Associate | Research & Partnerships

About the role

We are expanding our Research & Strategy team to scale our market research, LP engagement, and portfolio company services. This individual will produce research reports, organize events, and offer strategic consulting to our LP network, which includes 32 of the world’s largest energy (AEP, Duke Energy & Vistra), mobility (Audi, Alaska Airlines & Geotab), industrial (ABB, Hitachi Energy & Trane), and insurance companies (State Farm). A core differentiator of our fund is how closely we work with our LPs—often at the c-suite level—by identifying and teeing up partnerships with top startups able to advance their innovation and sustainability goals.

The successful candidate will report to our VP of Research & Strategy, collaborate with our Head of Investor Relations on fundraising initiatives, and occasionally support our investment team.

Responsibilities

• LP Engagement & Strategic Consulting: Support the strategic innovation/sustainability priorities of our LPs by preparing monthly meeting materials. Use your network to find the best technologies/teams to solve their pain points and grow their businesses.
• Portfolio Services: Help connect portfolio companies with our LPs. Systematically identify business development, commercial, and other partnership opportunities for our portfolio. Track and measure the value we provide our portfolio companies and LPs.
• Sector Deep Dives: Prepare and maintain detailed market research reports on emerging areas of interest to our investment team and LPs, including market sizings, market maps, tech/policy assessments, startup profiles, and more. Identify inflection points.
• LP Events: Support planning of our flagship in-person events and organize/moderate virtual working groups to facilitate information sharing among our LPs.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree from a top-tier institution and/or with excellent academic performance; Master’s Degree a plus.
• Minimum of 2–4 years of prior work experience in relevant sectors like consulting, corporate strategy, or market research.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and a clear passion for the energy, climate, transport, built environment, and industrial/logistics sectors, with deep expertise in at least one sub-sector and a keen interest in developing expertise in new sectors quickly; knowledge of energy utilities a plus.
• Excellent quantitative/qualitative analytical skills, with the capacity to deliver unique insights.
• Excellent written/verbal communication skills, with substantial experience engaging on complex/technical topics with senior executives.
• Excellent PowerPoint skills.
• Interest in establishing yourself and The Westly Group as an industry thought leader.
• Interest in co-organizing internal/external events and supporting ad-hoc administrative matters.

Key Attributes

• Detail/process-oriented
• Intellectually curious
• Organized
• Funny
• Humble
• Creative
• Kind
• Collaborative

Growth Potential

Multi-year role with the possibility of promotion based on performance and future fund plans. This is not an investment track role.

Pay

Competitive salary with an annual bonus based on performance. Expected range of $175k–$250k.

Schedule

Target start date of January/February 2025. Candidates must be available to start in Q1 2025.

About The Westly Group

The Westly Group is a venture capital firm founded in 2007 with $825M+ AUM across five funds. We partner with technology founders solving the biggest problems in energy, climate, transport, the built environment, logistics, and other real-world markets that Silicon Valley isn’t paying enough attention to. The firm has had nine portfolio company IPOs, including Tesla, Sentinel One, and Luminar, and is backed by a strategic LP base of 32 of the world’s leading companies, including ABB, Audi, Alaska Airlines, Bridgestone, Duke Energy, Oshkosh, Hitachi Energy, Vistra, and State Farm Insurance.