Back to All Staff Scott Rutherford Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company Scott Rutherford joined McKinsey in 2000, and is a leader in our Public Sector Practice, where he helps McKinsey with defense and security agencies. Now based in Washington, DC, he has been involved in more than 200 projects with both private- and public-sector institutions since joining McKinsey in 2000. In the past few years, Scott has focused on helping public-sector clients with complex issues involving strategy, organizational health, human capital, and large-scale transformation. Examples of his recent work with government agencies include: Directing an intelligence agency’s operations-improvement effort, including designing and implementing the change program; assessing talent and capability requirements; redefining accountabilities, roles, and responsibilities; and piloting a new regional concept to improve management and capture economies of scale and scope Advising a US defense agency on a strategy redesign and operational-efficiency effort that fundamentally changed its strategic processes and the focus of its major functions, as well as identified more than $300 million in IT savings Leading a year-long human-capital strategy project at a defense agency, with the goal of improving the agency’s career- and leadership-development program. This project entailed extensive diagnostic research—including internal and external interviews and focus groups—to understand the agency’s organizational health and its social and influencer networks. The team identified several areas for focused improvement that led to a new approach for developing and managing human capital. Scott has also served private-sector clients in a variety of industries including insurance, private equity, and telecommunications. In addition, he has worked with nonprofit institutions—for example, he recently helped a disaster-relief group diagnose critical strategy gaps and organizational challenges. This work led to a board-approved strategy and a major redesign of the organization. Scott holds a BA in chemistry from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He previously worked as a territory manager for Genzyme and served as an armor cavalry officer in the US Army.
