Associate, Portfolio Support – Operational Due Diligence

Location: Boston, MA – In office

About the Role

Our client is a leading middle-market private equity firm seeking an Associate to join its Portfolio Support team in Boston. This individual will play a key role in evaluating operational improvement and value creation opportunities across prospective investments and existing portfolio companies. The Associate will work alongside investment professionals, senior members of the Portfolio Support team, third-party advisors, and portfolio company executives to assess opportunities pre-close and help translate those findings into actionable value creation initiatives post-close.

Responsibilities

• Support and lead elements of operational due diligence for prospective investments, assessing opportunities across pricing, sales effectiveness, procurement and spend, SG&A, cost optimization, organizational effectiveness, and footprint strategy.
• Analyze operational, commercial, and financial data to identify value creation opportunities, performance gaps, and potential investment risks.
• Coordinate third-party advisors and consulting workstreams, integrating findings and developing clear, actionable perspectives for investment teams and senior leadership.
• Prepare analyses, presentations, and recommendations to inform investment decisions and support Investment Committee discussions.
• Collaborate closely with deal teams and senior Portfolio Support professionals throughout the transaction and diligence process.
• Convert diligence insights into actionable, prioritized value creation initiatives for implementation following an acquisition.
• Support strategic and operational improvement initiatives across portfolio companies, with a focus on delivering measurable business impact.
• Partner directly with portfolio company executives and management teams to identify opportunities, develop action plans, and monitor execution.
• Establish and track KPIs and performance metrics to evaluate progress, identify trends, and enable data-driven decision-making.
• Develop concise, executive-level presentations that communicate key findings, recommendations, business impact, and initiative progress.
• Contribute to initiatives that facilitate the sharing of operational best practices, tools, and expertise across the portfolio.
• Help enhance internal processes, reporting capabilities, analytics, and workflows within the Portfolio Support organization.
• Identify and implement opportunities to leverage technology, automation, and AI to improve the team's efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of output.

Requirements

• 3–5 years of relevant professional experience, with meaningful exposure to operational due diligence, transaction advisory, management consulting, private equity, or value creation.
• Demonstrated experience assessing and developing operational value creation opportunities in the context of private equity investments or transactions.
• Exposure to areas including pricing and revenue optimization, sales effectiveness, procurement, SG&A, cost reduction, organizational effectiveness, and footprint optimization.
• Experience managing multiple workstreams and collaborating with senior clients, executives, investment professionals, operating partners, and other stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with the ability to distill complex data and information into practical, actionable recommendations.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills, along with strong proficiency in working with data and analytics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with both investment professionals and portfolio company leadership.
• A high degree of intellectual curiosity, initiative, ownership, and attention to detail, combined with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment.
• Bachelor's degree with a strong academic record.

Why This Opportunity

This role offers the opportunity to transition from an external advisory environment into a sophisticated private equity Portfolio Support platform, providing hands-on exposure across the full investment lifecycle. The Associate will play a meaningful role in evaluating operational opportunities during investment diligence and subsequently helping portfolio companies translate those opportunities into tangible performance improvements following an acquisition. For professionals coming from an operational due diligence, transaction advisory, or consulting background, this position provides direct exposure to private equity investors, operating professionals, and senior portfolio company executives. It also offers the opportunity to build a broad and highly transferable skill set spanning operational strategy, value creation, performance improvement, and investment decision support.