Our Business Intelligence teams work as trusted advisors to leading Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, private market investors and law firms across the region. We help our clients understand and manage a variety of business risks, enabling them to succeed in complex environments. Your work as a member of the team will include evaluating potential local partners and investments, mapping out sources of reputational and integrity risk and conducting investigations to help our clients respond to internal and external threats to their operations, including helping to resolve disputes.
Role tasks and responsibilities
Researchers are responsible for conducting open-source intelligence (OSINT) research, retrieving and analysing public records and summarising the results of their research into clear, informative and accurately written reports. They also support the practice’s marketing and sales activities by producing material, such as client briefing notes, sector summaries and other research documents.
Research and analysis
- Conduct thorough OSINT and public record research in both English and Chinese using complex search criteria
- Analyse results within the context of an investigative project that addresses the client’s key questions and suggest additional avenues of research
- Identify and investigate potential sources of risk to clients
- Provide guidance to project managers on the availability and cost of public record information and advise on the optimum research approach, including social media research
- Review and improve the sources of information accessed by Control Risks, including identifying new tools and techniques
Report-writing
- Work closely with other members of the BI team across offices – including Researchers, Project Leaders and Editors – to support the production of high-quality, client-ready reports
- Ensure that all reports are delivered according to agreed deadlines and within budget
- Take ownership of deliverables and confidently present findings to project managers and, on occasion, end clients
Marketing, business development and other activities
- Conduct scoping research for proposals
- Conduct research and prepare materials (e.g. client or sector briefs) to support marketing
- Curate information on companies and individuals from past reports to expand the knowledge base of the practice.
- Attend client calls/meetings and in-country research trips when workload allows
Essential
- Excellent command of English language and fluency in Chinese
- Excellent research and writing skills
- Passion for OSINT research and finding the ‘needle in the haystack’
- Ability to summarise, process and communicate information clearly
- Ability to think critically and unravel complex information
- Keen interest in and good understanding of political and business trends in Greater China
- Good understanding of common commercial transactions: IPOs, M&A, JVs etc
- Excellent attention to detail
- Ability to multi-task and handle stressful situations
- Ability to work well with others in an international team
- Strong work ethic
Preferred
- Professional experience in a role conducting one of the following:
- OSINT research
- analysis in either the public or private sector
- Producing investigative due diligence, enhanced due diligence or reputational due diligence reports
- Experience of or exposure to ESG due diligence
- Experience of conducting complex research tasks and producing associated reports
- Experience of conducting social media research and using related tools
- Experience in using corporate, media and other specialist databases
- Experience in the legal sector
