We recently sat down with Matt Mancuso, a Managing Director at L.E.K. Consulting to hear about the firm's Life Sciences strategy consulting work - with a particular focus on the Link to L.E.K. program. Link to L.E.K. is a virtual two-day immersive experience for advanced degree candidates to experience consulting and get to know the firm.
The application deadline for Link to L.E.K. is March 27 - work with our team on a custom resume edit before applying.
Listen here or on your favorite podcast channel. See a full transcription below.
[optin-monster slug="mfmzt6jhpqtviy9rqitx" followrules="true"]
Additional Links:
- Apply to Link to L.E.K. (deadline: March 27)
- See Job Openings at L.E.K. (all levels)
- Get a Custom Resume Edit Before Applying to L.E.K.
- Get Expert Help to Prepare for Consulting Interviews
Transcription: Job Opportunities in Life Sciences Strategy Consulting at L.E.K. Consulting
MC
We are so pleased to have with us today Matt Mancuso, a Managing Director at L.E.K. Matt, thank you for joining us.
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Of course, Stephanie. Thank you so much! I'm a huge fan of Management Consulted. I used it a decade ago when I was looking for my position. I still check in occasionally to see what's going on. I appreciate all you guys do. Thanks for the time.
MC
I love that. Thank you for sharing! Here off the bat, we would love to just get to know you a little bit better. Let's do that from a personal angle. We know that you're in the management strategy consulting space. In an alternate universe, if you had to choose a completely different career, what would it be?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, I think if I had to do it all over again, and I were to do something different, if there was a universe where I was not a management consultant, I think I'd want to start a company.
I had spun out my thesis work into a startup. And that was an exciting experience. It was one of the things that led me here, that taste of the business world, and going about building something on my own would really be the other path I would investigate if I could live two lives here.
MC
Understood. Do you feel like you get to build something of your own even within LEK?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Absolutely. Yeah, and I'm happy to talk about more. Within LEK, I really spend a lot of my time focused on advanced modalities in biopharma. So gene therapies, cell therapies, gene editing, and I kind of get to grow up my own business there. And I think it's one of the things that's excited me about L.E.K. - that I've had my own little corner of the universe where I get to build something. It's one of the things that keeps me coming back after all these years.
MC
Absolutely. I understand that you're located in Boston. It's March, so it's still winter in Boston. What are some of the things that you like to do in the winter in Boston to survive?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
You've got that right. Yeah, it's cold up here. So I mean, part of learning to live in Boston is learning to live with the cold, so I spend a lot of time outside skiing. When I'm not outside skiing right now, my life's essentially dominated by my two and a half year old son. I spend all day chasing that little guy around and it's the highlight of my life.
My wife and I, we get out when we can, but that's really our big one right now. Back when I started my career, perhaps a little more relevant for the listeners, I spent a lot of time in the winter training for triathlons, checking out nice restaurants and checking out new bars. And I think that's what I'd be doing if I were at the start of my career and a little bit younger again.
MC
Well, that journey and pathway over time, it sounds like you've found your happy place. I would love if you could tell us a little bit more about that. If you could provide a brief overview of your background, and what's led you to your current role.
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, of course, and thank you for the opportunity. So regarding my background, I'm now a Managing Director at LEK, I spend all of my time in our Life Sciences practice. I started off here as a Life Sciences Specialist, that's our entry PhD position here, way back in 2014.
I began in our New York office, I spent some time in Singapore, and I'm now based out of Boston. I came here from Cornell University, I was a PhD scientist and studied in biomedical engineering. And as I mentioned earlier, as I got towards the end of that, I spun out my thesis research into a startup on point of care diagnostics. That experience really led me here.
So in my current role, I'm now responsible for all parts of advising our clients, I do everything from originating and selling work, to executing on work, to building our team, to generating intellectual property, and ensuring that LEK is the type of place where people want to work today and in the future.
If I had to think of my job in two simple points, I would I would make it two-fold. One, I do everything I can to keep and earn the trust of my clients. And two, I look to build a team to help me do that. While I work across Life Sciences, I alluded to earlier, my own personal world is really here in advanced modalities and bio analytics. I really think that we can continue to push the boundaries of what Life Science consulting is and the type of data and applications that we use to assist our clients. And so, me personally, that's where I found my home and spend a lot of time today.
MC
I'm sure that there's a lot of folks listening who are broadly interested in Life Science consulting. Can you give a high level description of what that means - the type of work and the clients that you serve?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, of course. Broadly, Life Sciences strategy consulting really involves advising our clients on all aspects of their business, and helping them plan for future growth and success. We often work with general management, the C suite and others where costs and revenues come together to help them plan their strategy.
Here at LEK, we support clients essentially across the spectrum of Life Sciences. So large pharmaceutical companies, emerging and mid-sized biotech companies, diagnostic and research tool companies, and all the pharma services that support these, so contract research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations, and everything in the ecosystem of drug development. As far as our specific services go, we spend a lot of time thinking about long-term corporate strategy. So this is how companies think about their product portfolios, their technology portfolio, their capabilities, and their talent strategies. Everything kind of right up there at the C suite.
