2027 M&A Associate, Richmond

Harris Williams & Co • Richmond, VA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Harris Williams seeks to hire first-year associates to join the Richmond office across multiple industry groups including Business Services, Consumer, Energy, Power & Infrastructure, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Industrials, and Transportation & Logistics / Aerospace, Defense & Govt. Services. This role offers significant client and senior banker exposure, with associates responsible for driving work forward alongside analysts. The position provides exposure to the full lifecycle of client engagements in M&A and private capital advisory services. The firm emphasizes professional development through a robust training program and a culture where leaders are invested in building careers from within. Associates are expected to be motivated by challenge, demonstrate strong analytical and communication skills, and possess a working understanding of accounting and finance.

Requirements

• Ability to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
• Curious and proactive in learning, applying new information, and incorporating feedback to develop quickly.
• Able to articulate ideas clearly and tailor message, tone, and detail to the audience, both verbally and in writing.
• Able to identify trends in complex data sets, including through tools such as Capital IQ and FactSet, and articulate the impact of those patterns.
• Understanding of Excel formulas, data validation, tables, and conditional formatting, and the ability to build clear, client-ready materials in PowerPoint.
• Working understanding of how the income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet connect, with a willingness to deepen accounting, valuation, and financial modeling expertise over time.
• Comfort using and directing AI tools to improve output while retaining full ownership of quality, accuracy, and judgment.
• Academic performance and prior work experience demonstrating motivation by challenge.
• Analytical Thinking competency.
• Business Acumen competency.
• Customer Experience Management competency.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) competency.
• Effective Communications competency.
• Leadership competency.
• Marketing Strategy and Positioning competency.
• Market Research competency.
• Selling competency.
• Teamwork competency.
• University / college degree, with 5+ years of industry-relevant experience.
• In lieu of a degree, a comparable combination of education, job specific certification(s), and experience (including military service) may be considered.

Nice To Haves

• Industry group preference(s) clearly indicated in cover letter.

Responsibilities

• Driving work forward in partnership with analysts.
• Having a high level of exposure to clients and senior bankers.
• Seeing the full lifecycle of multiple client engagements.
• Leading multiple workstreams while maintaining focus on quality.
• Driving work forward and owning outcomes from start to finish.
• Building trusted relationships across deal teams and firm colleagues.
• Articulating ideas clearly and confidently to every audience.
• Delivering accurate, high-quality, client-ready work products.
• Growing continuously by seeking feedback and mentorship and deepening industry, market, and technical knowledge.
• Managing workstreams and deadlines to deliver consistent, on-time execution without sacrificing quality.
• Translating data and analysis into actionable insight and a clear point of view that contributes to deal strategy and client recommendations.
• Responding quickly to emails and calls.
• Attending deal team meetings in person.
• Willing to work long hours.

Benefits

• Highly competitive compensation
• Pension
• 401(k) with PNC match
• Eligibility for performance bonus
• Medical/prescription drug coverage (with a Health Savings Account feature)
• Dental and vision options
• Employee and spouse/child life insurance
• Short and long-term disability protection
• Pension
• Stock purchase plans
• Dependent care reimbursement account
• Back-up child/elder care
• Adoption, surrogacy, and doula reimbursement
• Educational assistance, including select programs fully paid
• A robust wellness program with financial incentives
• Maternity and/or parental leave
• Up to 11 paid holidays each year
• 9 occasional absence days each year, unless otherwise required by law
• Between 15 to 25 vacation days each year, depending on career level and years of service.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level