This is a profile image of Navjot Singh

Navjot Singh

Senior PartnerBoston

Works with Top Teams on what matters! Drives innovation at the intersection of science, engineering, medicine, business, and government. Combines expertise in strategy, operations, technology, transformations, risk, M&A and business development to support life sciences, healthcare, higher education, technology, semiconductors, private equity/venture capital and government clients.

Nav is a Senior Partner in McKinsey’s Boston Office with over two decades of experience. Over time he has held multiple roles at McKinsey, including Office Managing Partner for Boston from 2012-2021, leader of the State and Local practice in North America, leader of the Global Innovation practice, and leader of McKinsey Center of Government. He also served as a member of the Firm’s Knowledge and Technology Councils and founded the McKinsey Early Stage Investor Conference. During the COVID-19 crisis, he was intimately involved in McKinsey’s response work across multiple clients.

Nav currently oversees global talent attraction for McKinsey and is a member of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) council, which advises on MGI research on global economic, business, and technology trends.

Nav brings deep business expertise in strategy, innovation, operations, transformations, M&A, business development, and risk to all his client engagements.

An expert in the use of Six Sigma methodologies for product development and process design, Nav holds 20 patents.

He has served as the Chair of the Board for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. He is a Trustee at Museum of Science and Worcester Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Board of the Mass High Tech Council and on the Dean’s Advisory Board for University of Minnesota. He also hosts Imagine Get-Togethers that convene cross-sector leaders on cutting-edge topics, such as synthetic biology, commercial applications of drones, the future of space exploration, and the impact of aging. He has been recognized as the Top Influential people in Boston twice by the Boston Business Journal.

Before joining McKinsey, in 2001, Nav was a laboratory manager at General Electric, where he helped design manufacturing processes and develop new polymetric materials and nanomaterials. He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Minnesota, MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Published work

Speed and resilience: Five priorities for the next five months,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021

The next phase of COVID-19 is a battle we can win,” McKinsey & Company, February 2021

An optimistic scenario for the US response to COVID-19,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

An experiment to inform universal basic income,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

How to rebuild and reimagine jobs amid the coronavirus crisis,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020

Crisis nerve centers: Supporting governments’ responses to coronavirus,” McKinsey & Company, March 2020

An engineering approach to derisking R&D for novel drug modalities,” McKinsey & Company, September 2019

Fiscal resilience: Tools to manage state budgets in an age of uncertainty,” McKinsey & Company, September 2019

How to lead a successful government transition,” McKinsey & Company, November 2018

To tackle urban problems, city governments have to get smarter,” GovTech, July 2018

Delivering for citizens: How to triple the success rate of government transformations, McKinsey & Company, May 2018

High-performing US states: Is there a secret to success?,” McKinsey & Company, February 2018

Realizing the potential of CRISPR,” McKinsey & Company, January 2017

Exploring the disruptive potential of synthetic biology,” McKinsey & Company, June 2016

What's driving the surge in new drug approvals?,” McKinsey & Company, November 2013

New frontiers in pharma R&D investment,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2010

Past experience

General Electric
R&D manager

General Electric
Staff scientist

Education

University of Minnesota
PhD, chemical engineering

Rensselaer Polytechnic University
MBA

Indian Institute of Technology
BTech, chemical engineering and engineering