Senior Associate, Portfolio Strategy & Management - Criminal Justice (BMS)

Blue Meridian Partners; New York (NY); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Meridian Partners in New York, NY, is seeking a Senior Associate to support senior leaders in sourcing and managing investee relationships and to develop scalable investment roadmaps for greater social impact. The role involves collaboration across teams to expand the fund's reach and effectiveness.

The Senior Associate will help plan, manage and evaluate investments, contribute to due diligence, and participate in learning initiatives to strengthen program strategy and outcomes.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting senior leaders in deal sourcing and due diligence.
• Strong research, interview, and data analysis skills.
• Ability to collaborate across teams to develop scaling plans and roadmaps.

Responsibilities

• Support investee relationships with research, interviews and data analysis.
• Provide relationship management and be a trusted contact for investees.
• Help develop investee scaling plans and investment roadmaps.
• Prepare performance reports with current results, risks and future potential.
• Contribute to investee meetings, strategy sessions and reviews.
• Assist in learning and evaluation activities to guide program evolution.
• Collaborate with team to develop and implement program strategies for measurable impact.

Job description

Background

Blue Meridian Partners is a pioneering philanthropic model for finding and funding scalable solutions to the problems that trap America's young people and families in poverty and limit economic mobility. We operate with an investor mindset, but measure success in terms of greater social impact, rather than financial returns. Blue Meridian takes a rigorous, strategic approach to philanthropic investing: identifying, funding and scaling the most promising strategies poised to make a national impact Our portfolio of \"investees\" addresses some of the root causes of inequity and lack of opportunity- poverty, mass incarceration, foster care, unemployment, and more. Our experience convinces us that solutions are achievable. We provide social sector leaders with the flexible, upfront growth capital they require to reach their full potential. We offer philanthropists a way to amplify the impact of their investments by finding the initiatives that produce the most effective results, while sharing the costs, risks and successes. We come to this work with a decades-long track record of innovation in philanthropy and a comprehensive investing approach developed at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF). We are constantly learning, exploring, and seeking out new collaborations in relentless pursuit of creating lasting impact at scale that can change the lives of generations. Blue Meridian is expanding its focus on criminal justice to increase economic mobility by reducing and mitigating the impact of incarceration and criminal convictions on the individuals, families, and communities. We will invest in multiple interventions including policy advocacy, narrative change and direct service that aim to increase economic mobility and address the disproportionate negative impact on low income people and people of color. This full-time position will focus on criminal justice issues, reporting to a Managing Director.

Position Description

Position Profile

Senior Associates support senior leaders to source and manage Blue Meridian's relationships with select investees and develop innovative scaling plans and / or investment roadmaps to help them achieve greater impact. Senior Associates may also support 'innovation initiatives' to expand Blue Meridian's work.

Primary Responsibilities

The responsibilities of this position include but are not limited to the following:

Support Relationships with Investee Organizations

With senior team members' guidance and collaboration, a Senior Associate will:

• Contribute to, and sometimes lead, activities including research, conducting interviews, and analyzing data to support Blue Meridian's sourcing and due diligence efforts to explore potential investment opportunities
• Contribute toward investee leaders and their teams' receiving excellent relationship management and support from Blue Meridian. Earn and maintain the respect of investees and be a trusted point of contact.
• Support the development and implementation of investee scaling plans and / or investment roadmaps that support the basis of investment recommendations. Support preparation of investment recommendations and help craft performance milestones with investees and chart a roadmap for success.
• Take ownership of investee performance reports, capturing current performance, risks, and future potential. Prepare materials and talking points for Partner and other updates.
• Contribute to the design, participate in, and sometimes facilitate investee meetings, strategy sessions and performance reviews.
• Recommend and participate in learning and evaluation activities to guide the evolution of programmatic work, including helping to develop convenings to review opportunities, challenges and progress across the fund and its investees.
• Work collaboratively with other team members to develop and implement program strategies to achieve significant and scalable impact, report regularly on the progress of those strategies, and recommend strategy adjustments to deepen the fund's impact.

To expand our work and enhance our competitiveness, Blue Meridian will develop from time to time \"innovation initiatives.\" Team members will typically dedicate part of their capacity to cross-staffing these initiatives, depending on their skills and experience as well as team members' interests wherever possible. The proportion of time spent on innovation initiatives will vary according to factors such as the needs of the initiative and the individual's role on the initiative.

With senior team members' guidance and collaboration, a Senior Associate will contribute to, and sometimes lead, activities that may include:

Project planning and management: