Consulting Associate/Investigations, Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates is a leading global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, corporations and governments around the world. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its combination of industry experience and rigorous, fact-based analysis that provide clients with clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns.

Position Overview

CRA’s Risk, Investigations & Analytics Practice is comprised of professionals from government and industry with extensive experience in helping clients manage legal, reputational, and commercial risk. Our teams specialize in complex investigations, forensic accounting, and data-driven dispute support, delivering clear, defensible insights in high-stakes matters. Our key forensic accounting services include investigating allegations of bribery and corruption, financial statement fraud, asset misappropriation, Ponzi schemes, and compliance services related to evaluating the strength of existing processes, internal controls and root cause analyses.

While many of our senior practice members provide investigative consulting services to attorneys and corporate clients, we also offer economic and financial advisory services to companies, legal counsel, and tribunals involved in matters relating to intellectual property disputes (such as patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, trademark and copyright infringement), International Trade Commission investigations, and commercial litigation (such as breach of contract, business interruption, tortious interference, and price discrimination).

As a Consulting Associate, you will work alongside your project team and have frequent contact with senior leadership, working on both forensic accounting investigations and intellectual property disputes. Overall responsibilities include executing forensic accounting procedures across complex, multi-disciplinary investigations that incorporate traditional investigative background research, complex data sets, and technical accounting analyses.  Day-to-day responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Performing transaction-level testing by reviewing supporting documentation, such as contracts, invoices, or bank records, to assess the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of recorded activity;
• Performing flow of funds analyses to trace the movement of monies;
• Analyzing accounting data including general ledgers, trial balances, balance sheet and profit and loss statements;
• Reviewing and summarizing client documents, third party financial and industry data, expert reports, depositions, complaints and other legal documents to identify key information and discern relevant patterns;
• Investigating and analyzing financial and operational evidence including structured  and unstructured data;
• Drafting preliminary memos and reports to summarize procedures performed and observations identified;
• Training teammates to facilitate the execution of engagement procedures and to prepare for future opportunities by providing guidance on task execution and by checking work for completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness;
• Assisting in the creation, development and quality control of client deliverables;
• Supporting senior experts to conduct analyses of various types of data (i.e., macro and micro economic, corporate financial and operational, market and industry);
• Utilizing econometric and database skills to compile, analyze and interpret large data sets;
• Conducting industry, market and competitor research to develop knowledge of a particular industry;
• Preparing quantum of damages models based on client’s and opponent’s financial data.

Desired Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in accounting;
• 2-4 years of accounting, audit experience and/or forensic accounting;
• CPA designation and/or other relevant certifications or degrees;
• Analytic skills, including intermediate or advanced excel experience;
• Experience gathering, standardizing, and analyzing voluminous transactional electronic data;
• An ability to communicate with project managers to facilitate prioritized tasks and execute responsibilities under pressure.

To Apply

To be considered for a position in the United States, we require the following:

• Resume – please include current address, personal email and telephone number;

If you are interested in applying for one of our international locations, please visit our Careers site to view and apply for available jobs.

Career Growth and Benefits 

• CRA’s robust skills development programs, including a commitment to offering 100 hours of training annually through formal and informal programs, encourage you to thrive as an individual and team member. Beginning with research and analysis skill building, training continues with technical training, presentation skills, internal seminars, and career mentoring and performance coaching from an assigned senior colleague. Additional leadership and collaboration opportunities exist through internal firm development activities.
• We offer a comprehensive total rewards program including a superior benefits package, wellness programming to support physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being, and in-house immigration support for foreign nationals and international business travelers.

Work Location Flexibility

CRA creates a work environment that enables our colleagues to benefit from being together in the office to best deliver on our promise of career growth, mentorship and inclusivity. At the same time, we recognize that individuals realize a range of benefits when working from home periodically. We are an in-office environment and expect that individuals spend 3 to 4 days a week on average working in the office (which may include traveling to another CRA office or to a client's location), with specific days determined in coordination with your practice or team.

Our Commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River Associates is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Salary and other compensation

A good-faith estimate of the annual base salary range for this position in the US is $100,000 – $126,500. Starting pay within this range may vary based on factors such as education level, experience, skills, geographic location, market conditions, and other qualifications of the successful candidate. This position is eligible for overtime pay in lieu of bonus incentive compensation. CRA offers a comprehensive benefits package, subject to eligibility requirements, which may include: medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) retirement plan with employer match; life and disability insurance; paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays); paid parental leave; wellness programs and employee assistance resources; and commuter benefits.