Director - Research

Sutherland•Rochester, NY

About The Position

Sutherland’s Research & Financial Markets division drives a high-impact transformation agenda to address our clients’ most complex business issues. This includes areas like digital transformation, strategic cost management, operating model redesign, research enablement, analytics, automation, and managed service delivery. Our client segments typically include Investment Banks, Asset Management firms, Private Equity firms, Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Sell-side Research firms, large Corporates, and other Financial Markets institutions. Sutherland Research has invested significantly in building differentiated solutions to help Financial Institutions reimagine how research, analytics, investment operations, portfolio monitoring, reporting, data management, and decision-support functions are delivered. These solutions combine domain expertise, global delivery capability, AI-enabled workflows, and operating discipline to enhance client efficiency, scalability, quality, and insight generation. Our teams assist clients in architecting future-state operating models, enhancing service operations, expanding research and analytics capacity, and maximizing value from Sutherland’s engagement.

Requirements

Minimum of 6 - 10 years of progressive experience in account management, business development, enterprise sales, or client relationship management
Graduate degree required
Strong understanding of Financial Markets, including Investment Banking, Asset Management, Private Equity, Sell-side Research, Investment Operations, and Research & Analytics services
Experience managing named accounts, developing account plans, identifying whitespace opportunities, and growing revenue within existing client relationships
Commercially astute, financially literate, and comfortable discussing research, analytics, data, reporting, and managed services with senior client stakeholders
Strong client service orientation with the ability to build trusted, long-term relationships across multiple stakeholder levels
Strong sales discipline, including pipeline creation, opportunity qualification, revenue forecasting, proposal coordination, and follow-through
Strong presentation, communication, and negotiation skills, with the ability to engage senior stakeholders at Head of Function and CXO levels

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or a related discipline preferred
Experience selling or managing professional services, research services, offshoring, outsourcing, analytics, data management, or financial services solutions is highly desirable
Previous experience in a front-office, research, investment operations, consulting, or financial services environment will be an added advantage

Responsibilities

Manage and grow a portfolio of named Financial Markets accounts across Investment Banking, Asset Management, Private Equity, Pension Funds, and large Corporates
Own account-level revenue targets, with responsibility for expansion, renewals, cross-sell, and upsell opportunities within specified accounts
Develop deep client relationships across Research, Strategy, Investment Operations, Data, Analytics, Finance, and CXO-level stakeholders
Identify new opportunities within existing accounts by understanding client priorities, operating challenges, budget cycles, and transformation agendas
Generate new leads through disciplined outreach, referrals, client mapping, industry research, thought leadership follow-up, and relationship-led prospecting
Build account plans for key clients, including stakeholder maps, current engagement footprint, whitespace opportunities, competitor presence, and growth strategy
Position Sutherland’s high-end professional services across Investment Research, Portfolio Monitoring, Market Research, ESG Research, Investment Reporting, Automation, & Analytics
Collaborate with Sales, Delivery, Solutioning, Research Leadership, and offshore subject matter experts to shape relevant client propositions
Support proposal development, commercial discussions, pricing inputs, solution design, and contract renewal processes
Deliver high-quality pitches and business reviews to senior stakeholders
Maintain a disciplined account management cadence, including pipeline tracking, opportunity follow-up, CRM hygiene, revenue forecasting, and client touchpoint planning
Ensure client satisfaction by proactively identifying service issues, escalation risks, delivery gaps, and opportunities to improve engagement quality
Partner with delivery teams to ensure Sutherland is viewed as a strategic partner
Support marketing and dissemination of thought leadership at various industry forums
Travel as required for client meetings, account reviews, industry events, etc