REI Looking for Investment Senior Associate at Seattle, WA Full Time

REI is committed to becoming a fully inclusive, antiracist, multicultural organization. To fulfill our brand promise of enabling a life well-lived outside for everyone, we are seeking candidates who demonstrate shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism.

Diversifying our offerings and vendor base is critical to the long-term success of the Co-op and outdoor industry. To that end, the Ventures team and fund have been created to make progress against these goals. The Senior Associate will support the lead investment professional, the Investment Director, in managing the Path Ahead Venture Fund. The Senior Associate will assist in sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, and recommending investments in support of the fund mission. The Venture fund program will ensure more culturally responsive offerings by enabling greater economic opportunity and mobility for entrepreneurs and founders of color who have historically and today still face disproportionate barriers to scaling their businesses. This includes assisting in developing funding recommendations and governance systems, as well as supporting the creation of business agreements with the engaged brands. The Senior Associate will contribute to quarterly reporting for the Investment Committee and board oversight committee.

The Senior Associate will bring a contemporary point of view on equity and inclusion that understands both foundational barriers to social and economic equity and new paradigms for addressing them. They will take a learning orientation and a co-creative approach to designing and implementing strategies to address issues specific to the outdoor industry.

• Oversee deal sourcing by identifying and evaluating investment opportunities in relevant sectors by conducting market research, creating investment theses, and developing sector-specific strategies.
• Engage with entrepreneurs effectively in initial meetings, communicate the value proposition of Path Ahead Ventures, and facilitate productive dialogues with prospective companies.
• Lead due diligence processes independently or with support from the Investment Director, prioritizing areas of focus and presenting compelling deals to the rest of the team for evaluation.
• Assess the founding teams of potential investments using backchannel referencing, secondary sources, and other available resources.
• Prepare investment memos, industry breakdowns, and due diligence materials, presenting findings in a clear and concise manner to the team and Investment Committee.
• Develop and maintain relationships with founders, early-stage venture firms, and key stakeholders in focus sectors, forming a strong network and potential co-investment partners, creating target lists, and facilitating opportunities for portfolio companies.
• Support various fund-related modeling needs and alignment of expectations with internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist with ongoing Investment Committee and Board of Directors reporting and communication.
• Support portfolio operations, ensuring efficient execution of key initiatives, monitoring performance metrics, managing deal documents, and maintaining strong communication with portfolio companies to identify areas of improvement and drive operational excellence across the fund.
• Contribute to the development and execution of programs that add value to the Path Ahead Venture team’s broader efforts, including supporting accelerator programs.
• Represent the corporate venture capital team at key events, building a network of startup founders, operators, domain experts, and potential collaborators.
• Collaborate closely with portfolio company founders, providing tailored support and guidance to help them achieve their strategic objectives while leveraging the corporate venture capital fund’s resources, network, and expertise to drive growth and maximize value creation.

Bring your passion and expertise

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, or a related field; an MBA or other advanced degree is a plus.
• Proven experience in venture capital, private equity, investment banking, management consulting, or a similar field (2-5 years).
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to perform in-depth industry research, financial modeling, and market analysis.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and engage effectively with founders, investors, and other stakeholders.
• Demonstrated understanding of venture capital financing structures.
• Self-starter with the ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team, managing multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.
• Passion for innovation and an understanding of the startup ecosystem, with a commitment to driving positive social impact and outsized value creation.
• Actively participates and collaborates with others on one’s own team and across REI for the achievement of business goals.
• Flexible in one’s viewpoints and positions in order to support the direction taken by others at REI.
• Uses business knowledge, innovative thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of business opportunities.
• Consolidates information from various sources including feedback from others to reach sound decisions.
• Considers the ultimate impact of decisions and actions on internal and external customers.
• Works smart by setting effective work goals, establishing priorities, and planning well in order to produce quality work.
• Executes effectively by using resources efficiently, meeting deadlines, and keeping others informed of work plans and progress toward goals.
• Clearly conveys and accurately receives information by a variety of methods and in various situations.
• Builds rapport with all kinds of people inside and outside the organization.
• Acts upon opportunities and involves and influences others in the accomplishment of worthwhile organizational goals.
• Challenges the status quo, champions change and influences others to change.

REI hires, trains, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law. We remain deeply committed to making the Co-op a place where everyone can feel safe and be themselves. Join us.

As required by applicable Pay Transparency laws, REI provides a range of compensation for roles that may be hired in locations under these requirements. Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary may include a wide array of factors, including: your specific skills and experience, geographic location or other relevant factors.

The pay for this role is: $111000 – $177500 per year .

At REI we offer an enviable work environment that Fortune Magazine has recognized on the “100 Best Places to Work” list since the award’s inception – 23 years in a row! Sure, we work hard, but it’s balanced with time off to play—a strategy that works for us as we continue to grow and thrive. Want to enjoy a workplace where you can be yourself, be heard and be respected while having a job that challenges you? This is the place.

With more than 160 retail locations (and growing), REI offers unique competitive benefits to its more than 15,000 employees, including healthcare, gear and apparel discounts, free equipment rentals and challenge grants to help employees reach personal outdoor goals, generous retirement plan contributions, public transit subsidy, adoptions assistance, paid sabbaticals, and more.

REI is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Posting Range

$111000 – $177500 per year