Manager, Talent Strategy

Bain & Company • Washington, DC

27d • $99,000 - $137,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, Global Talent Strategy sits at the center of the Chief Talent Officer's organization, serving as a key operational and strategic execution resource for the VP, Talent Strategy. This individual ensures that the CTO's critical forums run smoothly, that cross-functional talent priorities are tracked and communicated, and that work is delivered with strong judgment, independence, and executive readiness. Success in this role is defined less by responding to what is asked and more by anticipating what is needed — looking around corners, staying ahead of the agenda, and driving work forward before it is requested. The role operates at the intersection of program management, chief-of-staff support, and strategic project delivery — with approximately 60–70% focused on running and optimizing the talent function's core business processes and 30–40% dedicated to change-the-business initiatives including Talent Transformation and related workstreams. This fluctuates across the year depending on the current focus areas. While much of the role is operational in nature, it requires consistent strategic discretion — knowing what to surface, when, and how, and owning the answer rather than just the output. The Manager, Global Talent Strategy is proactively shaping the Talent agenda materials, flagging risks before they surface, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. The role is well-suited to a highly organized, proactive operator who can move fluidly between process management, stakeholder coordination, and strategic problem-solving.

Requirements

• 5–8 years of professional experience that includes:
• Current or recent Bain consulting experience at the Senior Associate Consultant through Consultant level, or equivalent client-facing consulting experience, strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree required.
• Strong organizational and program management skills with proven ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities and commitments.
• Proactive and independent operator — anticipates what is needed, communicates ahead of problems, and closes the loop without prompting.
• Strong analytical capability with a hypothesis-first orientation — able to define the core business question, develop a point of view on the answer before building analysis, and ensure every deliverable is decision-ready and executive-ready with minimal revision; comfortable zero-defect'ing their own work before it reaches leadership.
• Ability to absorb, retain, and connect context across workstreams over time — carries institutional knowledge forward independently and does not require prior direction to be reintroduced.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to draft executive-ready materials (talking points, agendas, briefing documents) with limited revision needed.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and comfort engaging across levels, functions, and geographies.
• High degree of professional judgment, discretion, and ability to manage sensitive information appropriately.
• Familiarity with or interest in AI tools and process innovation; comfort testing and implementing new approaches to increase efficiency.
• Deep knowledge of management consulting talent and business operating model preferred.
• Entrepreneurial and proactive — identifies what needs to happen and drives it forward without being asked.
• Structured thinker who can translate ambiguity into organized plans and communications.
• Collaborative and relationship-oriented; invests in partnerships across functions and levels.
• High accountability for commitments — reliable, consistent, and transparent about timelines and tradeoffs.
• Fast integrator of feedback — actively incorporates direction, adjusts quickly, and demonstrates sustained behavior change rather than one-time course corrections.
• Positive contributor who brings energy and models an inclusive, high-performance team culture.

Nice To Haves

• MBA or master's degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead proactive agenda-setting, material compilation, and pre-read drafting for recurring CTO talent forums: quarterly all-hands talent town halls, monthly global and regional talent syncs, bi-weekly CTO Leadership Team meetings, and the annual in-person Talent Strategy and Experience LT Meeting.
• Support broader firm forums — annual firmwide town hall, Board Meeting, GOC meeting, and GLS meeting — owning agenda material compilation, planning, stakeholder coordination, talking points drafting, and post-meeting follow-up logistics.
• Serve as connection and coordination point across talent sub-functions and regions to facilitate best-practice sharing, reduce duplication, and ensure alignment on shared priorities.
• Support development and tracking of talent priorities: receiving inputs from stakeholders, consolidating and communicating priorities, and tracking progress against them.
• Manage the ongoing hiring exception process end-to-end; lead efforts to innovate on the process, including leveraging AI tools to improve efficiency and quality of analysis.
• Support budgeting conversations and related financial tracking as needed.
• Support the Highsight benchmarking effort, including coordinating data gathering and synthesizing insights.
• Own continued operation and stakeholder communication for the Attendance Tracking Dashboard, including oversight of data accuracy and rollout of updates.
• Serve as part of the PMO for the Talent Transformation initiative: tracking initiatives and potential savings, ensuring anticipated freed capacity is realized and thoughtfully redistributed, supporting cross-regional coordination across workstreams, and contributing to implementation of selected workstreams.
• Maintain the opportunity model making necessary updates as new data is available.
• Maintain close coordination with the Finance Transformation to ensure alignment and minimize gaps.
• Support the implementation of future state operating model changes within the talent function (i.e., continued build-out of updated HR delivery models across business units and regions).
• Support ad hoc projects as they arise and fit within the team's mandate (e.g., in 2025, supported the FP travel connectivity workstream).

Benefits

• Annual discretionary performance bonus.
• 4.5% 401(k) company contribution, which increases after 3 years of service and is 100% vested upon start date.
• Bain pays 100% individual employee premiums for medical, dental and vision programs, offering one of the most comprehensive medical plans for employees without impacting your paycheck.
• Generous paid time off, including parental leave, sick leave and paid holidays.
• Fully vested 401(k) company contribution.
• Paid Life and Long-Term Disability insurance.
• Annual fitness reimbursements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level