Research Associate

THE ORGANIZATION

Founded in 2005, David Barrett Partners (DBP) is an international retained executive search firm that works closely with clients in recruiting exceptional senior leadership talent across the investment and wealth management marketplace. DBP’s thirteen consultants in its three offices combine over 195 years of senior global recruiting experience. The firm’s clients include traditional and alternative asset managers, asset owners, family offices, wealth managers and insurance companies. Functional areas on which DBP focuses include C-Suite (Chief Investment Officers, CEOs and Operations) as well as senior professionals in investments, distribution and key functional verticals. Through a collaborative and team-oriented approach, our consultants in New York, London and Boston together have successfully completed over 500 engagements for clients across 71 cities in 13 countries. For further information please visit www.davidbarrettpartners.com.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Research Associate is an important, newly created position designed to support the firm’s continued growth as a premier boutique executive search firm advising traditional and alternative investment firms, asset owners and wealth managers. We are seeking a dynamic and intellectually curious individual who can successfully operate and contribute in our fast-paced, hands-on, entrepreneurial environment. As a valued teammate working across DBP, this is a multi-faceted position with various responsibilities including supporting search execution, new business development and knowledge management. A primary focus of this role will be to support the execution of individual search assignments by identifying potential candidates from a variety of online and proprietary tools and developing targeted company lists to focus our research and recruiting efforts. The Research Associate is involved throughout the entire value chain of the search process, working in conjunction with Executive Assistants, Consultants and Partners throughout the kick-off, strategy and execution of search assignments to bring each search to a successful outcome. This person will participate in the preparation of search assignment-related documents, new business presentations, client meetings and candidate interviews, where appropriate. Further, the Research Associate is responsible for tracking industry trends, including information on our clients and targeted companies, and will share this knowledge base with the firm in a scalable way while also institutionalizing and capturing this information for future use. This is a two-year program with the potential opportunity for further career progression. Importantly, the Research Associate will gain broad industry exposure across multiple sub-sectors of the financial services industry and benefit from accelerated learning as a function of joining our international team to advise leading organizations on their talent needs. Further, the Research Associate will have the unique opportunity to shadow our Consultants and Partners in client meetings and candidate interviews thus providing an exciting opportunity to see how business leaders manage their organizations through change and how global companies invest for growth. This experience could serve as a springboard into a role in industry or serve as a pre-cursor to business school.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Key responsibilities for this role can be summarized as followed:

Candidate ID:

• Drive candidate identification to support specific executive search assignments and business development activities.

• Develop appropriate candidate and company target lists using the firm’s database, LinkedIn, and various other online tools and news outlets. Business Development Support:

• Contribute to firm-wide and individual Partner business development strategies.

• Actively participate in the creation of pitch books and other presentation material for client meetings.

• Provide one-off research and market scanning projects to support new business pitches and various client acquisition and relationship-building initiatives.

Market Intelligence & Knowledge Management:

  • Proactively identify and track organizational, industry and company trends. • Report findings in a scalable and concise way to help inform the firm’s business development and search execution initiatives.

• Consistently capture and upload various industry rankings and other related information to DBP’s intranet.

• Assist in organizing and institutionalizing the firm’s broad knowledge base so information can be easily identified and utilized in the future.  

Database Entry: 

• A power user of our database, the Research Associate will play a pivotal role in capturing and entering quality information into our database and intranet.

• They will work across the organization to ensure data integrity and consistency.

Internal & External Client/Candidate Participation:

• Attend or listen in on kick-off client meetings, candidate interviews and source calls.

• Participate in strategic internal meetings and weekly staff meetings.

• Offer advice and a point of view on how the firm can best capture and disseminate industry knowledge internally and evolve its marketing efforts via the company website and on social media.

QUALIFICATIONS

The successful candidate will learn the researcher role and, through curiosity and a strong work ethic, will become a contributing member of the firm. Bright and entrepreneurial, the Research Associate will have a team-player mentality, a high sense of urgency to meet deliverables and enthusiasm to learn. They will also be results oriented and have a strong attention to detail. The person must have the capacity to quickly grasp and understand market dynamics and organizations within the investment management industry. They will master the ability to identify relevant candidate backgrounds leveraging a variety of sources including the firm’s proprietary database, LinkedIn, industry associations and trade publications. To be successful, this hire will learn how to manage their time effectively to balance various projects from multiple people across the company. We are seeking the following personal and professional competencies for the position:

Intellectual Curiosity & Eagerness to Learn: A genuine interest in learning about the investment and wealth management industries including the various opportunities, trends and issues our clients face will be important in helping this person quickly learn basic industry fundamentals. Ideally, this person will have successfully completed an internship experience in the financial services industry and views the Research Associate role at DBP as an opportunity to further deepen and broaden their exposure to the industry. 

• Client-Centric and Service Orientation: David Barrett Partners is a boutique search firm that puts clients first. Demonstrating curiosity and passion to learn, the Research Associate will develop a full understanding of the search and research needs of the Consultants and Partners they are working with. The successful candidate must have the ability to quickly discern the criteria most important for success in a particular search and collaborate efficiently in a team environment to drive the end-to-end completion of specific search engagements.

• Dynamic Self-Starter: High energy and capacity to work on multiple assignments simultaneously in a fast-paced environment. Displays an entrepreneurial spirit and ability to perform at a high level with minimal oversight and for multiple stakeholders. Offers suggestions and ideas for how we can improve.

• Proactive Communicator & Team Player: DBP has a global client base and as a result many of the assignments you work on will be in partnership with colleagues located across the firm’s offices in New York, London and Boston. The ability to proactively and frequently communicate across multiple mediums in an effective manner is paramount. Further, this person brings a strong ability to concisely summarize, compile and analyze information.

• Culture Contributor: Our employees personify the core values of the David Barrett Partners business – Integrity, Trust, Passion and Responsibility. In every facet of our job, we take pride in what we stand for and for the consequences of our work. A natural leader and doer, the Research Associate will possess a sense of personal accountability and integrity that will contribute to the firm’s success. 

• Focused on Action and Outcomes: Approaches everything with drive, energy, and enthusiasm. Not afraid to initiate action before all the facts are known, or to ask questions proactively to accelerate learning and development, and thereby contributions to the firm. Takes a high degree of ownership and displays persistence and thoroughness in the projects they work on.

• Excels at Organization and Time Management: Well organized, resourceful and planful. Once up and running, the Research Associate must be able to anticipate the needs of each search/Consultant/Partner they are working with to efficiently deliver on multiple projects. They will communicate frequently keeping team members informed about timing of deliverables, progress and challenges to manage expectations and work towards shared goals. They should be comfortable managing up and across and contributing to the discussion around their ongoing workload and client deliverables.

• Demonstrates Agility and Personal Flexibility:

 Open to continuous feedback and commitment to personal development. Aware of self and impact on others; responsive to feedback.

• Discretion: Must project an understanding and appreciation for the confidentiality of client and candidate information and protect as appropriate.

LOCATION New York, NY or Boston, MA