Stay in small firm as consultant or join big firm as a junior?

Currently Im working as a consultant in a small life-sciences boutique with average salary (2 YOE). I have thought about moving to a bigger firm (again life sciences focused) to hopefully grow my salary and have better exit opps, but looking at their recruiting info, most consultancies seem to only consider PhD or MD graduates for senior roles, with MSc holders with <4 YOE like myself being lumped in with new graduates. So as I see it my options are:

a) Stay in small firm for at least another year and lateral in a larger company as an 'experienced professional' - not sure how feasible that would be

b) Move back to a more junior role in a big company hoping for a better salary and progression opportunities

c) Do a PhD (not ideal financially or time-wise)

What do you think? Is there another option I am not seeing?

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