Business Analyst

What You'll Do

You'll work in teams of typically 3 - 5 consultants to identify, and oftentimes implement, potential solutions for a specific client problem or challenge. Together, you will help clients make lasting improvements to their performance and realize their most important goals.

Over the course of each project, you will gather and analyze information, formulate, and test hypotheses, and develop and communicate recommendations. You'll also present results to client management and implement recommendations in collaboration with client team members. In some cases, you will be asked to travel to your client site.

When you join McKinsey, you are joining a firm whose culture is distinctive and inclusive. We will accelerate your development as a leader to create positive, enduring change in the world. As a business analyst, you will receive training and coaching on how to better:

• Structure ambiguous problems and take action to solve them
• Synthesize clear takeaways from complex information into clear takeaways and recommendations using both qualitative and quantitative methods
• Work effectively with diverse teams to come up with the best solution and move people and organizations to act
• Establish trust-based relationships with clients to better serve their organizations 
• Communicate effectively with all audiences, including senior leaders, in a structured manner
• Develop your leadership style, leveraging your own passions, strengths, and personal values

McKinsey believes in strengths-based development and coaching, and you’ll receive frequent mentoring from colleagues. This will include a senior colleague from your office or practice who will help you grow and achieve your career goals. Additionally, you will have a professional development manager who manages staffing to help you choose projects based on your priorities as well as the needs of client service teams.

We view the business analyst position as the start of a rewarding, challenging, and highly flexible career with McKinsey.  During your first few years with the firm, you will serve as a business analyst on multiple client engagements and work with a number of colleagues and clients in a range of industry and functional areas.  

We encourage you to explore different content areas or geographies through a year-long rotation with one of our practices (e.g., corporate finance, social sector, healthcare, operations) or global offices; many do this after two years as a generalist business analyst.  You will likely intersect with many elements of our firm’s work including digital, implementation, and tech and analytics capabilities – either by collaborating on teams or working with colleagues from these group.

Following your business analyst tenure, assuming good performance, you will move into a post-graduate school role.  Some business analysts will take advantage of the opportunity to get outside experience through a secondment (externship) with a private sector or social sector client with the firm’s support.  Others may choose to pursue graduate school with support from the firm.