Promotion to manager is often presented as just one more step in a consultant’s progression. In reality it is a change of job. Until now, you were assessed on the quality of your analyses and your slides; from now on, you will be assessed on the quality of your team’s work, on client satisfaction and on keeping the engagement within budget. Many excellent consultants stumble at this point, not for lack of skill, but because they keep doing their old job. This article describes a manager’s daily work, the promotion criteria, the signs that you are ready and the pitfalls of the first months.
What a manager does day to day
In most firms, the manager (sometimes called engagement manager, project leader or case leader) is the person who runs an engagement. The partner sells, holds the relationship with the client executive and sets the direction; the manager turns that direction into a work plan and delivers it.
A manager’s day is divided between four activities.
Steering the content. The manager builds the engagement’s storyline, splits the work into workstreams, defines the analyses to carry out and reviews every deliverable. They no longer produce the analyses themselves, or rarely: they make sure the analyses answer the client’s question.
Leading the team. They allocate work among two to five consultants, hold daily check-ins, unblock difficulties, give feedback and protect the team from needless emergencies.
Managing the client. They are the day-to-day contact for directors at the client, prepare and run steering committees, defuse tensions and adjust the scope when it drifts.
Keeping to budget and schedule. They track the time spent by the team, anticipate overruns and alert the partner before they become a problem.
On top of this come, as the French executive employment agency Apec 🔗 describes in its job profile for management consultants, cross-cutting activities that grow in importance with seniority: taking part in pre-sales and writing proposals, training colleagues, taking part in recruitment and reviewing consultants.
Promotion criteria
Each firm has its own review grid, but the criteria for moving up to manager are similar. They generally fall into four families.
- Problem solving: the ability to structure a vague question on your own, define the right analyses and formulate a solid recommendation.
- Team leadership: having already supervised one or two younger consultants on a workstream, with positive feedback from them.
- Client relationship: being able to hold a meeting with a client director without a manager’s support, and to earn their trust.
- Contribution to the firm: recruiting, training, proposals, publications, practice life.
In most firms, promotion does not reward what you already do well at your current grade: it acknowledges that you are already doing, in part, the work of the next grade. That is why senior consultants are often placed as “acting manager” on an engagement or workstream before being promoted.
The French public careers information body Onisep 🔗 describes a classic progression of two years as a junior, then two to three years as a senior taking charge of a team, before the manager grade. Timelines vary by firm and profile, and a faster or slower promotion is not in itself a negative signal.
Signs that you are ready
Even before the review committee’s decision, several signs show that a senior consultant is ready to become a manager.
- You are entrusted with preparing steering committees, and you present part of them yourself.
- Juniors come to see you before going to see the manager, and your feedback helps them.
- You anticipate: you see schedule drift and client questions coming before they arise.
- You review other people’s work more than you produce your own, and it does not frustrate you.
- The client calls you directly on substantive matters.
Conversely, if you still need to produce every important analysis yourself to feel comfortable, or if you redo juniors’ work rather than correcting it with them, the promotion risks being hard to live with, even if it is granted.
The first months in the role
A new manager’s first months are often the most intense of their career. A few practices make them safer.
Set the framework from kick-off. When the engagement starts, clarify with the partner what they expect of you, and with the team how you will work: daily check-ins, review circuits, hours, tools. A framework set early avoids many misunderstandings.
Build the storyline before the analyses. In the first week, draft a provisional version of the final deliverable, with the titles of the key slides. It guides the team’s work and lets you spot unnecessary analyses early.
Truly delegate. Hand over whole workstreams, not tasks. A consultant entrusted with a workstream progresses and frees up time for you to spend with the client.
Give regular feedback. Do not save feedback for the end-of-engagement review. Short, concrete feedback every week helps the team progress and avoids surprises.
Talk budget with the partner. A weekly check on time spent and time remaining protects you from an overrun discovered too late.
What the grade changes for a future application
The manager title changes how your CV is read, whether you stay in consulting or leave.
For a lateral application to another firm, the manager grade gives access to the same grade elsewhere, provided your CV shows the number of engagements led, the size of the teams and your commercial contribution. Recruiters check that the title matches real responsibility.
For an exit to industry, the manager grade positions you for team lead or leadership roles (head of strategy, of transformation, of business development), where a senior consultant would rather aim for a project manager or chargé de mission role.
For an application to a fund or a start-up, the grade shows an ability to manage demanding stakeholders and to deliver under pressure, two highly sought-after qualities.
The strategy consulting manager CV template shows how to present these elements: one entry per grade, quantified engagements led, and a line dedicated to reviewing and recruiting consultants. For an idea of the pay differences that come with this step, our article on strategy consultant salaries describes the structure of pay by grade.
Classic pitfalls
- Continuing to do the consultant’s job. The new manager redoes the slides at night instead of correcting the team during the day. The team learns nothing, and the manager burns out.
- Reviewing everything, all the time. Reviewing is essential, but a manager who lets nothing go out without rewriting it blocks the engagement and discourages consultants.
- Promising the client too much. To win their trust, the new manager accepts out-of-scope requests, which the team will pay for in extra hours.
- Neglecting your team’s staffing. A manager stands up for their consultants with staffing and partners; this is also how they build their reputation. Our article on staffing in a firm details this mechanism.
- Forgetting your own review. The criteria for the next grade (senior manager, principal) include more business development. It is better to prepare for it from the first year.
Keeping your CV up to date during these years is not a luxury: it is the way to keep a precise record of the engagements led and the results obtained. The ConseilCV editor lets you update it in a few minutes after each engagement, without touching the layout, with a PDF ready for a review or an application.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to become a manager in consulting?
It depends on the firm and the profile: the classic progression described by Onisep places the step after about four to five years of career. An MBA or previous experience can change this timeline.
Can you turn down a promotion to manager?
It is rare and poorly understood in firms that apply a logic of continuous progression. If you hesitate, talk to your mentor: there are sometimes expert tracks that let you progress without leading a team.
Does a manager still make slides?
Fewer, but yes. They often write the synthesis slides and key messages, and step in on the most sensitive pages. Most of the production is still entrusted to the team.
Is the manager grade the same everywhere?
No. The same title can cover different responsibilities from one firm to another. On a CV, describe what you actually do (engagements led, team size, client relationship) rather than relying on the title.