MBB salary bands are rigid, set by role and location. I am afraid there is little or no room for negotiation in the salary they shared with you. 

Be honest with yourself and BCG and decide if it is worth moving on with the process considering the expected salary.

Best,

Alberto

For Knowledge Director - 165k could be inline (if that is base only).

The salary bands/levels are relatively set in BCG and not super-fungible like the rest of the corporate world.

You might be able to push for only a few pp of increase at negotiation stage - and perhaps some goodies like relocation/signing bonuses.

While your behavior was smart in the way you handled the question, be aware that salaries for consulting firms are fixed. There's flexibility around signing bonus and similar things, but other than that, no flexibility. 

So if the salary is a limitation for you here, you have to discuss this topic. This is a senior role. It is fine to have this kind of conversation. You probably want to understand what's the whole package and what is the career progression and then, based on that, decide if you want to have the interview

Hi,

That's a nice way of delaying your answer and getting more benchmarking before you are confident of a reply :)

Which region are you applying in, and this is for a specific PA? Drop me a DM

There are salary bands for the base.

So if that's the base, then that's the base. You can't do much about it. 

You'll have the annual bonus on top. 

Plus, the signing and relocation, which are the components that are typically negotiable. 

Best,
Cristian