Role design and job descriptions for Financial consulting: analyst, manager and director duties and sign-off
Titles in a financial consulting firm often stay vague while the work grows. Role papers by level say who builds, who reviews and who signs, which protects the client and the people doing the work.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsWhy role design and job descriptions matters in financial consulting
A growing advisory firm may have an analyst preparing client presentations, reviewing a junior's model and answering the client's finance head, all on analyst pay. The manager above is busy with three other engagements. Both feel the other is unclear, and when a mistake slips into a report nobody can say who should have caught it.
Role papers settle this. For each level they say what the person does alone, what they do with review and what they must not do without sign-off. They also describe the next step up, so an analyst knows what to show to become a senior. The papers are short, written with the people in the roles, and used in hiring, appraisal and pay talks.
How to set it up
1. List the work by engagement stage
From scoping to data collection, model build, review, presentation and client handover. Note who does each task today.
2. Draft roles by level
Write analyst, senior analyst, manager and director in a page each, with work done alone, work reviewed and sign-off authority.
3. Test with the people in the roles
Sit with two analysts and two managers, read the draft and fix what does not match real work. Remove duties nobody does and add those that were missing.
4. Link each level to the next
State what someone must show to move up, with examples from engagements. Keep it concrete, such as led a client call alone or reviewed a model to firm standard.
5. Use the papers in hiring and appraisal
Share them with candidates and attach them to appraisals. Revisit each year, and check competency grids if you build them later.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask an analyst and their manager to list the analyst's duties separately and compare.
- Check whether any report in the last quarter lacked a clear reviewer.
- See whether staff can tell what they must show to move up.
- Note duties currently done by someone outside their title.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach role design and job descriptions in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
One page is enough. List duties, review points, sign-off authority and the next step. Longer papers are rarely read and rarely updated.
Not if they describe the core and leave room for growth. They protect people from doing senior work unpaid, and stop juniors being blamed for decisions above their level.
Managers and directors with input from people in the roles. HR can shape the format and language, but the content must reflect how engagements run in your firm.