Research Analyst

Bradford Allen; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Bradford Allen, a Chicago-based national commercial real estate firm, is seeking a Research Analyst to join the growing research team. You will source, clean, structure, and interpret data for memos and reports supporting brokerage, asset management, and consulting engagements.

You'll use a modern research stack with AI tools to move faster while maintaining hands-on, detail-driven work; real estate experience is a plus but not required, and candidates from finance or data science are encouraged

Qualifications

• Interest in writing market-facing content with data storytelling.
• Aptitude for data and technical tools; comfortable with Excel, pivot tables.
• Foundational grasp of real estate concepts or eagerness to learn.
• Comfort with public data sources like Census and BLS.
• Willingness to learn tools like CoStar, Placer.ai, REGIS/SitesUSA.

Responsibilities

• Research companies, properties, and tenants using CoStar, RCA, and Dun & Bradstreet to support brokerage.
• Maintain the firm's lease/sales comps database.
• Support brokers with targeted company and contact research.
• Track industry news, vacancy trends, leasing activity, and investment sales.
• Support quarterly Chicago office market reports, owning data collection and cleaning.
• Produce research content that informs internal decisions and differentiates Bradford Allen.
• Build Excel-based models, trackers, and dashboards from raw market data.
• Use AI tools to speed up workflows while doing manual checks.

Skills

Excel

Python

SQL

Data viz

Market research

Storytelling

AI tooling

Tools

CoStar

REGIS/SitesUSA

Placer.ai

Dun & Bradstreet

Job description

Bradford Allen is a Chicago-based, national commercial real estate company that provides a full array of brokerage services and expertise to entrepreneurial and corporate business entities, as well as not-for-profit organizations. The firm provides real estate strategy, advice, marketing, and transaction execution for occupiers, investors and owners of real estate. Services include: Tenant Representation, Landlord Representation, Property Management, Commercial Real Estate Finance, Corporate Services, and Investment Sales.

Bradford Allen professionals create flexible solutions for our clients through their experience, commitment to solving the most difficult problems, persistence, loyalty, hard work, and a singular focus on client objectives.

Position Overview

This is an opportunity to join a research team that already has a strong track record producing sharp, publication-ready market reports and thought leadership. You'll work closely with the SVP and Senior Analyst, focusing on data: sourcing it, cleaning it, structuring it, and interpreting it in memos and reports.

You'll join the Research Team supporting brokerage, asset management, and consulting engagements across the firm, including office, multifamily, hospitality, development.

We use a modern research stack, including AI tools like Claude and Copilot, to move faster and go deeper than a traditional research role allows, though plenty of the work is still manual, detail-driven, and not something you can hand off to a machine.

This is a great opportunity for an entrepreneurial and analytically curious thinker who wants to build a career in real estate research and has a real aptitude for data and technical tools, even if you're still building deep experience in them.

Real estate experience is a plus, not a requirement; candidates from finance, economics, data science, or statistics backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Research companies, properties, and tenants using CoStar, RCA, and Dun & Bradstreet to support brokerage and asset management.
• Maintain the firm's lease/sales comps database.
• Support brokers with targeted company and contact research.
• Track industry news, vacancy trends, leasing activity, and investment sales.
• Support the quarterly Chicago office market reports, owning much of the underlying data collection, structuring, cleaning, and quality control.
• Produce reports and research content that inform internal decisions and differentiate Bradford Allen with clients.
• Build Excel-based models, trackers, and dashboards that turn raw market data into clear, reusable analysis.
• Use, or build proficiency in, tools to automate recurring data pulls, cleaning, and reporting, while knowing when a task calls for careful manual work instead.
• Run demographic, foot-traffic, and site-selection analysis using REGIS/SitesUSA, Placer.ai, and public data sources like Census and BLS.
• Use Claude and other AI tools to build faster, more consistent research and reporting workflows, and bring the same rigor to the work that still has to be done by hand.

Required Experience/Qualifications

• An interest in learning, and ideally some ability in, writing market-facing content; at minimum, a natural sense of storytelling with data.
• Strong aptitude for and interest in data and technical tools; comfortable in Excel (formulas, pivot tables), with coding or scripting exposure (Python, SQL, VBA, AI-coding tools) a meaningful plus, even at a beginner level.
• Foundational grasp of real estate and corporate finance concepts (e.g., NOI, cap rates, debt yields), or eagerness to learn them quickly.
• Comfort working with public data sources such as Census and BLS data.
• Openness to learning tools such as CoStar, Placer.ai, REGIS/SitesUSA, RCA, and Dun & Bradstreet; prior experience is a plus but not required.
• Comfort working with AI tools such as Claude, plus a willingness to do careful manual research when that's what the work calls for.
• The ability to juggle multiple deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
• A collaborative attitude and eagerness to learn.