We are Mercia Ventures; one of the most active venture capital investors in the UK, which is recognised for regularly making investments of up to £10m. We have an experienced team based in offices from London to Newcastle. We have an enviable track record harnessed with our ambition.
We are generalist as a house, but we have teams with a specific sector focus within life sciences, B2B software, consumer and deep-tech. We pride ourselves on building enduring partnerships through being fundamentally good people to work with and helping our companies through our own input and through our network.
As an Investment Manager in our Midlands based Ventures team, you will be supporting for originating deals, leading investments and portfolio value creation within the West Midlands region.
You will be based in the Birmingham office, and there is a requirement to travel to other Mercia offices and investee companies on a regular basis.
In this role you would have responsibility for:
- Keeping abreast of business developments, trends and business opportunities.
- Developing a network of introducers to demonstrate own potential deal flow.
- Carrying out research and financial modelling to assist the Investment Director in identifying suitable investment opportunities.
- Carrying out due diligence analysis on potential investee companies, involving all relevant stakeholders.
- Making recommendations for structuring a transaction, taking into account the specifics of the deal.
- Writing investment papers to a high level of quality and within Investment Procedure guidelines.
- Presenting at Investment Committee meetings, showing a well-researched proposal and handling objections.
- Dealing with legal negotiation on investments with support from the Investment Director or Fund Principal.
- Carrying out all work in accordance with legislative, regulatory and statutory requirements, and articulating the potential consequences of non-compliance.
- Reviewing investee company performance and ensuring compliance with the Investment Agreement and ensuring good corporate governance.
- Persuading investee companies of the need to change where appropriate.
- Managing any conflicts of interests.
- Monitoring the performance of an investment against the business plan and KPIs.
- Monitoring the delivery of the 100-day plan and escalating issues.
- Attending investee company board meetings.
- Shortlisting of potential exit routes, assessing factors that may affect the choice of exit route and implementing an agreed exit plan.
- Researching appropriate co-investors and structuring deals with potential new investors.
- Reporting on the performance of investments and reviewing monthly management accounts and reports against agreed criteria.
- Promoting the benefits of socially responsible ways of working to portfolio companies.
- Sharing industry and technical knowledge with more junior members of the team.
- You may be asked to provide input into the development reviews of more junior members of the team.
- Keeping Group CRM system updated to ensure records are accurate and current.
About you:
- Track record of making early-stage technology investments in a venture capital fund or similar (2-5 years’ experience).
- Solid knowledge and experience of the UK venture landscape.
- Experience of working with Boards of investee companies.
- Evidence of managing multiple investment projects to tight deadlines.
- Solid business acumen and analytical skills.
- Strong work and team ethics.
- Good communication and interpersonal skills.
- Experience of financial analysis and modelling.
- Experience in writing good quality investment papers and presenting effectively at Investment Committee meetings.
- Experience of reporting on portfolio company performance.
- Experience of working in a regulated environment, with an understanding of the potential consequences of non-compliance with legislative, statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Strong Excel skills are essential, together with a good working knowledge of other Microsoft Office products.
- Evidence of academic achievement – a relevant degree is strongly preferred.
- We are a collaborative team and so it’s important that you share our Mercia Core Values (Growth Focused, Responsive, Responsible/Respectful, Trusted and Connected).
- Given the regular travel to our other UK offices and client sites, unrestricted mobility is a requirement, with a current / valid driving licence enabling you to drive in the UK.
- You should have the right to work in the UK.
What we can offer you:
In addition to your base salary, we offer a broad and exciting range of perks and benefits, including family-friendly policies, wellbeing support, Mercia Spirit charity days, regular 1-2-1’s, mentoring and support with training and career development.
We value diversity at Mercia and are committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment equally and fairly, regardless of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion or religious beliefs, gender or gender realignment, sexual orientation or marital status, disability, responsibility for dependants or age. In your application, please feel free to note which pronouns you prefer to use.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy if we receive sufficient applications for the position. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.