<p>Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.</p> <p>In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues-at all levels-will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won't find anywhere else.</p> <p>When you join us, you will have:</p> <ul> <li>Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey. </li><li>A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You'll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes. </li><li>Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm's diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences. </li><li>World-class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package, which includes medical, dental, mental health, and vision coverage for you, your spouse/partner, and children. </li></ul> <p>As the Senior Category Manager for the Knowledge and Data service line within External Capabilities and Insights (eC&I), you will lead one of the firm's most critical, high-impact, and rapidly evolving category portfolios.</p> <p>This is a senior leadership role that blends strategic direction-setting, hands-on operational execution, and people leadership with direct implications for how the firm leverages third-party Knowledge and Data providers to deliver world-class client service.</p> <p>You will serve as the firm's owner for this category, with accountability for shaping and executing a bold multi-year strategy that aligns with firm's, practice's, and client service team's (CST) needs. This includes evolving the external capability ecosystem, unlocking innovation through generative AI (gen AI) and emerging technologies, modernizing commercial models, and embedding best-in-class governance across procurement, risk, IP, and ESG. Your mandate is to ensure the right capabilities are in place reliably, responsibly, and at-scale; to meet the firm's most pressing client and knowledge needs.</p> <p>You will oversee a dedicated team of Category Managers and Specialists, each responsible for a specific practice portfolio. You will lead across this structure, guiding direction, challenging, and aligning strategy across diverse stakeholder groups. You will engage deeply with practice leadership, CSTs, Optimize, and Firm Functions to orchestrate consistent, high-value delivery across all areas of the Knowledge and Data service line.</p> <p>You will also act as a critical thought partner and operating arm to the Global Director of eC&I; helping steer team priorities, shape the broader eC&I delivery, and lead from the front on cross-service-line/ functional initiatives. You will play a central role in shaping how McKinsey sources, integrates, scales, governs, and deploys external knowledge in an increasingly complex fast-moving, risk-conscious environment.</p> <p>You will serve as a key architect of the firm's Knowledge and Data operating model, managing strategic vendor relationships, leading complex negotiations, and driving the commercial and performance agenda with rigor. You will ensure service line health by owning financial oversight, supplier performance tracking, and SOP development in close collaboration with Optimize Chassis, Legal, Risk, and Finance.</p> <p>Equally important, you will serve as a sponsor, mentor, and coach to senior talent-investing deeply in building a culture of apprenticeship, excellence, and inclusive leadership. You will develop future category leaders while modeling the standards of strategic judgment, collaboration, and integrity expected at this level.</p> <p>This is a senior leadership position with firm-wide reach, structural impact, and direct relevance to how we serve clients. As the senior-most leader for Knowledge and Data within eC&I, you will operate as a true extension of the Global Director providing leverage across the full portfolio, steering priority initiatives, and stepping in to lead from the front. Success in this role requires sound judgment, personal maturity, and a founder's mindset, with the ability to translate vision into execution and ambiguity into impact.</p> <ul> <li>12+ years of experience in consulting, strategy, category management, or research/knowledge management. </li><li>Deep expertise in external capabilities strategy, with a strong understanding of supplier ecosystems, contracting models and governance frameworks </li><li>Demonstrated experience leading complex, high-impact initiatives with senior level visibility and cross functional engagement </li><li>Proven ability to work across senior stakeholder groups - practices, CSTs, Legal, Risk, Finance and Optimize - with credibility and influence </li><li>Strong commercial acumen and experience with vendor negotiations, financial performance tracking and cost/value optimization </li><li>Experience managing outsourced service models and driving adoption of third-party capabilities in professional services or client-service environments </li><li>Familiarity with gen AI enabled solutions and innovation integration is a strong plus </li><li>Structured problem solver with advanced analytical and decision-making capabilities </li><li>Outstanding written and verbal communication skills; able to distill complex challenges into clear, compelling insights for senior audiences </li><li>Strong leadership presence with the ability to coach, develop and inspire high-performing teams </li><li>Entrepreneurial mindset, resilient under pressure and energized by ambiguity and ownership </li><li>Bachelor's degree required, MBA or advanced degree preferred </li></ul>