We support the executive management in more than 100 strategic projects annually – worldwide and in all business areas and functions. Our main focus lies in the areas of strategy design, organizational development and performance optimization.

The size of our project teams can range from two to ten consultants depending on the topic and situation. A team generally consists of three to five consultants.

The Business Consulting team is part of the “Strategy & Business Consulting” unit, which combines the overarching strategy development and internal management consultancy of the Bayer Group.

As one of the largest internal management consulting organizations, Business Consulting is structured like an external consulting firm: our 160 consultants are present worldwide with offices in Leverkusen, Germany; Whippany, New Jersey (serving NYC) and St. Louis, Missouri, United States; São Paulo, Brazil; and Shanghai, China. Functionally we are organized in departments along the value chain – Research & Development, Product Supply, Marketing & Sales and Corporate Strategy & Business Transformation.

The team comprises outstanding young professionals and experienced employees with a wide range of academic and cultural backgrounds. Lastly, we are proud to report a good balance between male and female consultants.

Business Consulting is organized in departments along the value chain so that we can offer optimal, tailored support.

Research & Development (R&D)

Research & Development develops strategies and optimizes processes in research, development and portfolio management. At the same time, digital innovations are developed to strengthen Bayer through a coordinated approach in the areas of R&D as well as flexibility and growth. This is achieved on the basis of alliances and collaborations in R&D and through process reengineering, organizational design and performance improvement. Typical tasks include:

·         Developing R&D strategies to enhance competitiveness and leverage new fields of activity

·         Process analysis and identification of improvement potential

·         Implementation of strategies and process adjustments

·         Digitalization and optimization of processes and procedures

·         Development and implementation of external and open innovation concepts

·         Analysis of outsourcing potential in the various R&D functions

·         Cross-indication and cross-technology development of logics for the prioritization of portfolios

·         Cross-functional forecasts for resource and budget requirements based on current and expected future portfolios

Product Supply (PS)

Our Product Supply team specializes in the optimization of the entire value chain – from designing our supplier relationships to developing the industry strategy and manufacturing footprint design to improving customer-oriented sales processes with a strong focus on digitalization.

Other tasks include:

·         Increasing procurement quality

·         Manufacturing strategies and organizational development

·         Optimizing the Bayer production network

·         Local site optimization

·         Designing Bayer’s divisional supply chain strategies

·         Implementing ultra-modern planning processes in various regions and functions

Marketing & Sales (M&S)

The main tasks of Marketing & Sales are to support market research and to develop, optimize and implement strategies for M&S, as well as go-to-market strategies.

Other tasks include:

·         Market research / knowledge of customers, segmenting and portfolio analysis (“understanding value creation”)

·         Developing M&S strategies (“defining value creation”)

·         Optimizing, implementing and activating go-to-market strategies (“delivering value creation”)

·         Controlling, steering and improving the performance of M&S (“monitoring value creation”)

Corporate Strategy & Business Transformation (CS&BT)

Our aim at Corporate Strategy & Business Transformation is to support Bayer and its corporate functions in the development of winning strategies and to accompany them in specific transformations.

We support our clients in:

·         Designing and implementing strategies and operating models

·         Assessing and optimizing processes as well as organizational and management structures

·         Major transformation project activities in the areas of integration, separation, performance improvement and digital transformation 

People Management & Operations (PM&O)

The People Management & Operations team is not a consulting department, but rather comprises the internal self-management of Business Consulting. Depending on internal need, you also have the chance to join PM&O as a new employee or an intern – for example in our recruiting team. We publish these as specific job advertisements. 

As a partner to Business Consulting, People Management & Operations promotes innovative processes and best-practice solutions in the area of human resources management and operations. Our vision is to understand the needs and situation of our clients, and to bring new ideas in line with Bayer guidelines or offer compliant alternatives. As a competent, global and diverse team, we are reliable partners for the development of our consultants. Our service enables consultants to concentrate on their core tasks.

