Corporate Development Director 

Are you curious, excited by experimentation and always looking for a better way of doing things?  

Are you interested in learning more about venture / growth investment, driving portfolio growth strategies and fundraising / M&A processes?

Do you want to have the opportunity to help develop, systematise and build a network of Tier 1 institutional investors?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

We are looking to hire high energy, entrepreneurial and value-adding talent to join Blenheim Chalcot (BC), Europe’s largest Venture Builder. The incoming hire will have the opportunity to lead on corporate development, strategy and investor relations, building and growing our network of investors and portfolio of businesses.

ABOUT US

Blenheim Chalcot is one of the leading global venture builders. Headquartered in London from our flagship Scale Space campus, we have been building exciting and disruptive businesses for over 20 years. We have built some of the most innovative companies in the UK and increasingly around the world – with significant operations in India and the US, as well as emerging operations in Europe and Southeast Asia.

Our ventures are at the forefront of a multitude of industries being digitally disrupted through GenAI and wider digital applications including FinTech, EdTech, GovTech, Media, Sport, Charity and more. Our portfolio companies employ in excess of 4000 people, with the central BC team itself numbering 1,000 - and all are scaling up rapidly. Our assets under management are in excess of £1.8 billion.

As part of our expansion strategy in 2024, we are looking to increase our network of institutional investors (GPs and LPs), through a strategic investor relations project, led by a team in London. This will be built upon our existing network of financial and strategic partners, which includes Paypal, WorldPay, General Atlantic, Lead Edge, Highland and Frog Capital.

IMPACT BEYOND PROFIT:

15% of our partnerships and ventures are charities. These are the British Asian Trust, Babyzone, and Onside Youth Zones. In the same way that we support our ventures, our Partners provide direct hands-on support to the charities through sitting on the boards and much more.

OUR BEHAVIOURS:

• Honesty and integrity – trustworthy
• Resilience – keep going when it gets tough, remain optimistic in the face of challenges, open to feedback and willingness to change and experiment
• Teamwork – be collaborative and supportive, elevating and developing others to deliver results
• Innovation – keep on improving, challenge how to make things better
• Deliver results – keep promises, drive to achieve, commit to high quality work
• People awareness – be collaborative supportive and respectful
• Commercial awareness – look for best value solutions for the business, understand costs / revenues and spend money wisely

THE ROLE

Key responsibilities

You will be leading on BC’s investor relations strategy reporting to the Head of Investments in London. The UK Corporate Development Director will be part of the core team responsible for defining and executing the investor relations strategy of Blenheim Chalcot, working to provide the central investment team and portfolio companies with the strategic services they need to thrive. The role will be directly responsible for the following:

• Developing BC’s network of institutional investors across GPs, Family Offices and LPs.
• Overseeing the creation of a strategic investor outreach plan and implementation of accompanying processes.
• Leading the team creating external facing materials for BC and its portfolio companies.
• Leading on marketplace engagement and building the BC brand.
• Supporting CEOs/CFOs and boards of portfolio companies with strategy, fundraising, M&As, and debt refinancing processes.

Specific duties

Depending on the project, you will need to be comfortable doing the following:

• Expand BC’s profile and the awareness of our portfolio companies across EMEA and the US.
• Build an IR plan and engage with current and prospective investors as well as other stakeholders within BC and externally e.g. family offices, strategic partners, VC / Pes.
• Prepare BC teams and portfolio companies for roadshows and other external investor presentations, including preparing investor materials, scripts and talking points.
• Develop strong relationships with CEOs and senior leadership in our portfolio companies to support their growth strategy.
• Be able to transition between our ventures across different sectors eg FinTech Lending, Fintech Services, EdTech, MarTech, and/or GenAi SaaS.
• Support BC Partners, Head of the Investment, and wider Investment Team on the execution of our portfolio strategy and specific strategic initiatives.
• Identify and support on potential partnership or M&A opportunities for our ventures, e.g. capital raising transactions, bolt-on acquisitions, debt refinancing, exits, IPOs and new venture incubations.
• Work collaboratively in a highly entrepreneurial environment, focusing on execution and ensuring strategic plans come to fruition.
• Lead and manage project teams

Opportunity

This role is an excellent platform for experienced professionals to take their career to the next level and an opportunity unlikely to be found anywhere else.  You will have the opportunity to work in a variety of sectors and at different stages of the venture lifecycle on a variety of fundraising / M&A processes.

We pride ourselves on having an intentional and continuous learning culture at Blenheim Chalcot. As such, your ability to impact venture success will be amplified by access to shared learnings from leaders across the portfolio as well as the central BC team.  As a part of this role, you will also have the opportunity to take part in our cross-portfolio leadership development programmes that aim to develop future senior leaders (with previous great success!).

ABOUT YOU

The ideal candidate will have a track-record in delivering results in a fast-moving business and hence be comfortable with change and uncertainty. Excellent stakeholder management experience is essential to being successful in this role.

The Ideal Candidate

• Minimum of five years of experience in investment banking, corporate development, VC or PE (including IR).
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• Experience in the Tech space would also be advantageous.
• Experience developing strong relationships and regularly interacting with investors, such as PEs, family offices and other long horizon LPs.
• Self-starter capable of working independently and collaboratively across geographies.
• Experience in preparing investor materials, financial modelling and analysis, as well as transaction execution.
• Feels comfortable and able to be flexible in a dynamic environment where there is a high velocity of change that comes with the territory of early-stage ventures
• Highly motivated and ‘entrepreneurial’ with a strong sense of ownership, and passionate about adding value to high-growth start-up businesses
• Good understanding of the many functional elements of a growing business
• Excellent written, communication and people skills to be able to influence and work with CEOs, senior management and other stakeholders
• Ability to operate at a range of levels – both in terms of big picture strategic thinking, thought leadership and getting into the data and analysis

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU:

• Be part of Europe's leading digital venture builder
• Have the opportunity to learn from the incredible talent within BC, including our 20 portfolio companies and c.15 new incubations
• Be exposed to the right mix of challenges and learning and development opportunities
• Discretionary bonus
• 25 days of paid holidays + your birthday off 
• Flexible package, plus Pension Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme and more  

PROCESS

We have a rigorous recruitment process, which we use for all our roles to ensure we attract the very best talent.

Individuals seeking employment at Blenheim Chalcot must note that we see diversity as something that creates a better workplace and delivers better outcomes. As such, we are keen to maximise the diversity of our workforce and actively encourage applications from anyone and everyone

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