Senior Analyst, Specialized Services

This position is based in our Philadelphia, PA office and may work a remote or hybrid work arrangement; travel to client sites may be required on occasion.

The Senior Analyst will support our Structured Products and Quantitative Strategies Groups, assisting with investment of municipal bond transaction proceeds, municipal bond transactions, non-transactional client projects, financial modeling, and marketing / RFP support. Successful candidates will be expected to be nimble in a fast-paced environment in which they are given significant responsibility working across a wide range of clients and focuses.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Proficiently use DBC Finance® and PortOpt® software for a broad range of municipal bond structures. 
• Analyze and produce detailed cash flows for complex plans of finance and client borrowing programs using sophisticated debt structuring alternatives & financing techniques.
• Create and manage Excel spreadsheets for analyzing financial information and developing and presenting financing scenarios; analyze various financing options to devise optimal borrowing and bond proceeds investment solutions for our clients.
• Assist the team’s tracking of debt portfolios and identification and analysis of refinancing opportunities, including sensitivity analysis and risk evaluation, as appropriate.
• Use Excel, visual basic & macros to optimize modeling and quantitative analysis in an efficient manner.
• Build, run and improve complex quantitative models; process capital markets transactions.
• Review legal documents for alignment with plans of finance, financial modeling, and permitted investment securities for bond proceeds investment strategies.
• Support client marketing and proposal efforts through the development of financial analysis of potential client solutions.
• Create financial and credit profiles for current and prospective clients. Master and model all three credit rating agency criteria for various industry sectors, including water & sewer revenue bond criteria and local government criteria, among others. 
• Prepare presentations for use in rating agency communication, client communication and marketing with a focus on quantitative elements supporting such work products.
• Organize, prioritize, and schedule work for each client project and/or financing transaction.
• Work seamlessly with team members who travel frequently, have varying levels of in-office presence and may be based in offices around the country.
• Maintain existing relationships with financial advisory clients (primarily state and local governments and public agencies).
• Coordinate information flow between staff, clients, and PFM project managers.
• Complete assignments in a timely manner and communicate assignment progress with internal staff on a regular basis.
• Develop & present reports and other materials, including financial analysis to internal staff and clients at meetings.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university
• At least two (2) years of work experience in public sector / municipal finance
• Experience completing financial transactions start to finish including complex financial modeling and quantitative analysis
• MSRB Series 50 certification or ability to obtain certification within forty-five (45) days of hire
• Authorization to work in the U.S. for any employer without visa sponsorship now or in the future
• Expertise with MS Office applications including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Knowledge of and familiarity with DBC Finance® and DBC PortOpt® (experience and proficiency in this software preferred)

Other Qualifications

• Outstanding teamwork and project execution skills with ability to manage multiple tasks and adapt to a changing, fast-paced environment
• Superior quantitative, problem solving, and analytical skills
• Detail oriented with strong organization skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for interaction with clients, prospects, external partners, managers, and colleagues
• Prior experience writing and developing macros in Excel to automate models preferred, but not required
• Ability to take ownership of assigned tasks, following up as necessary, and managing up as appropriate to ensure completion
• Willingness to learn a specialized financial field and continually increase knowledge and responsibilities

FIRM OVERVIEW

PFM is a recognized national leader in providing financial and consulting advice to public sector, non-profit and other institutional entities. For more than forty years, PFM has advised many of the country’s largest municipal and institutional entities including states, counties, municipalities, townships, boroughs, authorities, school districts, not-for-profit organizations, and pension funds. The firm has more than 350 employees located in every region of the country.

PRACTICE OVERVIEW

PFM’s Quantitative Strategies Group (the “QSG”) comprises a group of dedicated professionals whose mission is to develop proactive strategies and tools for all of PFM’s business practices. Using advanced financial analysis and commercial and proprietary software, the QSG develops customized solutions to meet the individual quantitative needs of all our clients. Our extensive quantitative capabilities allow us to provide services which address the full scope of strategic and operational considerations, ranging from capital financing strategies to bond structuring solutions, to strategic planning and budgeting. Proprietary and in-house developed tools, such as our Structural Optimization, Refunding Efficiency, Forward Pricing, Other Post-Employee Benefits, and Budget Projection Models, to name a few, assist us in achieving these objectives.

PFM’s Structured Products Group (the “SPG”) is currently building out the capabilities to provide a comprehensive set of services related to bond proceeds investments including the competitive procurement of securities for escrows, construction accounts, capitalized interest funds, reserve funds, etc. We expect to be able to offer these services to our clients beginning on December 9, 2024. For each client, we will carefully consider their investment objectives, permitted investments, liquidity needs, and arbitrage rebate and yield restriction constraints (as applicable). We will draw on live market information from Bloomberg and utilize a combination of Excel models and portfolio optimization software to develop sample portfolios and breakeven analyses (as applicable) to evaluate with our clients. Based upon the feedback we receive, we will then develop a customized investment strategy that may utilize United States Treasury Securities, State and Local Government Series (“SLGS”), open-market securities such as Treasury Notes, or a combination of the two. Open-market securities would be procured on a competitive basis in an attempt to achieve the best possible pricing while also providing thorough documentation of the process conducted.

If you are ready to experience the challenge, satisfaction, and reward of an opportunity with PFM, please apply here, or refer a qualified candidate.

PFM is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.

PFM is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, M/F/D/V) and maintains a drug-free workplace.