Senior Cost Engineer - Power & Electrical Systems
McKinsey & Company · Wrocław, Poland · 2d ago
SeniorOn-siteSoftware Engineering
Who you'll work with
Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.
In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else.
When you join us, you will have:
- Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey.
- A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
- Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
- World-class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well-being for you and your family.
What you'll do
You will act as a knowledge consultant in product development and cost engineering-related projects.
You will be based in our Wroclaw office as part of McKinsey’s Product Development and Procurement team. Your team helps clients improve product competitiveness, cost performance, and implementation outcomes through product development, value engineering, target costing, and Design-to-Value work. Your team serves clients across several sectors, including electric power, oil and gas, heavy industries, high-tech, telecom, and other engineering-intensive industries.
Your role is for your strong power and electrical engineering understanding, combined with enough mechanical and installation knowledge to work effectively across equipment, systems, and project environments. You will be working at the intersection of electrical systems, installed equipment, and cost optimization.
In this role, you will develop concrete product and cost improvement opportunities within our value engineering and target costing work. You will support teams and clients in turning technical insights into practical actions, and you will work in our Design-to-Value laboratories by analyzing, disassembling, and redesigning products and equipment to identify improvement levers in cost, design, manufacturability, and installation.
Alongside client work, you will contribute to our internal knowledge, tools, and methodologies in cost engineering, technical benchmarking, and product development.
Your background
- Master's degree in electrical engineering, power engineering, or a related engineering discipline; a strong mix of electrical and mechanical understanding are also preferred
- 5+ years of professional experience with electrical and/or power systems engineering
- Experience in cost engineering, project engineering, electrical engineering, or related roles
- Ability to identify CAPEX optimization opportunities across design, specification, sourcing, installation, and construction interfaces
- Understanding technical systems and components such as power cables, switchgear, transformers, rectifiers, and associated subcomponents and related manufacturing processes
- Understanding cable installation methods, including underground, overhead, and inside-building applications
- Strong analytical and quantitative problem-solving skills
- Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and effectively with people at all levels of an organization
- Familiarity with procurement, supplier discussions, or installation cost analysis
- Basic knowledge of industrial automation and control systems, such as Programmable Logic Controllers or Computer Numerical Control environments including Siemens SINUMERIK
- Strong business acumen and willingness to travel
- Language fluency skills to communicate complex ideas effectively, both verbally and in writing, in English