Forensic Research Analyst — Sovereign & Primary-Source Intelligence
Build the evidential foundation beneath GSSI’s analytical judgements through primary-source, institutional and local-language research.
About GSSI
Global South Strategic Intelligence is an independent forensic geopolitical and sovereign-risk advisory firm working with institutional clients on complex sovereign, geopolitical and transaction-risk questions.
Our work sits at the intersection of sovereign risk, institutional finance, political economy, primary-source research and strategic judgement. Primary-source research is central to how GSSI works: we seek to go materially deeper than conventional English-language reporting or secondary-source country-risk summaries.
The Role
We are looking for a Forensic Research Analyst — Sovereign & Primary-Source Intelligence to support GSSI on project-based institutional assignments.
GSSI expects to appoint up to two analysts through this recruitment round, with complementary language, geographic and research capabilities particularly welcome.
You will work directly with the GSSI Principal and, on larger mandates, alongside a Senior Associate. Your role is to build the evidential foundation underneath GSSI’s analytical judgements by locating, interrogating, verifying and synthesising primary-source material across government, institutional, corporate, financial, legal and local-language sources.
This is not primarily a geopolitical commentary role. We are looking for people who enjoy finding what others have missed, tracing claims back to their source and building a defensible evidential record from fragmented information.
Language Requirement
Fluent professional English is required, together with native, bilingual or near-native professional proficiency in at least one additional language that provides meaningful access to primary sources relevant to GSSI’s work.
Candidates should be capable of conducting substantive research directly in the relevant language rather than relying predominantly on translation software or English-language reporting. Current areas of particular interest include Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Azerbaijani/Azeri, Urdu, Hebrew, Armenian, Chinese and other Asian languages; African languages; and selected European languages including Spanish, Portuguese and languages of Central and Eastern Europe. Candidates are not expected to cover multiple regions. Strong capability in one relevant language may be sufficient where it materially expands GSSI’s primary-source research coverage.
What You Will Do
- Conduct deep primary-source and local-language research.
- Locate and analyse government documents, legislation, regulations, parliamentary material, official statements and institutional publications.
- Review central-bank, ministry, budgetary and other sovereign documentation.
- Build event chronologies, decision timelines and actor or institutional maps.
- Research corporate registries, beneficial ownership, sanctions, counterparties and associated entities where relevant.
- Research shipping, commodities, infrastructure, energy and trade networks when required by a mandate.
- Compare official claims against observable evidence and alternative primary sources.
- Identify contradictions, information gaps and unresolved questions.
- Maintain structured source and evidence records and produce concise research notes.
- Support fact-checking and rapid-turnaround research during live political, economic or security developments.
Who We Are Looking For
Relevant backgrounds may include sovereign or country-risk research, investigative research, political-risk intelligence, due diligence, corporate or financial intelligence, sanctions research, public-policy research, emerging-markets research, investigative journalism, security analysis, or academic and think-tank work involving substantial primary-source research.
We would expect approximately 2–6+ years of relevant professional or advanced research experience, although exceptional candidates outside this range will be considered.
What Matters to Us
Strong candidates will demonstrate exceptional research discipline, strong local-language capability, intellectual curiosity, persistence, forensic sourcing and verification, attention to detail, sensitivity to translation and institutional context, clear written English and the ability to distinguish verified fact from inference, judgement or unverified assertion.
We care more about evidential quality and research discipline than institutional pedigree.
Engagement Structure
This is an initial 2–4 month project-based associate engagement rather than a permanent full-time position. Individual assignments may involve several days to several weeks of concentrated work and the engagement does not imply continuous full-time utilisation throughout the full period.
The role will be predominantly remote/hybrid, with London meetings where useful. Compensation will be agreed on a mandate-by-mandate basis and will reflect experience, language capability and the nature of the assignment. Strong performance may lead to recurring assignments within GSSI’s associate network.
Application
Please send:
- Your CV.
- The language or languages in which you can conduct professional primary-source research, including your level of proficiency.
- A short note describing the most difficult primary-source or investigative research assignment you have undertaken.
- If possible, an example of a situation where your research identified something absent from, inconsistent with or materially different from the prevailing secondary-source account.
Confidential client information should not be disclosed. We are less interested in polished geopolitical commentary than in evidence that you can find, verify and organise the source material from which defensible institutional judgement can be made.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.