My role at McKinsey
I am currently leading the Private Equity Insights Center in Europe spread across 3 main locations - Lisbon, Madrid and Düsseldorf, as well as our Europe, Middle East and Africa’s Private Equity & Principal Investors client development hub. Within my role, I help McKinsey teams drive innovation and build capabilities to serve clients more efficiently. This also includes developing a set of digital tools and assets.
I joined McKinsey more than eight years ago. Prior to that, I worked in investment banking in Ukraine, where I am from. For a long time before I joined, I’d heard of McKinsey as a large consulting firm with an international footprint, outstanding talent and a focus on solving challenging problems for its clients, all of which motivated me to apply.
I enjoy serving private equity clients because of their focus on performance and driving value creation at the companies they own. Within private equity, there is an opportunity to work in a variety of industries and serve clients along the full deal cycle, including market scan, buy-side due diligence, portfolio work and vendor due diligence and exit support.
What also keeps me excited and engaged is the possibility to reinvent myself constantly at McKinsey. During my interviews, I heard the saying “Make your own McKinsey”, and that’s what I’m always striving to do. I started my journey as an individual contributor owning the workstream, then had the chance to manage three people on various projects, and now I am building a big capability center for the firm. I am truly authoring my own journey.
Opportunities for learning and development
We have rich training programs at McKinsey at each professional level. Every year, you get to participate in at least one extensive training and can opt into many shorter ones. In my view this is highly valuable for professional development and polishing your skills as well as rethinking your journey at the firm, and aspirations in general. It gives you an opportunity to stop, reflect and shape plans. I have found trainings related to effective communication and team and client leadership especially useful for my every day work.
I am always looking ahead and striving for more. That’s why I believe that what I am currently doing is the most meaningful — building the private equity insights center in Europe from scratch. With this center we are changing McKinsey’s approach to how we serve private equity clients with multiple innovations already implemented and ambitious growth plans.
Sofiya’s advice
I believe McKinsey’s Client Capabilities Network provides an excellent opportunity for both new and experienced hires alike, with many roles to consider. We are a big firm, and almost anybody can find something that fits. I actively lead recruitment efforts at the firm and often say to candidates that no matter whether they decide to stay at the firm long-term or not, the opportunity to join McKinsey and gain experience with us is valuable. The firm really invests in its people, offering multiple trainings, workshops, and other resources.
Outside of work
In my free time, I really enjoy traveling and have visited 50 countries, both through work and personal travel. Travel helps to expand your perspective and horizon, look at the world from a different angle and embrace cultural diversity.