Operating Partner

Saturn Five; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental insurance

Betterment 401(k) with up to 4% match

Self-directed PTO

Monthly coaching stipend

Monthly date night allowance

Job summary

Saturn Five seeks an Operating Partner to work hands-on with portfolio CEOs, guiding leadership teams, monitoring investments, and directing major activities like distributions and capex. You will engage with 3–6 portcos from onboarding through steady state.

We require 10+ years in senior leadership with P&L ownership, MBA preferred, and strong finance, sales, and operations fluency. This is an on-site Denver-based role with some interstate travel, offering a competitive base plus bonus and

Qualifications

• Ten+ years of post-undergrad leadership experience with broad business and leadership responsibilities.
• Experience as a business owner or leader with P&L accountability; SMB scale-up/exit a plus.
• Strong financial acumen including budgeting, P&L, balance sheet and cash flow.
• Functional expertise in corporate finance, sales management, digital marketing, HR, M&A, incentive compensation, etc.

Responsibilities

• Transition new investments into the Saturn Five ecosystem including banking, insurance, payroll and internal systems.
• Gain domain expertise in portfolio companies and identify key stakeholders.
• Assist portco leaders on initiatives such as contracts, hiring plans, vendors, and bank permissions.
• Coach and assess senior leadership; lead CEO/President/GM hiring when needed.
• Develop and refine Annual Operating Plans and Budgets; lead weekly metrics and monthly book reviews.
• Design compensation and incentive programs; rollout the Saturn Five Way system.

Skills

Leadership

P&L responsibility

Strategic planning

EOS implementation

Board-level communication

Education

Undergraduate degree in Business/Finance

MBA or equivalent

Job description

Operating Partners are Saturn Five's primary connective tissue between our funds and the portfolio companies. An Operating Partner works one-on-one with our CEOs and engages with their leadership teams to guide and support them, to monitor our investments, and to help direct key activities like distributions, strategic decisions and large capital expenditures. Think of this as a hands-on board member role. You'll engage with three to six of our portfolio companies from the onboarding stage to steady state, and support them at key inflection points.

The Operating Partner ensures there's a regular cadence with the portfolio company leadership: from regular check-ins, to monthly financial reviews, quarterly goal-setting, and annual planning and budgeting. In addition, the Operating Partner is responsible for hiring and onboarding portfolio company CEOs as need arises.

Key Responsibilities

• Transition new investments into the Saturn Five ecosystem, including managing transition of banking, insurance, payroll, and internal management systems of the new entities, either through Asset or Stock Purchase Agreements
• Quickly gain domain expertise in your portfolio companies' respective industries, identifying 'who we need to know' in a given industry and how Saturn Five can be most immediately helpful to new acquisitions at a strategic level
• Jump in to assist portfolio company leaders with key initiatives — negotiating a new contract, developing and coaching on a hiring plan for a key management role, helping identify new vendors for a critical project, or managing bank permissions and authorities
• Coach, mentor, and assess company senior leadership
• Lead CEO/President/GM hiring processes when sellers retire or a leader needs to be replaced
• Assist portco leaders in the creation and refinement of Annual Operating Plans and Annual Budgets
• Lead Weekly Metrics calls and Monthly Book Reviews with portco leadership on an iterative journey towards data-driven management
• Design senior and second-level-leader compensation and incentive programs for individual portcos
• Roll out the Saturn Five Way (an EOS-informed small business operating system) at new and existing portfolio companies
• Project targeted quarterly distributions and support portco leaders to achieve targeted results

Qualifications

Who You Are

The position calls for a strong general-management athlete who knows what it's like to be in the leaders' seat and understands small business finance, sales, and operations. You'll excel if you can move from the boardroom to the factory floor or construction site with ease. We like "scrappy" around here, so if you know what it means to roll up your sleeves and serve, and you genuinely enjoy doing so, you'll like this gig.

• You are a mid-career leader who has had senior-level leadership experience, and been in the final decision makers seat
• Ideally, you've owned or led a business, and had true P&L and balance sheet responsibility, preferably at a smaller company ($2-10M EBITDA)
• You are a high EQ 'leader of leaders' who can toggle easily between highly-directive (when needed, usually rarely) and leadership-by-influence (more common) styles
• You have equal comfort with implementing structured reporting systems (like disciplined quarterly "board" meetings) and connecting relationally on a jobsite with entry-level, hourly employees
• You have a high capacity for rapid context switching between the varied issues across multiple portfolio companies several times a day
• You're wicked smart and proactive
• You're kind, firm, and grounded
• You have a good sense of humor … you take your work seriously, but not yourself
• You prize excellence, and hold a high bar for the quality of your work and the work of others around you
• You're comfortable with some ambiguity and stepping into messy situations, with a bias toward action, process improvement, and systematizing
• You have high intensity horsepower, stamina and drive; you enjoy moving mountains, pushing initiatives forward, and driving successful outcomes with a willingness to jump in and do hands-on work
• You love small business
• You want your work to matter
• You share our core values of Adventure, Joy, Trust, Excellence, and Love

What You Must Bring

• An undergraduate degree in Business, Finance, or a related field; an MBA or other relevant graduate degree is a plus
• 10+ years of post-undergrad work experience, with a broad base of business and leadership experience, including hands-on operating experience as a business owner or leader in a SMB with P&L responsibility; experience successfully scaling and exiting a SMB is a plus
• Solid financial acumen, knowledge of general finance and budgeting, including profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow management
• Functional expertise in one or more of the following: corporate finance, sales management, digital marketing, safety, insurance and risk management, human resources, M&A, succession planning, incentive compensation, blue collar hiring programs, EOS implementation, etc.
• Facility with strategic planning, metrics and management rhythms
• Domain expertise in service businesses, manufacturing, specialty contracting, materials distribution, private equity, or early-stage investing is a plus
• Emotional intelligence to support leaders and organizations through strategic milestones and day-to-day battles
• Comfort with being on-site with blue-collar portfolio companies, sometimes out-of-state, and often quite intensively (every week to every-other-week) the first few months post-acquisition
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels
• Unquestionable integrity and ethics
• Base salary commensurate with experience
• Performance-based bonus
• Betterment 401(k) with an up-to 4% match
• Health and dental insurance
• Self-directed PTO
• Monthly coaching/counseling stipend
• Monthly date night allowance for you and your spouse

Location &Timing

Location: On-site in the Saturn Five office in Northwest Denver with travel at least twice a month to visit portfolio companies.

Founded in 2017, Saturn Five is building a diversified family of cash-flow-generating small businesses known for their excellence and committed to the long-term flourishing of their employees and communities. Our teams are based in Denver and Austin, with partner companies across the U.S.