Associate

Charles River Associates•Chicago, NY

30d•Hybrid

About The Position

Charles River Associates (CRA) is a global consulting firm providing economic, financial, and business management expertise. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters related to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and assists corporations with business strategy and performance issues. Since 1965, CRA has been engaged for its industry experience and rigorous, fact-based analysis to provide clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns. The firm has several practices that hire candidates with this profile, including Finance (Chicago), Intellectual Property (Chicago, Houston, New York), and Transfer Pricing (Oakland).

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree candidates graduating in December 2026/Summer 2027 with an academic focus in Accounting, Business, Finance, or related field.
Solid working knowledge of finance, accounting, and economic methodologies.
Command of a broad range of research and quantitative analysis skills (including strong Excel skills).
Familiarity with generally accepted accounting principles, corporate governance, and regulatory environments.
Experience in gathering, standardizing, and analyzing voluminous transactional data.
Experience in data analysis and intelligence gathering, including querying and mining large data sets to discover transaction patterns, examining financial data, and filtering for targeted information.
Curious and analytical thinkers who bring creative approaches to non-standard problems.
Effective written and oral communication skills.
Demonstrated high level of initiative and leadership.
Demonstrated attention to detail and commitment to producing accurate, high-quality work.
Strong teamwork and collaboration capabilities.
Excellent time management and task prioritization skills.
Clear and demonstrated interest in consulting through coursework, work experience, activities, or attendance at CRA recruiting events.
Must be graduating from a bachelor's or master's degree program for this role.

Responsibilities

Conduct economic and industry research while analyzing client materials to build an understanding of a case’s issues.
Perform/develop financial and economic analyses or valuation models to support case theories and present those results to colleagues and clients.
Program, build models, and perform regression analyses using languages such as Excel, Stata, R, Python, SQL, or SAS.
Investigate accounting irregularities and respond to allegations of fraud, misconduct, waste, and abuse.
Use accounting and financial skills to prepare analyses of financial data, including financial models, for litigation and expert reports and testimony.
Investigate and analyze financial evidence, including financial records and transactions, to identify trends and anomalies, and clearly and concisely organize and summarize findings.
Leverage database skills to effectively analyze large data sets.
Communicate with team members, clients, and other professionals, to share investigative and analytical findings, and assist with the drafting of written reports to summarize procedures performed and findings.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) retirement plan with employer match
Life and disability insurance
Paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays)
Paid parental leave
Wellness programs and employee assistance resources
Commuter benefits
Robust skills development programs (100 hours of training annually)
Career mentoring and performance coaching
In-house immigration support for foreign nationals and international business travelers