Associate Director - Structured Finance Ratings, Esoteric Assets, New York, Denver, or Toronto

About The Role

Grade Level (for internal use): 12

The Team: Structured Finance Esoteric ABS Credit Ratings is an integral part of the Global Ratings Services team, comprising a diverse group of 1,400 analysts spread across key financial hubs worldwide. We are dedicated to delivering high-quality insights and exceptional client service across all industry sectors.

The Esoteric ABS team assigns credit ratings to securities backed by non-traditional collateral such as corporate securitizations, data centres, triple-net leases, transportation assets, De‑Fi, etc., by analysing underlying asset performance, structural protections, cash‑flow mechanics, and downside stress scenarios. Analysts produce opinions that help issuers and investors compare complex instruments, bringing market-relevant perspectives on performance trends, issuance conditions, and AI’s role in origination and securitization.

Responsibilities

• Team Contribution & Capability Building – Act as senior reference point coaching Research Assistants, Rating Analysts, and Senior Analysts on credit fundamentals, modelling discipline, data quality, and standard work, including how to use AI as an enabler with governance; coordinate work across credits, anticipate capacity/quality risks; influence outcomes through planning and constructive challenge in ambiguous situations; embed continuous improvement by improving playbooks/SOPs/prompt libraries and driving adoption; partner with stakeholders to identify and shape high‑impact use cases, supporting testing, adoption, and rollout with governance, controls, and change management; foster a critical‑thinking mindset that challenges assumptions and the status quo to generate insights that shape market views and strategic decisions; model enterprise behaviors of Discovery, Integrity, and Partnership, including human‑centric leadership alongside AI‑enabled change.
• Core Analytical & Delivery – Deliver end‑to‑end analytical execution across a defined portfolio, setting a consistently high bar for quality, timeliness, and clarity; lead surveillance and analytical updates, connecting performance, market developments, and issuer peers to forward‑looking risk themes; own the quality of key outputs, ensuring consistency and clarity of reasoning; use approved GenAI/LLMs to accelerate research, comparisons, and drafting; operate effectively alongside AI agents in recurring workflows; support the execution of AI‑driven projects; validate inputs, reconcile metrics, document assumptions and model changes.
• Stakeholder & Market Engagement – Synthesize data, analysis, and research into executive‑ready, market‑facing narratives that convey S&P’s analytical expertise; build collaborative stakeholder trust through empathetic communication, differentiate S&P’s market viewpoint, and drive engagement with market participants; contribute to strategic initiatives and thought leadership by researching, drafting, and refining content with senior team input.
• Risk Management and Operating – Ensure adherence to methodology, confidentiality, and data governance requirements; embed responsible AI use in workflow processes; drive controlled automation and agentic workflows to remove low‑leverage work, defining requirements and controls and partnering with Data/Engineering to scale safely while setting expectations for ongoing monitoring and human oversight.

What We’re Looking For

• Complete the end‑to‑end ratings process for new issue and surveillance transactions.
• Perform cash flow analysis, synthesize results, and present findings in a timely manner in committees for various non‑traditional assets, including transportation ABS, private equity, triple‑NNN, data centres, time‑share, whole business, and De‑Fi transactions.
• Analyse credit, cash flow, and performance characteristics of collateral pools; review third‑party model output and reconcile with cash flow results from internal models.
• Review legal and operating documents to ensure consistency with criteria and identify issues with the transaction structure; provide comments to external parties.
• Actively manage relationships with internal and external clients.
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of ratings criteria and cash flow analysis and be able to handle clients’ analytical questions.
• Actively contribute to training and outreach efforts, including the completion of timely commentaries, podcasts, and webinars.
• Execution maturity across credit portfolio; deliver high quality with limited oversight.
• Strong collaboration and communication; influence through credibility and constructive challenge.
• Proven coaching and mentorship; develop juniors through feedback and quality review and reinforce human accountability in AI‑enabled work.
• Continuous improvement mindset with evidence of simplifying processes through standardization, tooling, and automation.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change, adapting quickly as processes and tools evolve.
• Ability to scale automation and agent workflows by defining problems, supporting testing and UAT, identifying controls, and enabling adoption.
• Strong research, data, credit, and financial analysis; translate complexity into decision‑useful narratives grounded in evidence and judgement.
• Strong understanding of the financial services environment and ability to connect developments to emerging risk themes.
• Practical AI fluency: experience embedding GenAI/LLMs and agentic workflows to increase productivity and insight as an enabler of human expertise, paired with disciplined validation, governance, and judgement.
• Strong analytical tool capability and willingness to learn data and automation tools to oversee AI‑enabled production.
• Effective written and verbal skills for committee‑ready documentation, presentation, and interactions with issuers, investors, and market participants.
• High standards for accuracy, traceability, and governance; consistent adherence to methodology, documentation, and confidentiality expectations.
• Sound judgement on responsible AI and automation (validation, bias/hallucination awareness, data protection, attribution, and approved boundaries).

Compensation & Benefits

• US candidates : Anticipated base salary range $110,000–$193,000 USD; final base salary based on geographic location, experience, skills, training, licenses, and certifications. Eligible for an annual incentive plan.
• Canadian candidates : Anticipated compensation range 110,000–172,000 CAD; final compensation based on performance, geographic location, experience, skills, training, licenses, and certifications. In accordance with Ontario’s new regulations effective January 1, 2026, the posting provides information on expected compensation. This posting is for an existing vacancy. All interview decisions will be communicated within 45 days of the interview.
• Benefits: Health care coverage, generous time off, continuous learning resources, financial wellness programs, family‑friendly perks, and additional retail and referral incentives. For more information on benefits by country, visit

Additional Information

• Typical senior-level employee has five to ten years of relevant work experience.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required; master’s degree or professional certification (such as CFA) highly valued. Candidates from traditional finance disciplines and diverse academic backgrounds that support innovative and critical thinking are welcome.
• Employees are required to work from the office a minimum of two days per week.
• Candidates who reach the final stage of the interview process will be asked to attend at least one in‑person interview at their nearest S&P Global Ratings office before an offer can be extended.

Equal Opportunity Employer

S&P Global is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military veteran status, unemployment status, or any other status protected by law. Only electronic job submissions will be considered for employment.

If you need an accommodation during the application process due to a disability, please send an email to and your request will be forwarded to the appropriate person.

US Candidates Only: Workplace discrimination is illegal.