JobDescription :
Company: S&P Global Ratings
Position: Associate
Group: U.S. Public Finance
Location: Various
The Team / The Business:
S&P Global is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With roughly 20,000 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 21 countries, S&P Global is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions.
S&P Global is a great place to work and is proud of the recognition we have received for our progress in diversity and inclusion within and beyond our workplace. Over the past two years, the company has won numerous awards, including Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption's America's 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces, Fatherly's "50 Best Places to Work for New Dads," Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, and the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.
As part of the bigger company, The USPF Group is comprised of 12 teams, who rate local governments, state governments, enterprises (such as water/sewer utilities, public power utilities, higher education revenue bonds, etc.), and housing. The U.S. Public Finance team has a strong collegial environment and friendly atmosphere; as an Associate, you would work very closely with senior analysts, but we would also expect you to play a role in developing and mentoring others. A lot of the work is completed independently, but every rating involves a team of analysts, so teamwork is extremely important! As analysts in a regulated company, we value those who are pro-active, organized and detail-oriented. The pace is fairly rapid, since at any time any analyst is probably juggling numerous ratings; so if the thought of working on one report by yourself for months sounds boring to you, you'd like this environment.
The Role:
As an Associate, you will conduct credit analysis and evaluate the credit quality of governmental entities - specifically cities, counties and school districts- as it relates to their ability to repay debt obligations. You will be responsible for aggregating data and information to present to rating committees. You will interact with clients, make presentations, and prepare reports for internal and external distribution. Specifically, in this role, the analyst will:
- Analyze financial and operating statements, economic data, and strategic plans for U.S. Public Finance credits
- Review the structure of legal documents to determine the security of the transactions being rated in accordance with the Standard & Poor's ratings criteria
- Prepare presentations on these credits to a rating committee and communicating the results of these deliberations to clients, their representatives, financial intermediaries, investors, and the media including preparing details ratings analysis for publication.
- Handle new issue transactions as well as maintain timely surveillance of local government ratings consistent with existing S&P Global Ratings criteria.
- Write or contribute to criteria pieces, and publish commentary articles.
- Minimum 10-15% domestic travel requirement
- Develop critical presentation and public speaking skills
The Career Opportunity:
As an Associate, your role is extremely important to the company's future and success as the industry leader. You will be responsible for delivering S&P's views and opinions on important issues affecting credit quality in the municipal bond market. The job is challenging and will require you to bring your best every day to ensure analytical excellence and rating accuracy. Our career path allows you to choose two tracks for moving up within the organization, analytical or managerial. We strongly believe that each analyst should be utilized at his or her highest and best use, which means that regardless of which path you decide take, your room to grow is only limited by your own ability.
Basic Qualifications:
- Advanced degree (MPA, MPP, MBA) and/or CFA preferred
- 2-4 years of relevant work experience (4-7 years without advanced degree)
- Must have the ability to think independently and critically
- Analytical curiosity and strong research skills are a must
- Must have strong understanding of financial reporting and analysis
- Must have strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Excellent time management and ability to plan, prioritize and meet deadlines
Preferred Qualifications:
- Good communication skills, including presentation and writing skills
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Strong understanding of financial markets and business environment including implications for S&P's analytical products and services.
- A can-do attitude with excellent problem-solving, time management, and organizational skills.
- Ability to think independently and critically; and the ability to mentor others.
- Modelling and R or Python programming language
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