Private Equity Sales Lead

RR Donnelley; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Life insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Tuition assistance

Employer/partner discounts

Job summary

RRD seeks a Managing Director, Private Equity to lead strategic PE relationships within its RevTeam. You will develop long-term engagement plans with Operating Partners, Value Creation directors and portfolio leaders using account-based selling and cross-fund expansion.

The role emphasizes high-trust, low-volume engagements, PE finance literacy, and complex agreement navigation, with a competitive incentive program tied to base salary performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, or related field required; MBA preferred.
• Deep understanding of PE metrics and operating models.
• Proven track record in complex, long-cycle enterprise sales with PE firms.

Responsibilities

• Identify and engage PE stakeholders across funds and portfolio companies.
• Navigate MSAs and PE procurement processes to secure favorable agreements.
• Expand RRD’s footprint across multiple PortCos through evidence-based upselling.

Skills

PE Financial Literacy

Solution Mapping

ABM Commercial Expertise

Collaborative Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance

MBA preferred

Job description

RRD provides marketing, packaging, print, and business services to the world’s most respected brands. The company’s proprietary technology, advanced data analytics, and expertise fuel organizational decision-making from strategy through execution, delivering sustainable solutions with the lowest possible environmental impact. Global organizations and regulated industries trust RRD to reduce complexity and drive audience connections across the entire customer journey.

Job Description

Role Overview

The Managing Directory, Private Equity (PE) is a senior commercial leadership role within RRD’s RevTeam. This individual is responsible for establishing relationships with the PrivateEquity ecosystem to build strategic, long-term sales momentum. Unlike traditional high-volume
sales roles, this position requires a nuanced, high-trust, low-volume "Account-Based Selling" approach.

The incentive program range is 20% - 30% of base salary payable based on achieved performance metrics.

The primary mission is to identify, secure, and expand relationships directly with PE Operating Partners, Portfolio Operations leads, and Value Creation directors who are under immense pressure to drive EBITDA growth. By deeply understanding the financial objectives of PE firms, this leader will position RRD’s specialized portfolio of services and our unique consultative assessment process as the go-to solution for driving enterprise value across portfolio companies.

Key Responsibilities

• Target Identification & Strategic Relationship Building
• Identify & Engage Key Stakeholders: Target and build deep, recurring relationships with Portfolio Operations leads, Operating Partners, and Value Creation directors within targeted funds, segmented by sector and strategy.
• Network Utilization: Leverage an existing professional network to gain access to highly gatekept PE environments and create meaningful business conversations.
• Peer-to-Peer Engagement: Speak the distinct financial and operational vocabulary of the PE universe to establish immediate credibility with operational leadership.
• Master Service Agreement (MSA) Navigation
• Navigate complex PE procurement processes to secure Master Service Agreements (MSAs) within their portfolio of operating companies.
• Short-List Positioning: Ensure that when an Operating Partner identifies operational inefficiencies or cost takeout initiative within a portfolio company (PortCo), RRD is automatically positioned on the short-list to call.
• Expand Success: Actively expand RRD’s footprint across multiple targeted portfolio companies by leveraging and proving early success in initial PortCo engagements.
• Account Growth: Network across the firm’s broader ecosystem to cross-sell and scale RRD’s services into additional portfolio assets.
• Leverage Value Creation Tactics
• Pro-Bono/Low-Cost Assessments: Introduce specialized operational assessments during the PE firm's pre-acquisition due diligence and long-term holding phases.
• Pipeline Building: Utilize these early assessments to build immense goodwill, positioning RRD to win the full execution contract the day the acquisition deal officially closes.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Degree: Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, or a related discipline required; Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• Target Professional Profile: Must possess a background matching one or more of the following archetypes:
  • The Ex-Management Consultant (MBB / Big 4): Alumni of McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or a tier-1 operations consulting firm, specifically from their Private Equity or Post-Merger Integration practices. Understands how PE firms think and possesses a strong peer network.
  • The Former PortCo Executive: A former COO, VP of Sales, or VP of Operations who has successfully scaled and exited a PE-backed portfolio company, bringing immediate empathy and peer-to-peer credibility.
  • The Boutique PE-Origination Specialist: A proven track record of successfully selling professional services (e.g., IT, HR infrastructure, supply chain consulting) directly to PE funds.
• Geographic Location: Must be physically based in one of the primary, highly regional PE hubs to facilitate face-to-face, "handshake" relationship building:
  • East Coast: New York City / Greenwich, CT / Boston
  • Midwest: Chicago
  • West Coast: San Francisco / Silicon Valley / Los Angeles
  • Secondary consideration: Austin / Miami / Atlanta

Core Competencies and Skills

• PE Financial Literacy: Deep understanding of the core financial metrics driving the PE universe, including EBITDA, IRR (Internal Rate of Return), Multiple Expansion, and the execution of the 100-Day Plan.
• Solution Mapping: Ability to quickly master RRD’s diverse portfolio of services and translate them directly into levers for a PE firm’s financial and operational objectives.
• ABM Commercial Expertise: Highly skilled in running low-volume, high-trust Account-Based Selling strategies tailored for long, complex institutional sales cycles.
• Collaborative Leadership: Ability to work cross-functionally within RRD to deploy specialized delivery teams once a fund-level relationship or MSA is secured.

Rather than relying solely on traditional short-term invoiced revenue, success in this role will be measured by:

• Signed MSA Agreements: Number of Master Service Agreements executed at the portfolio company level.
• Executed Assessment Engagements: Volume of pre- or post-acquisition operational assessments signed and delivered.
• Sales Revenue: Recognized revenue attributed to PE relationships and engagements.

Additional Information

This role is salary plus incentive program eligible and the current RRD salary range is $175,000 to $245,000 per year. The salary range may be adjusted based on the applicable geographic location of the hired employee, and the range may change in the future. At RRD, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions may vary based upon, but not limited to education, skills, experience, proficiency, performance, shift and location. RRD’s benefit offerings include medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, disability insurance, 401(k) with company match, life insurance and other voluntary supplemental insurance coverages, plus parental leave, adoption assistance, tuition assistance and employer/partner discounts.

At RRD, we value innovation, authenticity, and integrity. To uphold the security and fairness of our hiring process, we ask that candidates refrain from using AI tools during interviews to ensure an authentic and secure experience. We appreciate your cooperation as we work to maintain a transparent and equitable hiring process.

All employment offers are contingent upon the successful completion of both a pre-employment background and drug screen.

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