Bill Duffy joins Kearney as VP in operations and performance practice

Billy Duffy, a seasoned operations consultant, has joined Kearney as a vice president in the firm’s operations and performance practice. He will be based in Kearney’s Chicago headquarters.

Duffy brings three decades of experience in business transformation, operational excellence, and M&A advisory, having served clients across automotive, industrial products & services, oil & gas, chemicals, energy, and food & beverage.

He joins Kearney from West Monroe Partners, where he spent the last five years as leader of the consumer and industrial product practice. At West Monroe, he oversaw a team of 40 manufacturing, supply chain, and Industry 4.0 consultants.

Before that, Duffy spent eight years at Houston-based management consultancy Evolve Partners, where he was a VP leading operational improvement programs for energy, chemical, and manufacturing clients. He was also previously a senior manager at BearingPoint and a project manager at Celerant Consulting.

Duffy began his consulting career at Deloitte’s Chicago office. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Illinois Tool Works, where he was a business unit manager overseeing a multisite auto part manufacturing operation.

Duffy holds an MBA from Loyola University Chicago and a BS in mechanical engineering from Marquette University.

"Our clients will value Bill's deep operations expertise and proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior executives,” said Patrick Haischer, partner and Americas co-lead of the Kearney’s operations and performance practice. “His arrival strengthens our Americas team as we address clients' most crucial operational challenges ― whether it be cost reduction, capacity growth, complexity management, post-merger integration, continuous improvement, change management, or Industry 4.0 transformation.”

Duffy added, "I know that as part of Kearney's globally respected Strategic Operations team, I will have opportunities to tackle big and important challenges. I am thrilled to be here and can't wait to contribute to all the great work Kearney does."

Kearney has approximately 3,600 employees in 40+ countries and offers a wide range of management consulting services to clients across industries.

The firm last year hired Mike Chapman as leader of the media sector in the Americas.