Market sizing at speed
Sizing carries more weight here than anywhere else. We drill it until the structure and the arithmetic are automatic, then work on the judgement calls that separate a good estimate from a defensible one.
Firm guides / Strategy&
Strategy& in the Middle East
One of the longest-established consulting firms in the region. How it recruits, why its cases are unlike MBB's, what the job pays, and where candidates lose the offer.
New to consulting in the region? Start with the complete guide.
Strategy& has been active in the Middle East since the 1970s and opened its first regional office in Abu Dhabi in 1993, which the firm describes as the first office of a global management consultancy in the region. That long history shows in its client base: relationships with governments and institutions that predate many of its competitors' arrival.
Where the offices are
Six offices: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Beirut, Riyadh, Cairo and Doha. Abu Dhabi came first in 1993, Beirut and Riyadh in 1998, and Doha most recently. The Riyadh office moved to Laysen Valley in 2025. Beirut has grown into one of the largest Strategy& offices anywhere in the world, which makes the firm unusual among top-tier firms, most of which concentrate entirely in the Gulf.
The six offices
The widest regional footprint of any strategy firm covered here, stretching beyond the Gulf into the Levant and North Africa.
Base map: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
The firm's scale in this region
6offices in the region
916employees in the region
68regional partners
1970sfirst active here
~$250mestimated regional revenue
~$275krevenue per employee
Offices, partner count and history are published by Strategy&, which also reports more than 1,000 staff and 56 nationalities across the region. The headcount shown here is a market estimate and sits a little below the firm's own published figure. Revenue is also an estimate. Headcount covers all staff in the region, not consulting staff alone.
Where the firm works in the region
Strategy& traces its lineage to Booz Allen Hamilton, separated as Booz & Company in 2008, and joined the PwC network as Strategy& in 2014. It is the only at-scale strategy firm sitting inside a professional services network, which shapes both the work it wins and how projects are staffed.
Strategy& is not PwC Consulting. The two are separate businesses inside the same network, with different brands, offices, partners, recruiting processes and pay. Strategy& runs no online test and market sizing heavy cases; PwC Middle East Consulting runs a conventional Big 4 process. Applying to one does not put you in the running for the other. See our Big 4 strategy guide for how the four networks compare.
Where the firm is strongest here:
- Public sector, the largest share of regional work and the firm's historic strength
- Private equity and commercial due diligence, a solid and growing practice
- Telecommunications, where the firm has a long regional track record
- Economic policy and research through the Ideation Center, its Middle East think tank
The legacy advantage. Five decades of regional work, and an office network built from 1993 onwards, left Strategy& with client relationships that are older and deeper than most competitors can claim. If you are asked why Strategy& rather than MBB, that history is the strongest honest answer available to you.
Who leads the offices
Worth knowing before you network. A specific, informed approach to the right person beats a generic one every time.
| Role | Leadership | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy& globally | George Sarraf, Global Leader | Came up through the Middle East business, which says something about the region's weight inside the firm |
| United Arab Emirates | Chadi N. Moujaes, Partner | UAE public and private sector |
Leadership changes. Check the firm's regional people page before you reach out.
The recruiting process
- Application and CV screen. Where most candidates are cut.
- First round. Case and fit interviews.
- Final round. Same format, more senior interviewers.
There is no online test. Unlike McKinsey with Solve, BCG with Casey and Bain with SOVA, Strategy& runs no assessment stage in this region. That sounds like good news, and partly it is, but it means the CV screen and the first round carry all of the filtering. There is no test result to compensate for a weak CV.
What the case is actually like here
Strategy& cases sit further from the MBB template than any other firm covered here, in two ways.
The content leans to market sizing and profitability, and to real public sector problems drawn from work the firm has actually done. A typical prompt might be a ministry looking to increase tourist numbers in Saudi Arabia, rather than an anonymised corporate scenario.
The format is freer. There is no rigorous flow through structure, brainstorming, maths, judgement and synthesis. The case moves where the conversation takes it, and candidates who have drilled a fixed sequence find themselves without the scaffolding they are used to.
What this means for your preparation. Practise market sizing until it is fast and automatic, and build a working knowledge of regional market sizes, industries and trends. Then practise holding your ground in cases that do not follow a script, because that is the actual test.
