BCG selects Grant McCabe as next A/NZ managing partner

Industrial goods sector specialist Grant McCabe has been appointed as the next managing partner of Boston Consulting Group’s Australia and New Zealand division, replacing Anthony Roediger from April.

Grant McCabe has been at global strategy consulting firm Boston Consulting Group for a little over two decades, during this time holding roles of growing seniority national and regionally.

In his new role, McCabe will lead a team of close to five dozen managing directors and 450 consultants across Australia and the recently launched New Zealand business.

McCabe kicked off his career in the engineering field following an aerospace bachelors from RMIT, first going to work for the Department of Defence’s Science and Technology national security agency before later joining General Motors as a senior engineer. A decade on and with an MBA from the Melbourne Business School under his belt, McCabe then switched to consulting, joining BCG in Melbourne in early 2002. He become a partner in 2010.

Since then, McCabe has carried out a variety of senior roles, including serving as Melbourne office lead and heading up the firm’s Industrial Goods practice for A/NZ.

He has more recently overseen BCG’s Operations practice across the Asia Pacific and acted as a coordinating officer for metals and mining clients – his primary area of industry focus, with expertise in areas such as digital operations, strategy, climate transition, change management, and large-scale transformations.

Speaking with the AFR, McCabe said that he was told of his appointment on Thursday by regional chair Neeraj Aggarwal. “I thought it was going to be a long conversation, but he just saw me and he actually gave me a big hug and said, ‘congratulations, you’ll be the new managing partner of Australia and New Zealand’. So there was no big run-up conversation. It was a hug, which was actually really delightful. Then we had our three-hour conversation about the role.”

In terms of that conversation, McCabe told the AFR that as A/NZ leader he intends to continue BCG’s ever-growing global push into climate and digital advisory. BCG has been going big on its climate & sustainability investment, and to drive its digital ambitions, the firm recently launched BCG X, a 3,000-strong tech build and design unit combining its former Digital Ventures, Platinion, and Gamma offerings.

In Australia, Boston Consulting Group has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth, with plans to open a new office in Brisbane later this year. The New Zealand wing operates out of Auckland.

McCabe replaces Anthony Roediger – who after four and a half years in the role takes up the BCG Asia Pacific chair for innovation and collaboration. A member of GFC board, McCabe also follows in the footsteps of founding BCG partner Colin Carter.

The appointment comes just one week after rival McKinsey & Company named Wesley Walden as its new A/NZ managing partner.

McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group are Australia’s top two strategy consulting firms, according to a ranking released by ConsultancyAU last year.