Investment Manager

Airtree; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Airtree's investment team in Sydney seeks an ambitious investor to source and win early-stage AI companies across ANZ and beyond. You will write rigorous memos, evaluate defensibility, build relationships with PhD researchers and founders, and lead deals end-to-end with the 13-person team.

Experience shipping AI products and strong written communication are valued; a network in the AI community is a plus.

Qualifications

• Proven interest in investing and the startup ecosystem.
• Strong written communication.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate early-stage AI companies and assess defensibility.
• Build relationships with researchers and founders within the AI community.
• Write rigorous investment memos covering technology, risks, and rationale.
• Lead deals end-to-end as part of Airtree's investment team.

Skills

Investment memo writing

AI model evaluation

Startup ecosystem knowledge

Relationship building in AI

Deep AI network

Tools

AI-powered tools

Investment research tools

Job description

• Find and win the best early-stage companies being built by ANZ founders.
• Build a sourcing engine for early-stage companies across ANZ and selectively globally.
• Develop relationships in the AI community with researchers, builders, operators, and open-source contributors.
• Serve as a first call for founders building in AI.
• Participate in relevant events, contribute to discourse, and earn founders' trust before funding rounds open.
• Evaluate technical defensibility, including replication risk, data moats, and competitive landscapes.
• Assess founding teams' technical credibility, commercial instinct, and recruiting ability.
• Write rigorous investment memos covering technology, risks, and investment rationale.
• Contribute to Airtree's internal AI-powered tools for sourcing signals, company research, meeting preparation, and portfolio monitoring.
• Support portfolio companies with AI adoption, integration, and strategy.
• Connect founders with relevant talent, customers, co-investors, and technical advisors.
• Lead deals end-to-end once up and running.
• Participate as part of Airtree's 13-person investment team.

Requirements

• Proven interest in investing and the startup ecosystem.
• High agency and initiative.
• Ability to write compelling investment memos with clear thinking, honest risk assessment, and a point of view on why a company will win.
• Strong written communication.
• Genuine interest in supporting founders.
• Experience shipping products, tools, or prototypes using AI.
• Ability to use, break, and understand AI models and their limits from first-hand experience.
• Follows AI research and reads papers.
• Tracks developments from major AI labs.
• Ability to distinguish signal from noise, including novel architectures versus fine-tuned wrappers.
• Deep AI network, or the instinct and energy to build one quickly.
• Ability to build trust with PhD researchers and commercial co-founders.
• Prior venture capital or startup operating experience is nice to have but not required.
• Technical background in computer science, engineering, maths, or self-taught equivalent is nice to have but not required.
• Experience evaluating deep-tech or frontier-technology companies is nice to have but not required.
• Existing network in the ANZ or global AI community is nice to have but not required.
• Public body of work such as writing, open-source contributions, talks, or products is nice to have but not required.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in evaluating early-stage AI companies, building relationships within the AI community, and writing compelling investment memos. Capable of supporting portfolio companies with AI integration and strategy while leading investment deals end-to-end.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Investment Memo Writing
• AI Model Evaluation
• Startup Ecosystem Knowledge
• Relationship Building in AI
• Deep AI Network

Hard Skills

• AI Product Development
• Technical Defensibility Assessment
• Risk Assessment
• Data Moat Evaluation
• Competitive Landscape Analysis

Soft Skills

• Strong Written Communication
• High Agency
• Initiative
• Trust Building
• Genuine Interest in Supporting Founders

Industry Keywords

• Early-Stage Companies
• Venture Capital
• AI Community
• Deep-Tech Companies
• Frontier Technology

Tools & Technologies

• AI-Powered Tools
• Investment Research Tools