The Director/Principal will be an integral part of the Amex Ventures team in Silicon Valley. The Amex Ventures team plays a key role in developing and executing long-term corporate strategic initiatives which contribute to American Express’ market leadership and growth. The team invests in innovative startups to accelerate American Express’ efforts in consumer commerce, B2B services and to enhance core capabilities such as data analytics and security. Team members work with senior management, C-level executives and business leaders across the company to execute equity investments, both domestically and internationally.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Proactively identifying potential investments, meeting and qualifying startups;
- Spearheading the formulation of investment thesis around strategic areas
- Overseeing the full lifecycle management of deal pipeline including sourcing, evaluating, execution, and management of venture investments
- Evaluating potential target company’s and business cases from strategic, operational and financial valuation perspectives
- Preparing and communicating recommendations to senior management, including interaction with C-level management and the Deal Committee as required
- Responsible for driving efficiency and effectiveness of all investment and portfolio management processes
- Will have extensive exposure to and be expected to have strong relations with the venture community
Qualifications
Relevant qualifications include the following:
- 5-8 years previous experience in venture capital, investment banking or strategic consulting or operating experience at a venture backed startup;
- Strong strategic skills, with the ability to identify and assess key points, implications and recommendations and to provide thought leadership to C-level executives
- Strong ability to analyze industry trends in emerging technologies
- Must possess excellent business acumen and extremely strong collaboration, influencing and negotiating skills
- Expert understanding of venture capital valuation, deal structuring and negotiation skills, including ability to value startup companies, assess returns and make critical decisions around investment viability
- Proven ability to drive results while working under tight deadlines.
- Excellent project and process management skills and ability to manage multiple projects/priorities simultaneously
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to distill complex issues quickly, effectively communicate strategies and summarize key points & implications
- Have strong relationships with the venture community
- Ability to challenge the status quo while establishing and maintain key relationships within American Express
The ideal candidate will:
- Have a strong track record of sourcing, executing and managing venture investments
- Be passionate, enthusiastic and savvy about emerging technologies
- Have a strong interest in strategic investments, technology, financial services and the payments industry
- Be able to quickly grasp business opportunities and be capable of rapidly and thoughtfully drawing conclusions about the viability of different alternative partnerships
- Possess thought leadership, strong communication skills and ability to interact with all levels of the organization as this role and its function will be highly visible to the most senior executives across American Express
- Be intelligent, decisive, quick, forward-thinking, and strategic; bring a high level of good judgment, creativity, common sense, flexibility and insight
- Value team-work, collaboration, individual performance, and personal success; exhibit a participatory and inclusive style
- Possess the highest level of personal ethics and professional integrity to engender total confidence in his or her business conduct
If interested, please apply here.
