Career Progression - how do you see BD roles within MBB?

Question

I aspire to become a venture architect or a strategy designer at the design/digital branch of MBB. And I have a few questions for you:

1. How does the start-up branch of MBB (BCG in particular) compared with the traditional consulting track in terms of career progression? What's the path like?

2. I am expecting an opportunity to work in a Business and Ecosystem Development role for a digital capability center at one of MBBs. I heard that the role will likely be a combination of consulting and the BD role itself. Any idea what people in the digital capability center works on? Are BD roles a good catalyst to switch to mainstream consulting afterward?

And questions about hiring process -

3. I heard from HR I did well in the interview but I got stuck in the process (no response) after proposing my expected salary - for almost a month now. The HR said they are waiting for the line manager, what could it mean?

Answer 1

Your projects are more focused on specific topics. In BCG for example there is BCG Digital Ventures. Most of their projects focus on digital and innovation. The clients can belong to any sector.
Yes the role will have both consulting (on-project) and BD (proposal) responsibilities. However, path to general consulting is not seen much. In BCG, mainstream consulting is applicable for “expert consultants” who belong to BCG mainstream and not BCG's ventures. So say if you are part of BCG DV - you would be a BCG DV consultant, not exactly a BCG consultant.
Maybe you can ask them for more clarity on what is the hold up. Maybe its just an issue of clearance, or the line manager waiting for a major project to be sold before approving your hire.