Deloitte // R&D AERS // What's it like to be non-billable at Deloitte?

Greetings,

I'm being recruited for a technical position, labeled "US AERS Technology – R&D System Architect (Senior Manager Level Position)".

I have a written job description and a location central Jersey) but that's pretty much it at this point. I'll be finding out more over the coming days and weeks, I'm sure.

I'm currently happily employed at a small consulting company in NYC and we focus on consulting. Deloitte reached out to me because of my mix of consulting and product development experience and it seems like a good fit.

As I progress through the interview process, I'll be asking these questions directly, but I think I can guess as to the character of their answers.

One question off the bat is this -- can someone decipher that title for me? What does "(senior manager)" mean? Is it like "senior manager" but with a hushed tone? (haha) But seriously, what does that entail?

What's it like to work at Deloitte in broad terms?

Would a location in central NJ be less/more/similar in culture to NYC?

I assume that an "R&D" position is not consulting / billing position. Would an unbillable R&D position be a "dead end" of sorts? Is there a career path?

Does anyone have a sense as to the career potential within Deloitte and specifically, the R&D group?

I'm not a job hopper and have very little interest in changing jobs, but Big 4 experience is often desired/requested for the higher level technology positions I see advertised everywhere. Would a Big 4 R&D background be as compelling as a Big 4 consulting background?

Any and all comments are more than welcome.

Thanks!