Lead Analyst, ESG Methodology

About Morningstar Sustainalytics:

Morningstar Sustainalytics is a company dedicated to responsible investment with over 25 years' experience in ESG research and ratings. With an extensive client base across asset managers, asset owners and investment banks, our mission is to provide the insights required for investors and companies to make more informed decisions that lead to a more just and sustainable global economy.

As Morningstar’s ESG center of excellence we are responsible for driving both the commercial success and innovation of its ESG products as well as its overall ESG strategy.

About the Role: 

As part of the Methodology Construction (Portfolio & Fund) team, the Lead Analyst will be a leading contributor to the technical and methodological development of portfolio and fund calculations across ESG products. This role will oversee the methodological design, technical implementation, and successful launch of methodological updates and new offerings,

The role is responsible for producing ESG methodology for fund and portfolio data by working across Sustainalytics and Morningstar methodology, product, and technical stakeholders to develop and present methodology concepts, translate these into detailed specifications and prototypes for technical teams, as well as publish methodology documentation for our clients. 

A key part of this role will involve becoming a subject matter expert for portfolio and fund methodology and understanding how to apply these concepts across multiple ESG products. The role will closely collaborate with other ESG Portfolio & Fund Methodology team members, while also collaborating across a wide group of both business and technical stakeholders. The position is suited to someone who embraces a continuous learning mindset, and enjoys working at the intersection of data, methodology, and technical systems in a collaborative environment. 

Job Responsibilities: 

• Engage and lead the decision-making process with internal stakeholders to translate business needs into methodological solutions 
• Support software development teams’ implementation of use cases, ensuring alignment with business and user requirements 
• Once technical solutions are implemented, support users and stakeholders with acceptance testing, training and onboarding 
• Authorship of external facing methodology papers and peer review of other team member pieces. 
• Conduct effective project management to ensure key project deadlines are met 

Qualifications: 

• 3+ years of relevant work experience, particularly in data analysis, research and/or product development

• Intermediate to advance Excel; beginner to intermediate knowledge of programming and data-handling skills in Python and/or SQL, as well as a willingness to grow their expertise

• Experience working with financial or ESG concepts or structured datasets, or an understanding of equity, fund, or fixed-income data methodologies are an asset but not required. We’re confident that the right candidate will confidently learn new subject matter while applying their skillset.

• Experience creating analysis documents such as workflow diagrams, conceptual data models, functional requirements specifications, etc.

• Experience with multi-stakeholder consultation and requirements gathering

• Experience working with software development teams

• Flexible mindset with strong ability to adapt for constantly shifting business requirements and needs

• Ability to proactively identify and address potential issues throughout the design, implementation, and rollout phases

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, capable of understanding and speaking both technologically and from a business perspective

• Proficient business English oral and writing skills (the company’s working language is English)

 
Nice to have: 

• Advanced SQL, Python, and related data management tools (e.g. PowerBI) 

• Knowledge of ESG investing concepts 

• Experience utilizing LEAN, Six Sigma, or Agile methodologies in a project management or data operations setting