Roles at UC

Associate

Bachelors Degree (B.E., B.Tech, BSc – Life sciences, BMS, BA, B Com etc) holders join UC as Associates. Associates work as an integral part of an engagement team and are responsible for primary research, data gathering, preliminary analysis and preparing deliverables (e.g. presentation slides). Associates take on significant responsibility and report to Experienced Consultants.

After a while, some Associates choose to go to business school - candidates with consulting experience tend to have a higher acceptance rate in business schools. They then pursue a career outside the firm or come back to the Universal fold. Other Associates might choose to continue working at the Firm and, after ~2 years of experience seek to become Associate Consultants.

Associate Consultant / Consultant

• MBA's fresh out of business school or having recently procured a Masters degree (non-MBA). 1-2 years of work experience would be useful join UC as Associate Consultants.
• MBA’s with 3-4 years work experience (Pre/Post MBA) join UC as a Consultant.

Associate Consultant / Consultants are an integral part of an engagement team and play an active role in all aspects of an engagement including conducting of interviews, organising and conducting research, building analytical frameworks and presenting results of work to the client and senior colleagues at the Firm.

Associate Consultants / Consultants take on significant responsibility, report directly to the project manager, have the opportunity to work in teams and yet be able to shine as individuals.

Over a period of 2-3 years, Associate Consultants / Consultants mature into assuming the role of Consultant and then to a project management role of Senior Consultants subject to, of course, the individual having demonstrated the skills required to develop and maintain an effective and professional client consultant relationship:

• Advanced levels of analytical and technical skills
• Established track record for high quality performance

Consultants have constant client and Partner contact from the first case. Consultants work on projects which expose them to a wide range of strategic business issues and processes. Promotion to Senior Consultant is merit-based and generally occurs around 2-3 years. Over 50% of our Consultant recruits made Senior Consultant in the last 2 years.

Senior Consultant

In exceptional cases, those with a Masters degree and over 5 - 6 years of work experience may be offered a position of Senior Consultant at the Firm. In most cases, however, Associate Consultants, after 3 - 4 years or Consultants after having spent 1– 2 years in the role, mature into becoming Senior Consultants.

Senior Consultants play an active role in all aspects of an engagement including structuring of client issues, planning, conducting interviews, brainstorming solutions and presenting results of work to clients. They provide thought leadership and analyze efforts, work closely with clients and communicate progress of engagements to their senior colleagues at the Firm.

Senior Consultants drive successful completion of client engagements, ensure a high quality of service, and demonstrate an advanced development of technical and analytical skills. They report directly to the engagement manager or in some cases lead engagements themselves, and develop capabilities of consultants on the team. Senior Consultants are also expected to play an important role in firm development activities, especially in the area of training.

Over a period of 3 - 4 years, Senior Consultants mature into assuming the role of Manager subject to, of course, the individual having demonstrated the skills required to develop and maintain an effective and professional client consultant relationship

• Advanced levels of analytical and technical skills
• Successful completion of client engagements
• Development of skills of professional staff
• Established track record for high quality performance

UC provides arguably the fastest route to Managers vs. our peers

Manager

In exceptional cases, those with a Masters degree and over 7 years of work experience may be offered a position of Manager at the Firm. In most cases, however, Senior Consultants, after having spent 3 - 5 years in the role, mature into becoming Managers.

Managers are experienced hands with a track record as successful engagement leaders. They undertake larger engagement management responsibilities and manage a number of client engagements. They provide thought leadership, set the tone of engagements, shape research and analyse efforts, work closely with clients to ensure that engagements reach successful completion within time and budgets. They also ensure that the client agenda is met.

Managers report directly to the Management Team and develop capabilities of Associates, Consultants and Senior Consultants on the team. Managers play an important role in Firm Development activities, especially in the area of training, recruitment and business development.

Managers contribute to the Firm’s thought leadership by building deep expertise in one or two practice areas while maintaining their edge on general strategic, operational and organisational issues. They also write articles and translate engagement experiences and expertise in their respective practices into rich insights for clients and the Firm.

Over a period of 3-4 years, Managers may be invited to play the Partners role subject to, of course, the individual demonstrating required capabilities.

Partner

Partners provide the overall leadership in the Firm. The nature of the role requires a minimum of 8 – 10 years within the Firm to be eligible for invitation.

Promotions across the Firm are decided by the Management Team.

Partners are responsible for ensuring client satisfaction and employee satisfaction in the Firm. Partners work closely with client teams and ensure engagement agendas maximize client impact. Partners deepen and strengthen client relationship and also actively develop new client relationships. Partners are also responsible for the day-to-day running of the Firm and drive a number of firm development initiatives including HR, knowledge management, training and mentoring.

Partners contribute to the Firm’s thought leadership by building deep expertise in one or two practice areas while maintaining their edge on general strategic, operational and organizational issues. They also write articles and translate engagement experiences and expertise in their respective practices into rich insights for clients and the Firm.

Office Management

Office Management roles include research support, marketing support, finance /administration support, documentation support, KM support and operational support. The Office Team plays an important role in assisting the professional staff in achieving firm objectives.

The firm offers opportunities for interested candidates to function as a part of a world class office management team. A graduate degree with 1 – 2 years experience is a pre-requisite. Alternatively, those with Masters Degree also choose to work with us, especially in research and documentation support.