We spend a lot of time on franchise and product strategies. So for a specific pharmaceutical or medical device, 'what's the path to market look like? What's the opportunity? How do you get it approved? What trials do you need to run? What patients are you going to help and in what ways are you going to improve their lives?'
Spend a lot of time on transaction support, how we help clients think about business development, mergers and acquisitions and the like, from both the buy and sell side. 'How should they partner at things they've developed, and what else can they acquire and bring in house?'
And lastly, we spend a little bit of time on operational and planning support. How companies can think about their organization, their structure, their performance and their talent growth. I think one of the things that really sets LEK apart is that we excel in leveraging our breadth of expertise and solving these unique problems in new markets or complex situations that require a nuanced or pragmatic solution. We're then very good at applying that to other companies along the value chain. So we might help emerging biopharma solve their problem. We can then leverage some of what we learned to help the people who support them, or the large pharma companies apply those findings. So when I think about what Life Sciences strategy consulting is, it's a large breadth of work, but it's projects that look like what I just described across all of those client types.
MC
Thank you for bringing color to that. I appreciate it. And today, we're really excited to help shine a spotlight on L.E.K.'s summer program Link to L.E.K., which is for PhD, post-doc, and MD candidates. The application deadline is coming up soon, March 27.
I understand that the firm started Link to LEK in 2020. Can you tell us a little bit more about what the program is and who are the right people to sign up for it?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, thank you, Stephanie. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about it. So you've got all your facts, right. Link to LEK was started in 2020. It's a two day immersive program for PhDs, MDs, PharmDs and other advanced degree holders who are interested in our Life Sciences Specialist role.
This role - we call it an LSS - is a track defined specifically for our advanced degree holders and it's central to a lot of our industry-leading Life Sciences work. The program itself is designed to give participants an opportunity to do two things: to try out the job a little bit in a fun two day format, and to get to know LEK a little bit better. I think we have a lot to offer and we really want to get in front of as many folks as we can and introduce them to what strategy consulting is, why we do it, what we like about it, and hopefully transfer some of that excitement to those candidates.
When I looked at consulting back in 2012, 2013 or so, this program didn't exist and other programs similar to this were only in their infancy and I'm excited to see how far the field's come in getting advanced degree candidates into strategy consulting. I think we have a lot to add, and I'm excited about what the path forward could look like.
Resume Tips for Landing an L.E.K. Consulting Job
Are you considering applying to LEK or another top ranked firm? Then you need to put your best foot forward in your application. Most firms extend an offer to less than 10% of applicants, which means that your resume needs to be kick ass. Your consulting resume should do two things. One, highlight the relevant to consulting transferable skills that you've gained over the course of your career. This includes skills like research, analysis, leadership, stakeholder management, and more.
Two, it should showcase the specific impact you've achieved in each role. Because firms don't really care that you've done a bunch of cool stuff. They want to see why it mattered. So don't just list a bunch of tasks, but use metrics to highlight the quantitative and qualitative results you've achieved.
If you know your resume needs help, you're in luck. Our expert team helps hundreds of candidates each year prepare their application materials. Over two rounds of edits, we'll rewrite your resume with you, so you stand out in your applications, see the link in the show notes to purchase a custom resume edit. Now let's get back to this interview.
MC
As a PhD yourself, you know that the value of people with "non-traditional" backgrounds bring a lot to the consulting table. What are the ways that you look at that at LEK in terms of diversifying your talent base beyond just business or econ majors?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, absolutely. I think at this point in time, PhD candidates and others are becoming pretty prolific in the consulting world. And, you know, if I had to think about what value we add, and what's different, I'd say a few things. So first, I'd say the number of students pursuing advanced degrees increase every year for as long as I've looked at the data, and it's simply critical that we seek out these folks, because this is where some of the best folks are going.
When I look at some of the brightest folks around, they're PharmDs, they're MDs, they're PhDs. There's no ability to avoid recruiting the best wherever they may be, and this is a big talent pool. When I think specifically about the diversity and the value that they bring, when I think about what's added the most value on my projects and my work over the last decade or so, there's not one archetype or competency that succeeded or that we're looking for.
But it's really been about the the mix of viewpoints. And, you know, as I thought through this question, I think, it's only Tuesday this week and I've already had an excellent conversation with one of my PhD colleagues about the intricacies of gene therapy, immunogenicity, and this gentleman's knowledge went way beyond my own as far as that specific topic. I worked with one of my PharmDs on my team about how to think about the flow of pharmaceuticals to the patient, and what some of the value chain might look like from a manufacturing and operations perspective and I learned things I didn't know. I worked with one of my medical doctor colleagues, to think about adverse events and how to manage these in a complex trial.
So, when I think about the value advanced degree holders bring, it's actually not one thing, it's many things from a diverse set of backgrounds. If I had a list of specifics, I'd say I often go to my advanced degree holder colleagues when I need help with technical ability or breaking down complex ideas into more digestible steps. Communicating science to non-scientists is another big area where often I find my colleagues pitch in.
