Sr. Manager @ Big 4 - a Day in the Life
I'm a Sr. Manager at Crowe. Been getting a ton of calls from Big 4 to make the switch. I'm in a fast-growing advisory practice area that tends to work on grey-hair projects. What is a day in the life of a Sr. Manager like at Big 4 firms? Please describe your team structure, responsibilities and common tasks. Also please state what practice area you are in. Finally, any advice? Thank you.
As a Sr. Manager at Crowe I am entrusted to own the relationship with my client. I'm my case that means I kick-off the engagement with a Private Equity MD, keep him/her up to date with periodic status, present the report out for the portion of the engagement for which I am responsible, and maintain the relationship by any ethical means necessary. Same holds true for a CEO or CFO of a portfolio client we continue on with. While we hold a strategy and relationship building role, we will also execute. Just depends on the dynamics of the engagement. The important part for me is that I am the face of Crowe to that client. I typically connect clients on LinkedIn post-engagement and check in monthly to see how things are going, and if I can help in any way (sales call) I might bill between 20-60 hours in a given week. My charge hour goal is 1,200 a year. I travel about 2.5 days per week on average (some practices are built with road warriors, mine does not require a high travel tempo consistently). My projects can range between one week and multi-year. I juggled 7 active engagements in last fiscal. That was fun. My charge hours could be higher but Crowe takes the following activities very seriously: practice management activities (update schedules, update sales pipeline, etc.), practice development activities (create / refine service offerings and collateral, develop additional toolkits, call our clients, etc.), personnel development and mentoring activities (performance management, one-on-ones with subordinates or new hires, etc.), continuing education (read, take classes, get certifications), and PTO. It is a pretty relaxed culture, but we pour everything into an engagements and really add value to our client. A couple of ancillary notes: when in the office (optional - work from anywhere policy) I can wear jeans and an oxford. On a client engagement, if the client wears jeans, we can wear jeans. I never have, but have seen it done, and is our policy. If you want to know anything else, within reason, I happy to answer.
Thank you for such a detailed description! I'm nowhere close being sr mgr but based on what I've seen, they don't manage that many engagements at once (I'm in Audit btw). I think they manage 2-3 with 1-2 public ones and 1-2 private clients. I'm not entirely sure about this but I don't think sr mgrs are expected to actively win the clients from outside. I feel like their roles are more managing and maintaining the relationship. It sounds like you're almost acting as a partner. Hope it helps at least a little.
If you could make it partner there, would you stay? Or would you prefer taking a shot at big4 partner? If neither, where would you go after big4?
I'm actually pretty happy where I'm at, and I have a good chance of making partner in the next 2-3 years. But I feel like it would be wise to research what is out there one way or the other. I have a couple of very good friends who were partners at two different Big 4 firms. But they did not have a Sr. Manager perspective, so here I am asking the community. My goal has never been to stay in consulting long-term. My original plan was to go back to industry at a C-level, which is very realistic for where I am in my career. But the longer I am in consulting the more I enjoy it. There are trade offs to be sure. At this point I am just gathering information. Thanks.
if you are happy don't leave. they won't make you a partner here you will be seen as less than equivalent to home grown managers.
Would you share yours as well? i would love to hear
Certainly, I will, yes