Associate Director

**About the Role**:
**Grade Level (for internal use)**: 12
**The Team**:
The Milan-based Financial Institutions team is dedicated to assigning credit ratings to banks and non-bank financial institutions in the Southern European region. We emphasize a global mindset and collaborative work dynamics, fostering an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are valued and integrated into our operations. As a team, we pride ourselves on our ability to manage effective operational systems and processes, advising on complex matters while taking accountability for our systems.
**The Impact**:
As an Associate Director, you will play a pivotal role in maintaining the accuracy and timeliness of credit ratings for financial institutions. You will be the key contributor to ratings surveillance and new rating assignments, covering all aspects of rating analysis. Your ability to operate with autonomy and require little direction will be crucial in ensuring the quality and timeliness of our analysis. You will also engage in market research, publications, and other projects as necessary, contributing to financial thought leadership in the European sector, influencing market trends and supporting key initiatives through effective stakeholder engagement.
**What You Stand to Gain**:
This position offers significant opportunities for professional growth, including participating in rating committees, collaborating on research commentaries, and developing your communication skills. You will engage in a dynamic, multicultural environment, enhancing your ability to work collaboratively and lead cross-functional initiatives. You'll have the chance focus on the long-term growth and development within the team.

**Responsibilities**:
Manage a client-facing portfolio of financial institution ratings, ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of credit ratings and publishing high-quality, forward-looking reports.
Prepare rating committee materials, update research reports, and lead client meetings, demonstrating effective time management and adaptability.
Focus on the coverage of banks in Italy and in the broader Southern Europe region, with opportunities to collaborate with other analysts in EMEA covering different credits in the region.
Undertake rigorous analytical work and contribute to research and writing well-structured analytical reports.
Analyze and act upon information quickly to maintain and enhance the quality and timeliness of analysis, showcasing your ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Your role will involve taking accountability for the operating system rather than individual instances, ensuring sustainability in our processes.
**What We’re Looking For**:
A bachelor’s degree in finance or economics is preferred.
A S&P employee at this level typically has 6-8 years of relevant work experience, with sound knowledge of accounting principles and financial statement analysis for banks and other financial services companies.
Strong proficiency with figures and the ability to quickly analyse and act upon information.
Fluency in Italian.
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the capacity to expand, learn, and make analytical contributions.
Highly organized, capable of meeting deadlines, and working under time pressure.
A strong team player with the ability to work in a dynamic, collaborative, and multicultural environment.
Independent and critical thinking with a keen eye for innovation, demonstrating leadership and the ability to coach and empower others. You should be recognized as an expert and frequently advise others on complex matters, operating with autonomy and requiring little direction.
About S&P Global Ratings
At S&P Global Ratings, our analyst-driven credit ratings, research, and sustainable finance opinions provide critical insights that are essential to translating complexity into clarity so market participants can uncover opportunities and make decisions with conviction. By bringing transparency to the market through high-quality independent opinions on creditworthiness, we enable growth across a wide variety of organizations, including businesses, governments, and institutions.
**S&P Global Ratings is a division of S&P Global (NYSE**: SPGI). S&P Global is the world’s foremost provider of credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. With every one of our offerings, we help many of the world’s leading organizations navigate the economic landscape so they can plan for tomorrow, today.
What’s In It For You?
**Our Purpose**:
Progress is not a self-starter. It requires a catalyst to be set in motion. Information, imagination, people, technology-the right combination can unlock possibility and change the world.
Our world is in transition and getting more complex by the day. We push past expected observations and seek out new levels of understanding so that we can help companies, governments and individuals make an im