But most valuably, it's simply finding some of the best and brightest folks out there who are driven to solve tough problems, wherever they may lie. And when I find them in advanced degree programs, that's where I want to get them from.
MC
You just listed a couple of key qualities and skills right there, breaking down complex scientific problems, speaking science, quote, unquote, to non-science people. Are there any other skills, qualities, or attributes that LEK prioritizes when examining candidates for Link to LEK?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, it's a great question. For Link to LEK and simply LEK and Life Sciences strategy broadly, I'd probably think of two or three buckets of skills. I think of intellectual curiosity and drive. Most of my colleagues here really love to learn and love to learn new things. And that's something that keeps them coming back day after day. I think of critical thinking and the ability to prioritize tasks. We have tough problems, and we have a lot of them and people who can navigate that well do very well here. And I think of communication and interpersonal skills. As I alluded to earlier, we communicate a lot on a lot of complex topics, and that's important.
We also work together in close-knit teams, and for long hours. So, being able to get along with your colleagues is really a critical part of the job. So I think those three buckets, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and communication would be the three I put the most emphasis on.
MC
Absolutely. The application deadline is coming soon for this program, Link to LEK, on March 27. I know that you'll have a lot of applicants. For those that get that interview invites, what can they expect? And do you have any tips as they prepare for the interview process?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, absolutely. So for candidates selected, the interview program for Link to LEK consists of one 45 minute strategy interview that will take place the week of April 4. Candidates will then be notified if they're accepted within approximately a week. The best advice if you asked for some advice would be probably two points.
One, practice over the phone a little or just ensure you practice out loud a little. I don't personally think there's a need to go crazy preparing for these sorts of interviews. But I do think experience with a handful of cases is going to make the whole thing experience much more pleasant. This isn't meant to be a stress test interview or anything like that. It'll be a pleasant conversation. But I find that it makes the interviewees more at ease if they practice. So that's point one.
Point two, I would simply suggest everyone consider what you want out of your future. I assume many of you are sitting at a point in time at which you're investigating a lot of different options. I think LEK is a great one, and if you get the chance to interview, come prepared with some questions on how we can help get you there. I think this process is as much about you getting to know us as it is about us getting to know you. Keep that in mind and come prepared to ensure that you know what you want to learn from us.
MC
Love it. We'll make sure to link to the application. Maybe there are some people still on the fence. Do you have any words of advice for anyone who's not sure whether or not to apply?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, of course. Thank you, Stephanie. If I had to give everyone one word of advice at this point, I'd simply say "apply!" When I was going through this process myself many years ago, I was in the middle of spinning out my thesis research and I was very head down on that task, and one of my colleagues suggested to me that I really investigate this. What could be the harm of taking a few hours out of my day to send my resume in one more direction, reach out and speak to these folks and see what they had to offer? I didn't know it at the time, but it ended up being some of the best advice I ever got. This colleague of mine helped me find a career that I'm happy in and plan on spending many more years to come in. And it's something that I wouldn't have given a try if not prompted to. So, one word: apply.
It's a low investment bar here to give it a try. If you can get in, spend a couple of days giving it a try and seeing what it's like, you may like it, you may love it, maybe it's not for you. But either way, you'll know in a low investment environment. And for me, it really would have helped me hone in on something I would have loved to do even earlier.
MC
Understood. Thanks for that, Matt. And finally, I'm sure that there are some listeners who are interested in Life Sciences strategy consulting, but they're not in or have completed an advanced degree program. So can you speak a little bit about whether or not L.E.K. Consulting has full time roles that they can apply for?
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, of course. So LEK is a full services strategy consulting firm, we have over 1,500 people worldwide of all levels and ranks. I'd encourage anyone to check out our webpage for an opportunity to to apply. We have generalist roles, we have Life Science specific roles that do not require advanced degrees, and a host of other positions in our core services and supporting roles, opportunities to work in things like data science, or our healthcare insights center, and others.
Definitely take a look. We're growing, we're hiring fast right now. Even if you don't happen to be an advanced degree candidate looking to join the Link to LEK program, there are positions at every level. I should highlight our MBA hiring as well. We do a lot of hiring at the post-MBA level, if anyone currently pursuing an MBA is listening. But really around the year, we'll have positions open at any time. So check it out. Some of my best colleagues are are not the ones I'm directly appealing to in advanced degrees right now and it would be excellent to see you all apply too.
MC
Matt, thank you so much for your time today.
Matt Mancuso: L.E.K. Consulting
Yeah, thank you as well, Stephanie. I know I said it at the start. But I'm a big fan of all you guys do. I really appreciate you guys giving us the time. To the listeners, thank you all for the time as well. Excited to see some applications come in. If you have any questions, check out the website and reach out. I really appreciate the time and the opportunity and I hope you all have as much success in your careers and find as much fulfillment as I have in strategy consulting here.
Conclusion
Matt shared that those invited to interview will go through one 45 minute case interview. If you want help getting ready for cases, you can book an hour or two with one of our MBB coaches to fast-track you to case interview readiness. There's no better investment. Our coaches can help give you your first introduction to casing, simulate the full interview, or drill specifically in areas that you need help. Start here and learn more about our coaches here.