Consulting Associate - European Competition practice

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates is a leading global consulting firm that offers economic, financial, and strategic expertise to major law firms, corporations, and governments around the world. Since 1965, CRA experts have combined rigorous cutting-edge research, state-of-the-art methodology, and proven experience to address our clients’ most complex challenges.

CRA's European Competition practice specialises in providing economic advice on matters of competition policy and regulation. We assist firms and their legal advisors in all types of competition proceedings before competition authorities and courts: mergers and acquisitions, abuse of dominance allegations, cartels, restrictive commercial agreements, market investigations, litigation and disputes, intellectual property or state aid. We also provide advice to regulatory authorities in similar matters.

We have played a key role in many cases that have shaped European competition policy in recent years: from aerospace to software, and manufacturing to transportation. More recently, we have been at the forefront of economic thinking in antitrust investigations and regulation in the tech sector.

We seek candidates for our London, UK location.

Position Overview

The Consulting Associate position is the entry-level position for applicants with a postgraduate qualification in economics. Consulting Associates work closely with senior consultants, scholars and industry experts on project teams, and will have the opportunity to immediately work on some of the largest, high-profile and most significant competition cases in Europe, providing conceptual and practice input to projects. A typical Consulting Associate would:

• Identify potential issues and conduct analyses that can be used to illustrate economic arguments;
• Assemble compelling evidence from data and research that support our expert opinions and business recommendations;
• Program, build models and/or perform regression analyses in statistical analysis programs (such as Stata, Python, R), including large data projects requiring use of cloud computing;
• Assist in the development and presentation of client deliverables, including expert reports and white papers summarising opinions, conclusions, and recommendations using financial, market, industry or client-proprietary data;
• Interact with clients and communicate complicated economic concepts and arguments to non-experts in an understandable, accessible manner;
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of analyses and opinions; and
• Participate in practice-building activities (training, recruiting, publication, expertise sharing, etc.).

Desired Qualifications 

• First degree in economics with a postgraduate qualification (MSc/MPhil) in economics from well-regarded institutions, graduating between December 2026 and August 2027;
• Strong foundation in microeconomics, with a specialism in industrial economics preferred;
• High degree of numeracy and comfort with data manipulation are essential, familiarity with econometric techniques desirable;
• Curious and analytical thinkers who bring creative approaches to non-standard problems;
• Effective oral and written communication skills;
• Eagerness to learn new skills and programming languages;
• Demonstrated high level of initiative and leadership;
• Strong teamwork and collaboration capabilities;
• Excellent time management and task prioritisation skills; and
• Clear and demonstrated interest in consulting through coursework, work experience, activities, or attendance at CRA recruiting events.

As much of our work occurs in our offices, minimal travel is required.

To Apply

To be considered for this position, please submit the following:

• CV/Resume – please include current address, personal email and telephone number;
• Covering letter – please describe your interest in the European Competition practice and how this role matches your goals.
• Academic Results - from all relevant degrees.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Career Growth and Benefits 

• Charles River Associate’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

Charles River Associates 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 recognise that individuals realise a range of benefits when working from home periodically. We currently ask that individuals spend 3 to 4 days a week on average working in the office (which may include traveling to another Charles River Associates office or to a client's location), with specific days determined in coordination with your practice or team. At certain times of the year (e.g. holiday periods), additional remote work options are offered to those whose work commitments permit it, although our offices remain open for those who choose or need to be there.

Responsible AI Use in Recruiting

We believe that recruiting is fundamentally a human process, and we are committed to a hiring process that is consistent, transparent, and people-focused. While AI and other technology-enabled tools help our team operate more efficiently, we strive to provide every candidate with a personalized, thoughtful, and high-touch experience. As CRA invests significant human effort to find qualified members for our teams, we expect candidates to invest corresponding human effort to learn about CRA, prepare thoughtful application materials, and engage with our interviewers. Read more about appropriate hiring manager, recruiting team, and candidate AI at CRA on our website.  

Our Commitment to Diversity

Charles River Associates is an equal opportunity employer. As part of our focus on equity and inclusion, we work to ensure a fair and consistent hiring process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment (Equality Act 2010).

The statements included in this job description are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.