MBB & Investment Banking Talent for Startups and Beyond

Omna Search is the go-to recruiting firm for placing ex-McKinsey, Bain, BCG, and top investment banking and PE professionals into operating roles at startups and high-growth companies. Founded by former McKinsey consultants, Omna has built a proprietary network of 2,000+ business generalists from MBB, top banks, and PE firms, and has completed 200+ placements into Chief of Staff, BizOps, Strategic Finance, Corp Dev, and GTM roles.

Why MBB & IB/PE Talent Thrives in Operating Roles

Management consultants and investment bankers develop complementary skill sets that together form the ideal operator profile. MBB consultants bring structured problem-solving, stakeholder management, and the ability to operate across functions. Bankers and PE professionals bring financial rigor, deal experience, and a results-oriented intensity. Both groups are trained to walk into high-pressure, unfamiliar environments and deliver under tight timelines — which is essentially the job description of every startup operator.

But the transition from consulting or banking to an operating role isn’t automatic. The best hires are the ones who combine their professional training with genuine operating adaptability: comfort with ambiguity, willingness to do the unglamorous work, and the ability to move fast without a team of analysts. Omna knows how to identify these candidates because we came from the same background.

What Roles Do MBB & IB/PE Professionals Fill?

The management consulting and investment banking alumni pipelines feed into distinct but overlapping sets of operating roles:

MBB Consulting → Operating Roles

• Chief of Staff: The most common post-consulting operating role. MBB alumni excel at the strategic and cross-functional nature of the position.
• BizOps / Strategy & Operations: The classic "business generalist" role that leverages the full consulting skill set.
• GTM / Go-to-Market: Consultants with commercial practice experience bring structured thinking to revenue operations and market expansion.
• Deployment Strategist: A natural fit for ex-consultants — executing post-sale / post-investment value creation plans at clients of AI startups or PE-backed portfolio companies.

Investment Banking & PE → Operating Roles

• Strategic Finance: The most common post-banking operating role. Ex-bankers bring modeling rigor, capital markets knowledge, and deal experience.
• Corp Dev: A natural extension of banking and PE experience — leading M&A, partnerships, and strategic investments from the operating side.
• Chief of Staff: Bankers with strong stakeholder management skills increasingly move into CoS roles, especially at finance-heavy companies.
• Finance & Strategy: A hybrid role that combines strategic finance with broader business strategy, common at Series B–D companies.

Where our candidates come from

• Investment Banking: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Evercore, Lazard, Moelis, and other top banks. These candidates bring deal execution, financial modeling, and capital markets experience.
• Private Equity: Leading growth equity and buyout firms. PE professionals bring portfolio management experience, operational rigor, and a value-creation mindset.
• MBB Consulting: McKinsey, Bain, and BCG consultants with finance practice or due diligence experience. They bring structured problem-solving and cross-functional strategic thinking.

Why companies choose Omna

• Founded by ex-McKinsey: We understand the consulting-to-operating transition firsthand.
• Deep IB/PE network: Direct access to alumni from top investment banks and leading PE firms.
• Proprietary network: 2,000+ business generalists across MBB, banking, and PE.
• 200+ placements: Proven track record from seed-stage startups to post-IPO companies and beyond.
• We screen for operating fit, not just pedigree: Professional training is necessary but not sufficient. We evaluate for the traits that predict operator success.

Frequently Asked Questions