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Director > MD or Partner (CPA) / Principal (no-CPA)
MD is salaried (W2) without equity, some choose this voluntarily for various reasons (e.g., lower risk, health insurance) and others don’t have enough of a platform for equity partner promotion after their 3-5 years in the Partner Development Pipeline so they’re offered this instead
Some MDs make it to Equity Partner, but for most this is a terminal role - but this may change as there’s rumors of MD being a mandatory step for D’s now before Equity Partner
Rising Star
Director is the level below MD/P. MD is salaried, non equity. Partner vs principal one has CPA, one does not.
Got it. So from D, does one move starting to P or 1st to MD and then P?
Either MD or Partner
OP, the normal progression at S& is
A -> SA -> M -> SM -> D -> P
Like McK, it is up or out at every level till you get to P.
Very few S& consultants progress from D to MD. And it’s on an exceptional basis. (E.g., Not yet ready for Partner, but serve a critical delivery role and therefore an MD level makes sense).
The other reason you maybe an MD at S& is if you’re a partner level hire but for some reason need a bit of a runway (say we hired someone from industry). The MD role can be a bit of a proving ground. If this is the case, the expectation would be to go through the partner process in 2/3 years
Hope this helps
Is it accurate that directors / MD’s are probably never going to be partners? My impression at my firm is they are content staying operational focused. Directors seem like they’re people (like me) who joined consulting later in life and essentially are too old to really build a partner resume
Rising Star
That’s correct, D to MD to P at KPMG
Thanks! 2 follow on questions:
1. What are typical comp ranges for MD?
2. What is typical promotion timeline from D > MD / P (and when does a D become part of the partner development pipeline)?
1. At EY, I have heard MD starts around $400k, but cannot confirm. Honestly, not sure how high MD comp goes, but have heard from a reliable source that it can go pretty high (I know of an MD who makes more than a partner who is a competency lead).
2. I think it’s typically somewhere around 4-6 years at each level. I’m a recent promote to M (equivalent to D), so haven’t really paid this too much mind. As for the “partner dev pipeline” this isn’t official, per say, but more of a “this guy/gal is PPMD material”
I’m sure results will vary based on service line
Rising Star
Partner dev pipeline at pwc is a formal process, apparently unlike EY