Associate Director or Director - Business and Relationship Management in London

As one of the world’s top three credit ratings agencies, Fitch Ratings plays a critical role in global capital markets by providing credit analysis, ratings, research, and commentary to financial market participants. For over 100 years, Fitch Ratings has been creating value for global markets through its rigorous analysis and deep expertise, which have resulted in a variety of market leading tools, methodologies, indices, research, and analytical products. Fitch Ratings is part of Fitch Group, a global leader in financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries, which also includes Fitch Solutions. With dual headquarters in London and New York, Fitch Group is owned by Hearst. Explore a career at Fitch Ratings and you’ll join a collaborative network of curious minds. Here, our differences are our strengths - in life as well as our work. Together we work with integrity and objectivity to provide clarity to the world’s financial markets. We pride ourselves on our ability to harness the ideas, expertise, and professionalism of our global workforce, which is integral to our continued success. The accessibility and depth of experience of our industry leading analysts, combined with our broad sector credentials, allow us to help market participants make important credit decisions with confidence.

Fitch Ratings is currently seeking either an Associate Director or Director - Business and Relationship Management, based out of our London office.

About the Team

The role within the Africa Business and Relationship Management (BRM) team is to:

• Develop Fitch’s regional ratings portfolio across the African continent, with a specific focus on originating new business and executing strategies to support long-term sustainable growth.
• Manage existing relationships to maximise business retention rates, through regular and creative issuer engagement.
• Represent Fitch Ratings as ambassador of the brand through various sponsored events, public engagements and at C-suite level with a focus on service excellence.
• The building out of Fitch’s profile, market engagement, revenue and mandate development will be quantified by a broad range of metrics.

The BRM department has global presence, though the Africa portfolio is managed out of the London office.

How You’ll Make an Impact:

Reporting to the Senior Director and Head of Africa BRM and working closely with our colleagues across various sector focused EMEA BRM teams, the successful candidate will be responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with the most influential CFOs, Treasurers, Finance Managers, Bankers, Advisors and Legal Counsels that cover Africa, both from the outside and on the continent. The main objectives are to identify new business opportunities to expand the use of Fitch’s credit rating services and originate new rating mandates; coordinate virtual and in-person events with market participants including webinars, podcasts, panel discussions, and roundtables; coordinating outreach with BRM seniors; working with Analytical staff, Investor Development teams and Marketing; and supporting new and ongoing Fitch initiatives across new asset classes.

Role’s responsibilities include among others:

• Create a coordinated outreach plan in partnership with EMEA BRM seniors and internal stakeholders, to secure new business and retain existing relationships.
• Deepen Fitch’s access at the C-suite level showcasing the brand and developing a broad network of senior relationships with market participants.
• Building coherent and centralised data reporting standards for supporting financial optimisation and internal operational efficiency.

You May be a Good Fit if:

• At least 5 years of financial services/investment banking experience in international fixed income capital markets will be required.
• Experience with CRM (Client Relationship Management) systems (i.e. Salesforce) - and report generation and Excel downloads.
• Knowledge of the African business environment is a pre-requisite.

What Would Make You Stand Out:

• The high energy team player must be able to work well both independently and collaboratively.
• The successful candidate must possess strong communications skills, demonstrate solid understanding of debt capital markets, stay abreast of credit issues and be proactive in reaching out to constituents such as issuers and prospects and connecting with the debt capital market ecosystem to promote, educate, share viewpoints, and ask for feedback relating to Fitch opinion, criteria, research, and products.
• Strong communication and presentation skills. French language is an advantage.
• Ability to work independently within a strategic framework, with supervision and guidance from senior team members.

Why Choose Fitch:

• Hybrid Work Environment: 3 days a week in office required.
• A Culture of Learning & Mobility: Dedicated trainings, leadership development and mentorship programs designed to ensure that your time at Fitch will be a continuous learning opportunity.
• Investing in Your Future: Retirement planning and tuition reimbursement programs that empower you to achieve your short and long-term goals.
• Promoting Health & Wellbeing: Comprehensive healthcare offerings that enable physical, mental, financial, social, and occupational wellbeing.
• Supportive Parenting Policies: Family-friendly policies, including a generous global parental leave plan, designed to help you balance career and family life effectively.
• Inclusive Work Environment: A collaborative workplace where all voices are valued, with Employee Resource Groups that unite and empower our colleagues around the globe.
• Dedication to Giving Back: Paid volunteer days, matched funding for donations and ample opportunities to volunteer in your community.

Fitch is committed to providing global securities markets with objective, timely, independent and forward-looking credit opinions. To protect Fitch’s credibility and reputation, our employees must take every precaution to avoid conflicts of interests or any appearance of a conflict of interest. Should you be successful in the recruitment process at Fitch Ratings you will be asked to declare any securities holdings and other potential conflicts prior to commencing employment. If you, or your immediate family, have any holdings that may conflict with your work responsibilities, you may be asked to divest yourself of them before beginning work.

Fitch is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.