Research Associate II

About the Role:

Grade Level (for internal use):

Role Scope

The Research Associate II is responsible for creating and delivering high-quality financial content from sell-side research, leveraging both advanced data extraction technologies and domain expertise. This role plays a critical part in delivering accurate and actionable financial insights that empower clients to make well-informed investment decisions.

By ensuring the highest standards of data quality and reliability, this position strengthens the credibility and usability of consensus data - directly contributing to client satisfaction, business success, and a strong presence in the financial markets.

Note: This is not an Equity Research or Financial Modeling role. The team does not write research reports or create sell-side models. The role provides an opportunity to deeply learn businesses and financial models by studying the work of leading sell-side analysts across sectors, geographies, and business models.

What You'll Do (Key Responsibilities)

Operational Delivery

• Prepare insightful financial content from sell-side research using a mix of extraction technologies and sector knowledge.
• Develop and demonstrate a strong understanding of diverse business models for public-listed companies.
• Track events for a set of companies - starting with corporate earnings and M&A transactions - with a focus on changes in models.
• Identify and flag errors in financial models using structured rules and statistics-based tools.

Process Excellence

• Collaborate actively within the team to continuously improve the efficiency of the overall data collection process.
• Apply knowledge of financial statements, GAAP/Recurring income, and other financial concepts to ensure data accuracy.
• Break down and interpret financial models to understand the building blocks of a company's business model.
• Apply an eye for detail and leverage structured tools to identify and correct modeling errors proactively.
• Quickly learn the end-to-end process and build the capability to take on a reviewer role.

Stakeholder Management

• Collaborating on model interpretation, sharing knowledge on sector-specific nuances, supporting consistency in output.
• Highlight critical errors or modeling anomalies to team leads and cross-functional partners to improve decision-making inputs.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to share best practices and align quality, and operational standards.
• Articulate findings and insights clearly to stakeholders across the organization, both verbally and in written form.
• Engaging actively during onboarding and training, raising process-related queries, contributing to knowledge-sharing sessions.

How Impact Will Be Measured (Success Metrics)

• Accuracy and quality of financial content processed from sell-side research (error rate / quality score).
• Timeliness of output delivery against defined SLAs and production targets.
• Reduction in errors identified in consensus models over time, reflecting improved data quality.
• Depth and breadth of company/sector coverage handled independently.
• Progression toward reviewer readiness - ability to independently review and validate peer output.
• Stakeholder feedback on communication clarity and cross-functional collaboration.
• Effective handling of complex tasks and ownership of challenging assignments.

Skills

Technical Skills

• Understanding of financial statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement).
• Knowledge of GAAP and non-GAAP/Recurring income concepts.
• Familiarity with financial concepts and ratio analysis.
• Ability to interpret and deconstruct sell-side financial models.
• Experience with data extraction tools and technologies (preferred).
• Proficiency in Excel and financial data platforms.
• Understanding of consensus model creation and management (a plus).
• Familiarity with AI/ML-based data extraction workflows (a plus).

Functional Skills

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to apply structured frameworks to complex financial data.
• Ability to identify patterns, anomalies, and errors in financial models.
• Knowledge of diverse business models across sectors, industries, and geographies.
• Understanding of corporate events (earnings, M&A, restructuring) and their modeling implications.
• Capability to learn the full end-to-end process and independently take on a reviewer function.
• Deep sector expertise in specific industries (a plus).
• Prior experience in creating or validating consensus models (a plus).

Behavioral Skills

• Positive attitude with a high level of attention to detail.
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting mindset.
• Excellent critical thinking and analytical aptitude.
• Effective communication skills - able to clearly articulate findings and insights to stakeholders.
• Collaborative team player who actively contributes to shared team goals.
• Willingness to work across shifts on a rotational basis (Day / Morning / Night shifts as required).
• Self-motivated with the ability to quickly adapt and upskill in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Education & Experience

• Post Graduate CFA Level 2 cleared (a plus); or Undergraduate with CFA Level 3 cleared (a plus).
• 0-2 years of experience in financial research, data operations, or related roles. Fresher candidates with strong academic background and interest in financial markets are encouraged to apply.

Key Interfaces & Stakeholders

• Research Associates and Specialists within the Data Research & Operations team.
• Cross-functional teams including Data Quality, Technology, and Process Excellence.
• Internal stakeholders across the investing community who rely on accurate financial content.
• Sector and domain experts providing guidance on financial models and research methodologies.

What’s In It For You?

Our Mission:

Advancing Essential Intelligence.

Our People:

We're more than 35,000 strong worldwide-so we're able to understand nuances while having a broad perspective. Our team is driven by curiosity and a shared belief that Essential Intelligence can help build a more prosperous future for us all.From finding new ways to measure sustainability to analyzing energy transition across the supply chain to building workflow solutions that make it easy to tap into insight and apply it. We are changing the way people see things and empowering them to make an impact on the world we live in. We’re committed to a more equitable future and to helping our customers find new, sustainable ways of doing business. Join us and help create the critical insights that truly make a difference.

Our Values:

Integrity, Discovery, Partnership

Throughout our history, the world's leading organizations have relied on us for the Essential Intelligence they need to make confident decisions about the road ahead. We start with a foundation of integrity in all we do, bring a spirit of discovery to our work, and collaborate in close partnership with each other and our customers to achieve shared goals.

Benefits:

We take care of you, so you can take care of business. We care about our people. That’s why we provide everything you-and your career-need to thrive at S&P Global.

Our benefits include:

• Health & Wellness: Health care coverage designed for the mind and body.

• Flexible Downtime: Generous time off helps keep you energized for your time on.

• Continuous Learning: Access a wealth of resources to grow your career and learn valuable new skills.

• Invest in Your Future: Secure your financial future through competitive pay, retirement planning, a continuing education program with a company-matched student loan contribution, and financial wellness programs.

• Family Friendly Perks: It’s not just about you. S&P Global has perks for your partners and little ones, too, with some best-in class benefits for families.

• Beyond the Basics: From retail discounts to referral incentive awards-small perks can make a big difference.

For more information on benefits by country visit: https://spgbenefits.com/benefit-summaries

Global Hiring and Opportunity at S&P Global:

At S&P Global, we are committed to fostering a connected and engaged workplace where all individuals have access to opportunities based on their skills, experience, and contributions. Our hiring practices emphasize fairness, transparency, and merit, ensuring that we attract and retain top talent. By valuing different perspectives and promoting a culture of respect and collaboration, we drive innovation and power global markets.

Recruitment Fraud Alert:

If you receive an email from a spglobalind.com domain or any other regionally based domains, it is a scam and should be reported to [email protected]. S&P Global never requires any candidate to pay money for job applications, interviews, offer letters, “pre-employment training” or for equipment/delivery of equipment. Stay informed and protect yourself from recruitment fraud by reviewing our guidelines, fraudulent domains, and how to report suspicious activity here.

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Equal Opportunity Employer

S&P Global is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military veteran status, unemployment status, or any other status protected by law. Only electronic job submissions will be considered for employment.

If you need an accommodation during the application process due to a disability, please send an email to: [email protected] and your request will be forwarded to the appropriate person.

US Candidates Only: Know Your Rights: Workplace discrimination is illegal

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