Portfolio Analytics & Early-Stage Investment Strategist

Unusual; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Unusual is seeking an analytically rigorous Senior Portfolio Analytics & Investment Associate to bridge advanced financial modeling with hands-on startup execution. You will split time between portfolio insights, investment underwriting, and as a fractional financial strategist for founders.

Responsibilities include building operating models, dashboards, and support for pre-seed/seed-stage companies, while collaborating with Finance for backend data needs and investor communications.

Qualifications

• Experience in Venture Capital, Private Equity, Growth Equity, or Investment Banking.
• Elite-level ability to synthesize complex operational metrics into transparent three-statement models.
• Deep operational empathy for pre-seed and seed founders; ability to educate on financial literacy and unit economics.
• Advanced mastery of Excel/Sheets and data management frameworks.
• Familiarity with market information sources and model-driven decision making.
• Bachelor's degree in a highly technical discipline; MBA/CFA a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain operating models for priority portfolio companies (actuals vs. plan, burn, runway).
• Engineer internal analytics frameworks and predictive watchlists to monitor portfolio health.
• Interface with Finance for portfolio data feeding into fund accounting and investor reporting.
• Draft high-conviction investment memos and present data-driven arguments to Investment Committee.
• Map markets and competitive landscapes to support proactive sourcing.
• Underwrite and model returns for pipeline opportunities; support valuation modeling.
• Embed with founders to design bottoms-up financial models and strategic forecasts.
• Develop financial templates and playbooks for early-stage SaaS-focused in AI infrastructure.

Skills

Portfolio modeling

Dashboards & analytics

Due diligence

Investment memos

Market mapping

Underwriting & valuation

Founder advisory

Financial architecture

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, CS, Engineering, or quantitative field

MBA/CFA a plus

Tools

Excel/Sheets

MCP integrations (Claude, ChatGPT, Carta)

BI visualization software

PitchBook

Harmonic

Crunchbase

Job description

Unusual is seeking an analytically rigorous Senior Portfolio Analytics & Investment Associate to bridge advanced financial modeling with hands-on startup execution. You will split time between portfolio insights, investment underwriting, and as a fractional financial strategist for founders.

Responsibilities include building operating models, dashboards, and support for pre-seed/seed-stage companies, while collaborating with Finance for backend data needs and investor communications.