Category Manager – External Capabilities and Insights
| Company | McKinsey & Company |
|---|---|
| Location | Boston, MA, USA, Tampa, FL, USA, Jackson Township, NJ, USA, Miramar, FL, USA |
| Salary | $Not Provided – $Not Provided |
| Type | Full-Time |
| Degrees | Bachelor’s, MBA |
| Experience Level | Expert or higher |
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in consulting, strategy, category management, or research/knowledge management.
- Deep understanding of the external capabilities landscape and strategic resource management.
- Experience partnering with senior leadership on strategic initiatives, operations, and execution.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a structured, data-driven approach to decision-making.
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex stakeholder landscapes, working across teams, functions, and geographies.
- Experience with outsourced service models, vendor management, and financial performance tracking is a plus.
- Deep entrepreneurial mindset, with the ability to execute at both strategic and operational levels.
- Excellent communication skills—able to distill complexity into clear, actionable insights for senior leaders.
Responsibilities
- Shape and execute a comprehensive category strategy for a portfolio of external capabilities, ensuring strong alignment with business needs.
- Act as a thought partner to practices, CSTs, and senior leadership, influencing how external resources are integrated into client service.
- Oversee capability deployment across diverse use cases, optimizing access, engagement, and impact.
- Establish governance mechanisms and best practices in contracting, risk mitigation, and commercial models.
- Manage and optimize five service lines, ensuring that external providers deliver high-value solutions to the firm.
- Oversee vendor strategy, contract negotiations, and commercial management for key outsourcing relationships.
- Drive emerging generative AI (gen AI) initiatives, ensuring the firm maximizes efficiency and innovation through these advancements.
- Lead high-impact strategic initiatives, driving both Firm-wide priorities and internal initiatives that enhance eC&I’s effectiveness.
- Develop and implement scalable models for high-value capabilities, balancing cost, risk, and client impact.
- Spearhead innovation efforts, integrating gen AI capabilities and data-driven insights to enhance decision-making and unlock new efficiencies.
- Provide strategic oversight of core eC&I operations, ensuring financial health, governance adherence, and process excellence.
- Guide the work of the Chassis team to ensure seamless execution of external capability sourcing, deployment, and tracking.
- Support the development and refinement of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the eC&I Single Source of Truth for sourcing, deployment, and risk governance.
- Oversee financial KPIs, budget monitoring, cost-recovery models, and performance tracking, ensuring financial discipline and strategic investment allocation.
- Engage with Legal, Risk, Finance, and Practices to ensure strong alignment and compliance across all operational functions.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with outsourced service models, vendor management, and financial performance tracking is a plus.