What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Portfolio Management position at MSU Research Foundation?
With over 175 active portfolio companies, the Director of Portfolio Management will be responsible for relationship management as well as leveraging post-investment services that deliver differentiated value across these entities. Efforts will include ensuring all entities are seeing the support from our platform of services, connecting them with investors, customers and potential partners and mentoring on strategies to further the success of our overall portfolio. The Director will also assist the team in developing models and opportunities around future funds and potential sources of capital to support such strategies.
In this role, the Director is expected to help with the following:
Networking: Identify, cultivate, and manage national co-investor relationships that support our growing portfolio. Develop new as well as build upon existing relationships between RCV and internal and external stakeholders and venture funds to advance RCV objectives.
Connecting: Act as a matchmaker for portfolio companies in efforts to connect them with their next best customer, investor, employee, or acquirer.
Supporting: Build upon and optimize our best-in-class venture platform that supports portfolio company management teams. Emphasis on making network connections, developing corporate strategy, advising on financing strategies, evaluating M&A opportunities, assessing new business lines, and assisting with other strategic initiatives as needed.
Portfolio Management: Manage and scale the process to monitor portfolio performance via regular valuations, company updates, financial performance, updated data calculations and overall fund administration.
Strategy Management: Develop and model future funds and develop strategies to support new initiatives and plans based on data-driven learnings from existing fund portfolios.
Financial Analysis: Oversee and manage valuations for current and pipeline opportunities including discounted cash flows, public and private comparable valuations, and transaction analysis.
Benchmarking and Trends: Stay abreast of industry trends to inform strategic portfolio decision making. Prepare analyses and research summaries to benchmark fund performance and industry-specific learnings for the RCV team.
Training Programs: Help establish and support training programs for startups in conjunction with other MSU Foundation subsidiaries, such as Conquer Accelerator, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, etc.
Reporting: Assist Directors with internal compliance and reporting functions. Update internal and external databases including Pitchbook and Crunchbase. Prepare presentation decks for board meetings.
Mentoring: Mentor junior members of the team to develop investment acumen and portfolio management capabilities.
Key Requirements:
- 5 – 8 years of experience in venture capital or investment banking is preferred or the related relevant and equivalent skills and experience in accounting or finance.
- Proficiency in analyzing financial statements and modeling.
- Excellent strategic thinking with strong attention to detail.
- Strong analytical capabilities and pattern recognition. Quickly learn key metrics and market drivers for diverse industries.
- Interest in quickly researching a variety of industries and interfacing with subject matter experts to assess investment opportunities.
- Ability to work independently and with confidence to take initiative and be proactive; exercise sound judgment and discretion when handling confidential and sensitive data.
- Commitment to professional ethics.
- Strong sense of urgency and self-motivation. Ability to multi-task and prioritize work accordingly, to meet critical deadlines.
- Desire to network and develop relationships between university research, technology spinoffs, early-stage investors, and business acceleration services in the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- Ability to propose and encourage new ideas, gain support from organizations and manage key risks and resources.
- Welcoming of change.
- This position is based in East Lansing, Michigan, with a hybrid work schedule.