Share Action: Senior Research Officer – Financial Sector

Job Title Senior Research Officer – Financial Sector
Band C
Team Financial Sector Research (FSR)
Reports To Research Manager – Financial Sector

Role Purpose

ShareAction’s Financial Sector Research (FSR) team works towards holding financial institutions accountable for their impacts on people and planet, with particular focus on climate change, biodiversity, human rights, and other social issues. We do this by researching a variety of sectors’ performance and publishing regular rankings and analysis, as well as engaging with each surveyed institution and providing them with detailed recommendations for improvement. The FSR team also supports other campaign teams within ShareAction by providing relevant data, and increasingly aims to share more data externally too.

The Senior Research Officer will contribute to this research, collecting information from institutions and databases, analysing quantitative and qualitative data, producing engaging content, and translating this analysis into actionable steps for institutions in our reports.

The focus of this role is to support the production and publication of our survey of the European banking sector. In this role, you will work closely with colleagues in both the Financial Sector Research and the Banking Standards teams to:
• Develop a methodology that is consistent with other financial sector benchmarks published by ShareAction, reflect recent market developments, and best reflect our campaign priorities
• Collect, audit and analyse data regarding banks’ climate and sustainability strategies
• Produce accurate and engaging written reports and data visualisations summarising the key findings of the research, and drafting credible and persuasive recommendations
• Support the presentation of the survey’s findings to banks, investors, funders, and the media
• Undertake research and engage with internal and external subject matter experts to inform positions on themes covered in the surveys, ensuring they are based on robust criteria and reflect the latest market developments.
• Contribute to responses to external consultations, from regulators, policymakers, and other NGOs, and support data sharing with these external partners as appropriate.

Key Responsibilities
• Analysing quantitative and qualitative data, and writing reports on banks’ responsible finance performance
• Coordinating between the Financial Sector Research and Banking Standards teams to ensure consistency of approaches across ShareAction’s financial sector benchmarks
• Conducting research across the themes covered by the benchmarks that draws on internal and external resources to inform survey development and data analysis
• Using Excel and Python to analyse and organise large data sets (training will be provided for Python if needed)
• Participating in engagement calls with banks and answering technical questions relating to the research content
• Presenting findings of our work to external and internal stakeholders, through blogs, presentations, webinars, and roundtables, and supporting the coordination of these events as appropriate
• Organising and planning work with a high-level of autonomy
• Supporting the monitoring, evaluation and learning of our work
• Contributing to funding bids and reporting on KPIs to funders where appropriate
• Supporting the wider Financial Sector Research team to deliver other pieces of research, particularly the asset manager and insurance sector benchmarks
• Keeping up to date on relevant news and information on the financial sector and the thematic areas covered by our work

The job description provided is not exhaustive and may not include all possible duties, qualifications, or expectations. The organisation may have additional requirements or policies that are not explicitly stated in the job description but are essential to performing the job successfully.

Person Specification
Essential
• Excellent analytical skills, attention to detail, and a proven ability to conduct qualitative and quantitative research
• A broad understanding of how the financial sector works, and how financial institutions can have an impact on environmental and social issues
• A keen interest in driving the finance sector (particularly asset managers and insurers) to better serve people and planet
• Excellent organisational skills, proven ability to manage competing demands while still meeting deadlines
• Strong communication skills in written and spoken English
• Competency with Microsoft Excel, including writing formulae and building charts
• Strong teamworking skills with the ability to work collaboratively
• A passion for ShareAction’s vision, mission, and values
Desirable
• Subject matter knowledge in climate change, biodiversity, or human/labour rights
• Knowledge of/experience with the finance sector; an understanding of responsible investment and its implications for different types of financial institutions
• Understanding of how private commercial banks operate and what products & services their offer to corporate and retail clients.
• Advanced data visualisation skills
• Experience giving presentations
• Any experience programming, particularly an interest in learning Python for data processing
• Experience managing relationships with external stakeholders
• Experience with Microsoft Office 365, particularly SharePoint
• Experience with CRM systems, ideally Salesforce

Further information is available here: https://cezanneondemand.intervieweb.it/shareaction/jobs/senior-research-officer-financial-sector-48508/en/