Our main tasks break down into two areas:

People life cycle:

·         Recruiting

·         Marketing

·         Personnel development

·         Intern and alumni management

Project life cycle:

·         Project management services including staffing

·         General management for Strategy & Business Consulting 

·         Knowledge management & research

As a globally operating in-house consultancy, we maintain offices in Leverkusen, Germany; Whippany, New Jersey (serving NYC) and St. Louis, Missouri, United States; São Paulo, Brazil; and Shanghai, China.

Our working hours are generally between 9 a.m. and 6/7 p.m. Despite our project-oriented and dynamic work, we are convinced that a healthy balance between work and personal life is the foundation for lasting performance and success.

Employees can work from home at any time provided they coordinate with the project team and their supervisor.

Part-time employment is possible in consultation with your supervisor. You also have the opportunity to take a sabbatical in case of outstanding performance.

We welcome and actively support parental leave – for both mothers and fathers. We try to make the re-start as pleasant as possible for colleagues who take parental leave for a longer period. Part-time employment is also possible here in consultation with the supervisor.

An average of 30% of projects each year require business travel. The amount of business travel depends on the respective project location:

-       In the case of projects being implemented close to your office site, you live at home during the duration of the project.

-       In the case of projects taking place on the same continent, employees generally work on site with the client from Monday through Thursday and return home on weekends

-       When working on projects further away, employees can travel home every six to eight weeks.

Already after signing your contract and prior to your official start, you will often be invited to a first meeting or to team events to get to know your new colleagues.

In your first week after you join the company, so-called “onboarding” takes place in which you receive an introduction to S&BC and become acquainted with your new work environment and with all processes and systems. During the onboarding week, you will also learn more about your first project and get to know your project colleagues.

Functionally we are organized in departments along the value chain – Research & Development, Product Supply, Marketing & Sales and Corporate Strategy & Business Transformation. Accordingly, each employee is assigned to a certain department.

We nonetheless make sure especially at the beginning of your career at Business Consulting that you gain comprehensive experience in a variety of topics and organizational units.

With increasing experience you can then specialize in a focus area, which is particularly beneficial as preparation for the transfer to a subsequent position.

As regards your project deployments, you have the opportunity to specify preferences on matters such as subject area, location, team size, etc. Our staffing management will then attempt to take into account at least one of your preferences.

As we support the Bayer Group’s executive management worldwide with strategic projects, opportunities to work on projects outside Germany continually present themselves.

It is also possible to complete a longer-term assignment at one of our foreign office sites.

You immediately assume responsibility at Business Consulting as a young professional and get the opportunity to get in contact with clients at an early stage, particularly compared with external consulting firms. One example are independent work packages that you advance in direct cooperation with clients.

In this way we want you to be able to develop rapidly, particularly as pertains to dealing with clients and establishing a network for your career. It goes without saying that you receive continuous support here from your project manager and your caretaker.

At Business Consulting you’ll benefit from an open feedback culture to support your professional development: during day-to-day business you will regularly receive feedback on your strengths and development requirements from your team members. This is underscored by a regular “development dialogue” with your disciplinary supervisor, with whom you discuss your medium- to long-term development plan.

Ten training days are available to you each year. Based on your interests and development ambitions, you and your supervisor will jointly develop your individual training plan each year that you can fill from a broad range of internal and external training options.

In accordance with our task of developing future managerial employees for the Bayer Group, your supervisor and the rest of the leadership team will support you at all times in the attainment of your individual goals, interests and time plans - i.e. through regular orientation conversations or targeted assistance to achieve a desired subsequent position.

We gladly support advanced educational degrees (e.g. MBA, doctorate) by granting a leave of absence.

We also offer outstanding project managers and directors a mentoring program to further promote their career development. The mentor is an experienced Bayer manager outside of S&BC who helps the employee further specify the intended subsequent position, understand the requirements and expand his or her network of contacts in this direction.

Offers for a line function often result from project assignments, support from your supervisor and/or the internal jobs pool at Bayer.

Most employees choose and transfer to their preferred subsequent position after around three to five years at Strategy & Business Consulting. Overall, about one-third of our team “rotates” to other positions within the Group each year. However, you decide when you want to transfer, and alternatively you can also choose to advance your career within Business Consulting.

Our alumni transfer to all business areas and functions of Bayer, both in strategically and operationally oriented roles and often in leadership positions.

