Research Analyst

Derrick® is a family-owned and operated company with a global presence focused on pioneering fine-separation technology. Since 1951, Derrick has expanded its product portfolio to serve a variety of challenging markets within the Mining & Industrial, Oil & Gas Drilling, and Civil Construction industries. Derrick remains committed to providing the latest technological enhancements that evolve alongside industry best practices and market developments. Derrick's corporate headquarters, in-house manufacturing facility, and Mining & Industrial are based out of Derrick Corporation in Buffalo, New York, while Oil & Gas Drilling and Underground Construction & Aggregates are run out of its Houston, Texas office. This year, 2026 marks our 75th year in operation, which speaks to our enduring legacy and global presence. Summary The Senior Research Analyst translates technical opportunities into business-ready opportunity assessments that inform Derrick's product development priorities. You sit at the intersection of Derrick's technical specialists, product teams, and senior leadership by taking raw product ideas and developing them into structured assessments that include market sizing, customer value framing, competitive positioning, and business case fundamentals. Your primary deliverable is the rigorous, decision-ready opportunity assessment: a clear answer to whether Derrick should pursue a given opportunity, for whom, and why. These assessments allow leadership to prioritize where Derrick invests next. You will also lead targeted customer validation work to ground assessments in real demand, and author Market Requirements Documents that hand validated opportunities off to product and engineering teams. Key Responsibilities Work directly with Derrick's technical specialists, product experts, and engineering teams to take half-formed technical opportunities and translate them into structured business assessments. Ask the right business questions, identify the unknowns, and frame opportunities into language decision-makers can act on. Produce rigorous opportunity assessments that include market sizing, customer value framing, competitive positioning, target customer identification, business case fundamentals (TCO inputs, ROI logic, payback), and key risks. These assessments are the primary input to executive prioritization conversations. Lead targeted customer engagement to validate the assumptions' underlying opportunity assessments. Conduct on-site discovery with plant managers, process engineers, and operations leadership where assessment-critical assumptions need real-world testing. Once opportunities are prioritized for development, author Market Requirements Documents (MRDs) that define the market problem, customer segments, use cases, competitive landscape, and success metrics, providing the structured handoff downstream product and engineering teams need to move forward. Maintain working knowledge of competitive offerings, pricing dynamics, and market trends across Derrick's served verticals (Mining & Industrial, Oil & Gas Drilling, Civil Construction) and adjacent industries, sufficient to ground opportunity assessments in current market reality. Build strong working relationships with technical, commercial, and operations stakeholders. Help engineers and product specialists ask the business questions their ideas need answered, and give commercial leaders the structured opportunity view they need to support innovation investments. Travel up to 15% to customer sites, plants, and industry events as required by validation work. Qualifications Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other business-focused graduate degree strongly preferred, ideally paired with a technical undergraduate (engineering, science, or related discipline). 5+ years in corporate strategy, product management, product planning, business analysis, management consulting (especially industrial practices), or related disciplines that develop structured business judgment. Demonstrated ability to take ambiguous opportunities and develop them into clear, decision-ready business assessments. Strong written communication, particularly in structured analytical documents, opportunity assessments, business cases, MRDs (Market Requirements Documents), executive briefs, or similar artifacts. Comfortable working alongside technical experts and translating between technical possibility and business viability. Industrial, manufacturing, or B2B equipment context strongly preferred. Strong business judgment: comfortable with market sizing, value-in-use logic, TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and ROI (Return on Investment) fundamentals, competitive positioning, and the trade-offs that arise in prioritization decisions. Self-directed and effective in ambiguity; able to structure problems independently and bring well-framed recommendations forward rather than waiting for direction. #J-18808-Ljbffr