Researcher or Entry Level Researcher | Financial Services Practice | London | Odgers Executive Searc

About the role

About the Practice

Our Financial Services team has significant expertise advising financial institutions across the world. We support firms in appointing executives and non-executives with the talent to deliver their corporate strategy and promote growth.

From financial institutions and regulatory bodies to trade associations and consultancies, Odgers supports some of the largest and most complex financial institutions in the world, as well as smaller, specialist firms, regulators, fintechs and private capital-backed ventures.

The Financial Services Practice is one of the firm's largest teams and highest revenue generators with coverage across all major financial centers around the world.

The UK team is our largest and most specialist team within this, with each Consultant focused on a specific subsector (asset management/ retail banking/ insurance/ wholesale banking/ regulation/ payments/ market infrastructure etc.).

Our work is a mixture of executive and non-executive appointments at Board, executive committee, and management committee levels. We regularly work on Chair, NED, CEO, and a range of executive searches such as heads of businesses or regions. Often this is in collaboration with our Leadership Assessment team who deliver assessment and development solutions.

For functional roles including Risk and Compliance, HR, Procurement, Finance, Technology, Legal and Communications etc., we partner with specialist functional colleagues to ensure clients have access to the most relevant team members. Similarly, we partner closely with our Interim colleagues when clients are looking to appoint senior leaders at short notice.

The Opportunity

Research is at the heart of everything we do at Odgers. It provides the backbone to each assignment and is key to ensuring that we consistently deliver creative and forward thinking results that deliver real value to the client and to the final outcome.

Our Researchers play a pivotal role in identifying and attracting exceptional talent for senior-level positions, underpinning the success of every search assignment.

The Researcher role within the Financial Services Practice focuses on identifying top talent for our clients by deeply understanding their business needs. This involves mapping the market through rigorous research, sourcing and approaching potential candidates, and assessing their suitability and interest in the role. You will work closely with various Partners and Consultants within the team to achieve this.

You will be confident and capable in managing multiple assignments simultaneously, often under tight timelines. Your ability to engage credibly with senior candidates and clients, assess talent effectively, and navigate complex search landscapes will be critical to your success.

This role offers an excellent opportunity to deepen knowledge of both the financial services industry and the executive and non-executive landscape. Prior experience working with financial services clients is not required but you must bring a genuine interest in the sector and an appreciation of its central role in the global economy.

This is a role for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, intellectually demanding environment and is passionate about identifying and supporting the next generation of leaders.

At Odgers, we're committed to investing in our people. If you're looking for a role that offers development, support, and the opportunity to grow, we would love to hear from you.

About you

Critical attributes for this role include excellent communication and report writing skills, meticulous documentation management, a transparent communication approach, and the ability to work at pace. Key skills and experience should include a combination of:

• Strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail, flexibility, and rigour.
• Ability and credibility to build relationships over the telephone and in person.
• Ability to communicate with authority and clarity, confidently engaging and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Ability to deliver best-in-class research for client assignments and become a trusted advisor to internal and external stakeholders.
• Intellectually curious with a desire to learn, a broad outlook bringing creative thinking, and common sense.
• Coping well with unforeseen change and being able to flex accordingly with the assignment needs.
• Interest in the Financial Services sector and an eagerness to build deep expertise in this area with the support and mentorship of the team.
• Systems literate and fastidious in the use of technology to accurately store information.
• Ability to proactively manage timelines and expectations on a project from inception to completion, which will require a good sense of timing, persistence, and patience, but most importantly, communication. This includes the ability to effectively manage upwards with your practice lead.
• Ability to work autonomously, in a flat, non-hierarchical company structure with a culture of unity and collaboration.
• A commitment to inclusion and diversity both during the search process and in our internal environment.

About us

Odgers is one of the world's leading Global Executive Search firms. Our reputation for excellence and integrity has been established over 60 years and we are a partnership-driven by the client, candidate, and employee experience. We function as trusted advisors to our clients and candidates and engage with a diverse range of leaders for the most influential roles across a wide variety of industries. The service we deliver is creative, insightful, and most importantly, in partnership; we pride ourselves on maintaining personal relationships.

At Odgers, we are proud of our progressive, diverse, meritocratic, and collaborative culture where you will find support, training and career development working with colleagues striving for excellence in all they do. We are UK headquartered with colleagues across 58 Offices in 32 countries specialising in over 50 sectors and functions.

Hybrid Working

Our Hybrid working policy is based on the principles of empowerment, mutual trust and flexibility, recognising that we work best when we make choices about when, where and how we work. At the same time, we are reminded that time together is so important. We are a client-service business in which our relationships and our culture provide a significant advantage. Our offices remain critical to how we work; they are a place for collaboration, learning, and support and an anchor for the culture of which we are so proud.

We operate a hybrid working model which would typically see you spending a minimum of 2 days working from the office and the rest remotely. Your work pattern will be reliant on business demands, and we would expect you to manage your time accordingly.

At Odgers, we are committed to fostering a work environment that is safe and respectful of all individuals. We have and will always stand with and support the inclusion and equity of our colleagues, candidates and clients and are committed to improving diversity in all its forms within Odgers.

Unlimited embodies this philosophy and our commitment to inclusion.

We have several initiatives that ensure equity is practised at all levels of our organisation, including our Allies programme, an equitable recruitment process designed to ensure opportunity, our Next Generation council and a meritocratic promotion process.

Sustainability

Modern businesses have a duty to be environmentally responsible and operate sustainably. We believe this represents not only sound commercial sense but also recognises our ethical responsibility to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment and to leave a positive legacy for future generations.

We have committed to, and set, science-based decarbonisation targets, and have received verification of these goals from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These targets will hold us accountable to our sustainability strategy while enabling us to measure our progress. This is complemented by us continuing to provide sustainability insight to our clients and cultivating a track record within sustainable businesses and in placing sustainability leaders.

Corporate Social Responsibility

We take Charity seriously - but like to have fun too. Our CSR team are always thinking up new events and activities to get involved in and raise funds for our chosen charity British Heart Foundation.

We also have a variety of social clubs and learning opportunities to suit everyone such as the Brunch and Learn Session, Odgers choir, the book club or one of the many sports clubs.

Whats on offer?

A competitive base salary, supplemented by our benefits package and discretionary bonus

• 25 days Annual leave + 3 gift days for the Christmas closure + bank holidays
• Private Medical Insurance with Bupa and cash plan with Simply Health
• Group Company Pension
• Season Ticket Loan & Cycle to work scheme
• Give As You Earn
• Group Income Protection
• Group Life Assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Charity Day
• Wellbeing Programmes, support and speakers
• On-boarding, induction training and ongoing professional development
• Corporate member discounts and benefits available through Bupa and Simply Health including Gyms Discounts

Applications

We are committed to ensuring everyone can access our website and application processes. This includes people with sight loss, hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments. Should you require access to these documents in alternative formats, need to apply in a different format or need any reasonable adjustments made for any interview please contact our Talent Team at [email protected]

If you have any comments and/or suggestions about improving access to our application processes, please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Eligibility

You must be eligible to live and work in the UK