Where candidates lose
- Slow market sizing. Speed matters here more than at the MBB firms, because sizing shows up more often and carries more weight.
- Lack of resourcefulness. When the case moves somewhere unexpected, interviewers watch how you improvise rather than whether you knew the answer.
- Losing structure in unstructured cases. The format is loose; your thinking is not allowed to be.
- Not knowing the region. Market sizes, industries and trends across the GCC. This is explicitly assessed and it is where non-regional candidates are exposed.
Career path
| Level | What the level is | Typical time to next level |
|---|---|---|
| Associate | Undergraduate entry | 2 to 3 years |
| Senior Associate | MBA and advanced degree entry, or promotion from Associate | 2 to 3 years |
| Manager | Runs the team and the client day to day | 2 to 3 years |
| Director | Owns client relationships, starts selling | 2 to 3 years |
| Partner | Full ownership of accounts and practice areas |
Strategy& sits inside the PwC network, so the ladder follows PwC titles rather than the MBB convention. Note there is no Senior Manager level, which shortens the path: the firm states that election to the partnership in under a decade is achievable, putting it among the faster tracks covered here.
Compensation in the Middle East
Broadly in line with Bain: slightly ahead at the early levels, slightly behind at the senior ones. Gulf packages are paid tax-free.
| Level | Total compensation, UAE offices |
|---|---|
| Associate | AED 295,000 to 370,000 |
| Senior Associate | AED 645,000 to 810,000 |
| Manager | AED 775,000 to 1,200,000 |
| Director | AED 1,100,000 to 1,500,000 |
| Partner and above | AED 1,500,000 and above |
Pay rises steeply within the Manager and Director bands as responsibility grows. Packages include a performance bonus, housing allowance and health insurance on top of base.
Beirut pays 15 to 20% less. The figures above are for the UAE offices. Unlike the other five firms in our guides, which pay 7 to 15% more in Riyadh, Strategy& does not pay a meaningful Riyadh premium, so UAE and Saudi packages sit broadly in line. Beirut, which is one of the firm's largest offices anywhere, pays 15 to 20% below the UAE at the same level. See the Riyadh market guide.
Ranges reflect offers our candidates have received alongside market data. They vary by office, entry level and prior experience, so treat them as indicative rather than a quote.
Our Strategy& cases
We hold 35+ Strategy& case prompts reported from interviews in this region, more than for any other firm in the bank. They sit alongside 135+ cases and prompts across MBB and Tier 2, with Win Guides covering structuring and fit.
How we prepare candidates for Strategy&
Our coaches are ex-MBB Senior Managers and Associate Partners who led interviewing and recruiting for their firms in this region.
Unstructured cases
Mocks that deliberately refuse to follow a sequence, so you learn to keep your own structure when the interviewer provides none.
Regional fluency
Market sizes, industries and trends across the GCC. We build the working knowledge that Strategy& interviewers assume and that most candidates lack.
Common questions
Does Strategy& use an online test?
No. There is no online assessment stage in this region. The process runs from CV screen straight into interviews, which makes the CV and the first round carry more weight than at firms that filter with a test.
What kind of cases does Strategy& give?
Market sizing and profitability feature heavily, alongside real public sector problems drawn from actual regional work, such as a ministry looking to increase tourist numbers in Saudi Arabia. Expect a freer format than MBB, without a rigorous step-by-step flow.
Do I need to know the Middle East market?
More than at any other firm here, yes. Familiarity with regional market sizes, industries and trends is explicitly assessed. A candidate who cannot ballpark the population of Saudi Arabia or name the main sectors of the UAE economy will struggle.
Is Strategy& part of PwC?
Yes. The firm traces back to Booz Allen Hamilton, separated as Booz & Company in 2008, and joined the PwC network as Strategy& in 2014. It is the only at-scale strategy firm inside a professional services network.
How does Strategy& pay compare with MBB in the Gulf?
Broadly in line with Bain. Slightly higher at the early levels and slightly lower at the senior levels, which makes it competitive for graduates and marginally behind MBB for partners.
Targeting Strategy& in the Gulf?
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