As we are part of Bayer’s career system, you will generally take the career progress you have achieved at BC with you to your next position.

Your development within Business Consulting follows established career levels that are oriented around conventional corporate consultancy career models and that lead step-by-step to more expertise and responsibility.

You therefore have the option of transferring to a subsequent position or embarking on a longer-term career at Business Consulting.

The Strategy positions are generally staffed with candidates from within Bayer, which is why there are no positions in these teams at least for people joining from outside the company. However, those who join Business Consulting and perform will have good prospects of transferring to one of the Strategy teams.

We are always looking for interns, recent graduates and experienced hires with good English skills, very good academic and/or professional achievement records, international experience, and a willingness to travel on a project basis.

As a major life science company, Bayer has an international culture and uses English as business language. The S&BC team comprises more than 25 different nationalities, for example.

German language skills therefore are not required. Only good English skills are essential.

Please apply exclusively through the application portal at our careers website:

-       German Office

-       North America Office

-       Latin America Office

-       Asia-Pacific Office

Enrolled students have the opportunity to apply as “interns.” Recent graduates should apply with us as “consultants.” Those with moderate professional experience can consider a position as a “senior consultant.” Those with more extensive career experience may be interested in a position as a “project manager,” “senior project manager” or “director.”

Please apply in English with the following documents:

-       Cover letter

-       Curriculum vitae

-       Overview of university and school performance

-       Internship certificates and/or letters or recommendation (if available)

We generally hire all year round. Please submit your application at least three to four months in advance so that we can enable you to join us on your desired starting date.

Non-E.U. candidates who require a visa should apply at least four months in advance so that we can enable them to begin working on their preferred date.

We carefully examine your documents after receiving them.

If this first step culminates in a positive decision, the further process depends on which career level we would hire you at:

The individual elements of the application process roughly comprise:

·         Analytical test: you interpret data with regard to what statements can or cannot be derived from it.

·         Telephone interview: you and we have the opportunity to get to know one another and clarify any remaining questions about your written application.

·         Biographical interview: you describe your motivation and goals, as well as any experience you’ve acquired. Internship candidates additionally present a previously prepared self-introduction.

·         Group exercise: you are part of a project team that selects the company’s future strategic priorities.

·         Case interview: based on a randomly selected topic that is not determined by your previous experience, you show us how you analyze, form hypotheses and develop possible solutions for a problem.

·         Presentation interview: you prepare a presentation at short notice. You are immediately presented with a topic, which is based on your previous experiences. Following your presentation, you discuss it with the audience.

·         Roleplay (behavioral interview): you take part in a role-playing exercise with a BC employee.

·         Expert dialogue: specialist discussion with a BC employee about a current project or functional topic.

All our job interviews are conducted by a carefully selected team of Business Consulting employees who work at different hierarchical levels and in various specialist disciplines and departments.

Our job interviews are intended to serve as a dialogue between you and us. Not only are you applying for a position with us, we are also applying to secure your services. You therefore should not hesitate to use these conversations to ask questions and thus learn as much as possible about your conversation partners, our work atmosphere and Business Consulting in general.

Employees with permanent contracts can be granted a lump sum from Bayer’s relocation service.

In the case of internships, we will be happy to ask current interns and employees whether they might need someone to subsequently take over their accommodations for the period of your internship once they have moved out

Watch the following video from one of our experienced interviewers to find out how you can best prepare for our case interviews.

We offer internships throughout the year.

The minimum duration of an internship is three months, or four months for non-E.U. students.

It goes without saying that we offer interns competitive compensation. Here we do not distinguish between obligatory and voluntary internships.

This is basically possible but depends on the needs of the respective office. Please respond to the corresponding job posting by the office of your choice.

We’re pleased when interns want to remain connected with Bayer once their internship has ended. We include very good interns in our bonding program, which comprises invitations to special events and an abbreviated application process for permanent positions at a later time.

In combination with a regular internship, it is possible in selected individual cases for Business Consulting to oversee a thesis. Here it must be kept in mind, however, that the topic definitely has to be selected independently and coordinated with the project manager, and the thesis written outside of working hours.