Research Associate II at S&P Global (Mumbai) | ₹6-10 LPA

About the Role

Grade Level (for internal use): 08

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

• Collaborate on model interpretation, share knowledge on sector-specific nuances, and support 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.
• Engage actively during onboarding and training, raise process-related queries, and contribute 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, including the 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 with 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.