Boston Consulting Group promotes Wendy Mackay to Partner

Wendy Mackay has been admitted into the partnership ranks of Boston Consulting Group in Australia. The Sydney-based partner works primarily with financial institutions on a range of strategic, organisational and operational issues.

With offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is one of Australia’s top management consulting firms. The US-headquartered consultancy first touched down in the country in 1990, following a merger with Pappas, Carter, Evans and Koop (PCEK), a local management consulting firm which prior to the tie-up served as the firm’s international business partner for the Oceania region. 

In its Sydney office, which is located in the ANZ Tower, in the heart of the city’s central business district and a block from Town Hall, “boomerang BCGer” Wendy Mackay has per January 1st been promoted to Managing Director – BCG’s equivalent of Partner level at say McKinsey or a Big Four firm.

Mackay has spent the past three years at BCG, after re-joining the firm following a spell at Stockland. During her tenure at the real estate firm, one of Australia's largest diversified property companies, Mackay held several management roles in strategy and corporate development, latterly serving as General Manager of Strategy, Strategic Risk and Research. “I worked at Stockland for eight years and I then returned to consulting, she said.

After working as a Project Leader for BCG in Sydney, Mackay followed in the footsteps of “one of my favourite partners” who back in 2007 made the same switch to Stockland. “It was the right thing to do at the time, and it gave me more control over travel and hours (Mackay gave birth to two children during her time at Stockland). Mackay joined the consulting firm after completing an MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management, a postgraduate management and business school that is part of the UNSW Business.

Reflecting on her move back to BCG, she said “I returned to consulting because it is hard to match the variety and quality of opportunities you have access to.” 

Asked about how she deals with the challenging work hours – strategy consulting is notorious for its long hours during peak periods – Mackay commented, “In senior positions, work-life balance will be a challenge whatever your role, and something you always have to actively manage. I cannot speak for other consulting firms, but BCG has put a lot of effort into finding ways to make consulting work for women at all life stages. There is a lot of flexibility in how people work and in the career paths they take.”

Mackay works for clients in the financial services industry, including banks, insurance companies, asset and wealth manages, regulators and FinTechs. She is also part of BCG’s People & Organisation Change service line. BCG in Australia itself works with clients from all major industries, including energy, financial services, health care, public sector, natural resources, media and retail. 

Globally, BCG has more than 90 offices in 50+ countries, and consistently ranks among the world’s most impactful strategic consultancies, alongside rivals McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company – collectively the group are known as the ‘MBBs’.

Last year, Andrew Clark, Managing Partner of BCG for Australia and New Zealand, was named one of the region’s most influential consultants.