, working with top leadership for each major mission to identify and prioritize critical choices facing the service; developing options and establishing a strategy to drive budgeting
  • advising a high-tech manufacturer on ways to develop strategy to capture and sustain leadership in an emerging product market, involving in-depth analysis of disruptive technologies, innovative customer-shaping approaches, and development of new concepts for employing the products
  • overseeing a supply chain redesign for a Fortune 5 energy company, including redefining the customer segmentation and rebuilding the production-deliver sequence to meet customers’ needs optimally while reducing costs by more than 30 percent
  • redesigning the parts procurement organization for a large manufacturer, including determining supply base capacity, developing initiatives to improve supplier performance, and forecasting demand for critical items

Before joining McKinsey, Kirk served in the military for more than ten years.

Published work

Mission not meetings: How government leaders could avoid self-sabotage,” McKinsey & Company, June 2022

Redefining corporate functions to better support strategy and growth,” McKinsey & Company, January 2022

Organizing for change,” McKinsey & Company, December 2021

America 2021: Making change happen, against the odds,” McKinsey & Company, February 2021

Increasing decision-making velocity: Five steps for government leaders,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020

Lessons from the military for COVID-time leadership,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020

Bridging the gap between a company’s strategy and operating model,” McKinsey & Company, May 2019

How the public sector can remain agile beyond times of crisis,” McKinsey & Company, May 2017

Agility in US national security,” McKinsey & Company, March 2017

Education

Harvard School of Government
MA, public policy

George Washington University
MPP, organizational management

The United States Air Force Academy
BS, aeronautical engineering