Career Biography

Charmaine Abreu Lobo is Managing Counsel for the Benelux, Central Europe and France regions at McKinsey & Company.

In this role, she leads a team of experienced legal professionals including multiple McKinsey working leadership groups on technology, learning, legal strategy across multiple jurisdictions. Her legal expertise spans corporate governance, commercial contracting, regulatory compliance, artificial intelligence, private equity, M&A, sustainability, competition law, data privacy, and intellectual property. Charmaine partners closely with teams and senior leadership across McKinsey to navigate complex legal and operational landscapes, ensuring that McKinsey’s work remains both innovative and compliant with evolving local and international frameworks.

She advises teams and senior leadership on complex regulatory, and commercial matters including day to day legal matters and negotiations, ensuring that legal insight and practical advice support risk management, business strategy and growth.

Throughout her career, Charmaine has built a reputation for clarity, trust, collaboration, and impact. At McKinsey, she has helped redefine the legal function as a strategic enable, translating legal complexity into practical solutions that empower teams to make informed, confident decisions. Her work reflects a consistent focus on helping McKinsey deliver lasting client impact while upholding the highest standards of governance and integrity.

Beyond her technical expertise, Charmaine is deeply committed to, and is recognized for – inclusive leadership, purposeful apprenticeship, talent development, mentoring emerging professionals and fostering diverse, high-performing teams. She actively champions growth for young legal and management professionals, and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal profession. Her approach combines strategic insight with empathy and authenticity.

Before joining McKinsey, Charmaine held a series of senior in-house legal roles, law firm and private practice litigation roles, that honed her international perspective and strategic acumen. This experience underpins her pragmatic approach, combining technical expertise with sound judgment and a strong sense of purpose.

As she reflects on her role, Charmaine notes: “At McKinsey, the most meaningful impact happens when legal and business teams work as one — anchored in trust, guided by values, and united by purpose.”