Investment Associate, Food & Agriculture

About Builders Vision

Builders Vision is an impact platform that aims to shift markets and minds for good in pursuit of our vision for a humane and healthy planet. We work to help address some of the most difficult environmental and sustainability challenges across three focus areas: oceans, food & agriculture, and energy.

Builders Vision has deployed more than $3 billion across our focus areas and worked alongside nearly 450 partners to drive societal and environmental change. To date, we have helped mitigate, sequester, or avoid over 4 million metric tons of CO2e, generated more than 42,000 jobs, and supported the development of more than 170 sustainable products, technologies, or solutions. While we are seeing progress, we know that we can’t do this alone. The truth is these are trillion-dollar sectors that need a number of markets to scale and multiply significantly if we are to ensure a sustainable and secure future.

Our Builders Vision team includes impassioned individuals who activate our platform using three primary approaches to influence stakeholders and drive impact across our focus areas:

• Deploying Capital: We use a versatile set of tools, including grants, direct investments, and fund investments to support non-profit leaders, entrepreneurs, and fund managers. Given Builders Vision’s different capital tools and investment vehicles, we have the flexibility to operate across the capital spectrum. We deploy capital into programs and solutions with a focus on how our efforts will lead to the catalyzation of additional investments into the sectors.
• Supporting Partners: We are committed to helping our partners by providing critical resources including technical assistance, networking, learning opportunities, support with impact measurement and management (IMM), and strategic advice to help enhance their success and outcomes.
• Advocating for Change: We leverage communications and engage with influential audiences to accelerate the solutions we pursue. This includes strategic communications, thought leadership, hosting and attending convenings, and industry-wide initiatives and coalitions.

Our commitment to people and the planet extends to our workplace policies and benefits. In 2023, Builders Vision was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and voted one of Chicago’s Best Places to Work by Crain’s Chicago Business. We are headquartered in the West Loop, one of Chicago’s most thriving and dynamic neighborhoods, and our offices have achieved Gold-level certifications from both the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the International WELL Building Institute. We also offer fun social team events and offsite retreats to help our people feel refreshed and connected to nature, each other, and our mission.

You can read more about our team, programs, and impact here: https://www.buildersvision.com.

Position Summary

Builders Vision is seeking an Investment Associate to join the Builders Initiative Investment Team (BIIT), with a focus on Food & Agriculture. The Builders Initiative Investment Team manages the Builders Initiative Foundation endowment, which invests in market-rate ESG & impact opportunities at scale, and Builders Bridge, a vehicle that makes catalytic impact investments in private impact funds and early-stage ventures and businesses. Builders Bridge focuses on three key themes (Oceans, Food & Agriculture, and the Energy Transition) and has invested in more than 70 companies and innovative fund impact managers since 2020. The 12-person BIIT team works closely with teams across Builders Vision and serves as a thought leader in impact investing and our thematic sectors. Given BV’s mission to shift markets and minds for good, new ideas, new structures, and new partnerships are often created through our investment work in an effort to offer new private sector solutions to the world’s pressing climate problems.

The Investment Associate will focus their efforts on supporting the Food & Agriculture sleeve of Builders Bridge and all aspects of its investment-related activities. The candidate will primarily support a Senior Associate and Director who lead investing across multiple parts of the portfolio. The candidate is expected to support the underwriting and monitoring of investments, and actively engage with senior staff at Builders Vision and organizations with whom Builders Vision partners. From time to time, the Associate will also support investment activities for the endowment and a set of Donor Advised Funds.

Ideal Candidate:

• 4-6 years of work experience in investment-related field (such as venture capital, asset management, etc.), investment banking, or consulting. Experience underwriting investments into early-stage ventures and/or fund managers is highly desired.
• Demonstrated interest in impact investing, ESG and food and agriculture.
• Familiarity with all aspects of the investment process ranging from sourcing to screening, underwriting, closing and post-investment monitoring and support.
• Strong attention to detail, excellent project management skills, and drive to deliver high-quality work.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with others. Familiarity and comfort in writing full form documents and investment memoranda.
• Demonstrated critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Comfort in a fast-paced and team-based environment.
• College/University degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Mastery of business tools such as Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint; comfort with database/CRM tools.
• Note that this is intended to be a pre-MBA role. If you do not meet 100% of the criteria but think your experiences make you qualified for the position, please apply.

Primary Responsibilities

Please note this position description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the candidate in this position. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may evolve or change over time.

• Carry out investment processes and projects, with direction and oversight from senior colleagues.
• Support investment pipeline management activities, including note-taking, sourcing and managing our pipeline systems.
• In collaboration with investment and grantmaking team members, conduct investment due diligence, including quantitative and qualitative analysis of impact fund managers and early-stage direct investments and synthesizing findings in investment memoranda.
• Work closely with Builders Vision’s Impact Measurement & Management (IMM) team to develop and implement IMM frameworks, tailored to BV’s impact goals and theories of change.
• Produce written and presentation materials to communicate the investment and impact analysis to various stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Conduct market research, industry landscaping or portfolio construction analyses, under direction of senior colleagues.
• Contribute to ongoing monitoring for the portfolio, including collecting and reviewing regular financial and impact reporting, conducting regular check-in calls/meetings with investees, and attending annual meetings for managers.
• Develop mastery of BIIT and BV tools, systems, and processes.
• Be a team player – collaborate with and support the success of other Associates.

Personal Attributes that Support your Success

• You are helpful, a team player, and enjoy collaborating with others
• You have impeccable project management skills and consistently deliver high-quality work
• You have a results orientation and exercise sound judgement
• You are a lifelong learner, who is inquisitive and solves problems with bold thinking and innovation
• You are dedicated to achieving excellence
• You are a clear communicator
• You have unquestionable ethics and personal integrity

About Builders Initiative

As Builders Vision’s philanthropic team, Builders Initiative deploys grants and mission-driven investments to confront today’s most pressing issues. Through different types of grant support, including project-specific grants and general operating grants, our grantmakers partner with organizations of all sizes that are addressing societal and environmental challenges. In concert with our grantmakers, the Builders Initiative Investment Team engages with impact-driven organizations, companies, and fund managers at many stages of their development. Builders Initiative also includes the Builders Initiative Foundation, which has a $1.7B endowment that reached 90% mission-aligned investments in 2022.

Builders Vision is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building and maintaining a culturally diverse workplace. We encourage women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.