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About WAD Capital Partners

WAD Capital is a Brussels-based private equity search fund specializing in SME succession across the Benelux region. We solve succession challenges for European small and medium enterprises by connecting experienced ex-operational managers (our CEOs-in-Residence) with retiring business owners. Our target companies generate €1-5M EBITDA and represent genuine opportunities for operational value creation, not just financial engineering.
We're a small, high-performing team: 3 General Partners, currently 15 CEOs-in-Residence actively searching for acquisitions, 1 CFO, 1 COO, and 2 Analysts. As Investment Analyst, you'll be the critical bridge between our deal team and our GPs, driving investment decisions and portfolio performance.

The Role

As Investment Associate at WAD Capital, you'll support the investment process from initial screening through post-acquisition value creation. You'll work directly with our CEOs-in-Residence to evaluate opportunities, structure transactions, present to our General Partners, and drive operational improvements in portfolio companies. This role requires someone who can balance sophisticated financial analysis with hands-on operational engagement – you're not building models in isolation; you're partnering with operators to build better businesses.
This is a role with significant autonomy, accountability, and upside. You'll be expected to challenge our CIRs, push back on weak investment theses, and take ownership of deal outcomes.

ResponsibilitiesInvestment Execution and CIR Partnership (65%)

• Support investment processes from initial screening to closing, including supporting acquisition opportunity evaluations and managing deals from LOI through closing.

• Conduct comprehensive due diligence on target companies (financial, commercial, operational).

• Structure transactions including debt financing, seller financing, and equity splits.

• Build and present investment recommendations to General Partners.

• Own investment decision quality.

• Serve as trusted advisor to the CIRs navigating their search processes and guide them through financial analysis, valuation, and deal structuring.

• Review and challenge investment thesis papers with constructive rigor.
  

  
  Portfolio Value Creation (15%)
  

• Support portfolio company CEOs on strategic initiatives and operational improvements

• Monitor portfolio company performance against plan (financial and operational KPIs)

• Identify and drive value creation opportunities post-acquisition

• Support CEOs with strategic decisions: pricing strategy, market expansion, operational efficiency

• Coordinate with external advisors (consultants, lawyers, accountants) as needed

• Prepare portfolio updates for GP reviews and investor reporting

• Apply lessons learned across portfolio to improve future deal selection

Process Automation & Operational Excellence (10%)

At WAD Capital, everyone is expected to work toward removing manual and repetitive tasks to free up capacity for higher-value work. As an Investment Associate, you won't just execute processes; you'll systematically improve and automate them.

• Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies across deal sourcing, screening, due diligence, and portfolio monitoring workflows

• Challenge existing workflows: if something is done manually more than twice, build a case for why it shouldn't be

• Support the COO in designing, building, and deploying automation tools and AI agents that reduce manual work across the investment team

• Develop and maintain standardized templates, checklists, and playbooks that allow junior team members and CIRs to self-serve

• Support in improving reporting (portfolio KPIs, pipeline dashboards, CIR activity tracking) so insight generation happens without manual intervention

• Evaluate and integrate new tools into WAD's technology stack (data providers, financial analysis tools, etc)

• Document and systematize institutional knowledge, if a process lives only in your head, it's not a process yet
  

Team Leadership & Development (5%)

• Mentor and develop interns – teach modeling, valuation, and investment judgment

• Delegate effectively while maintaining quality control on analytical work

• Build institutional knowledge and best practices for the investment team

• Create training materials and frameworks to elevate team capabilities

• Foster culture of intellectual honesty, operational focus, and continuous improvement
  

Deal Sourcing & Market Intelligence (5%)

• Cultivate relationships with intermediaries, business owners, and industry contacts

• Identify proprietary deal flow opportunities beyond CIR networks

• Track Benelux SME market dynamics, valuation trends, and financing conditions

• Represent WAD Capital at industry events and in the SME acquisition community

• Build sector expertise in key industries (manufacturing, business services, healthcare, etc.)
  

  
  What We're Looking ForRequired Qualifications
  Experience
  

• 3-5 years of relevant investment or analyst experience

• Proven track record in one or more of the following:

• Private equity (preferably lower middle market or SME-focused)

• Investment banking (M&A advisory, especially SME transactions)

• Search funds or entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA)

• Corporate development or strategic finance in operationally complex businesses

• Management consulting with transaction focus

• Direct deal experience – you've led or significantly contributed to live transactions from evaluation through closing

• [Portfolio company experience preferred – post-acquisition value creation, board observation, or operational engagement]

Technical Expertise

• Advanced financial modeling – can build complex LBO models, merger models, and valuation analyses independently

• SME valuation mastery – deep understanding of EBITDA multiples, precedent transactions, and thorough understanding of  DCF 

• Transaction structuring – experienced with debt financing, seller notes, earnouts, and creative deal structures

• Due diligence leadership – can design and execute comprehensive diligence workstreams (financial, commercial, operational, legal)

• Financial statement analysis – comfortable analyzing messy SME financials with working capital complexities and accounting irregularities
  

Education

• Masters degree required; MBA, CFA, or similar preferred but not required

• Strong academic track record demonstrating analytical rigor
  

Language Skills

• English: Fluent (required – working language of the firm)

• Dutch, German and/or French: Professional fluency preferred

• Critical for seller negotiations, management meetings, and portfolio company engagement

• Many business owners and management teams only speak Dutch or French
  

Essential Leadership Attributes

• Operational mindset – you respect operations as much as finance; value creation isn't just multiple arbitrage

• Intellectual honesty – willing to kill deals when they don't meet standards, even under pressure

• Coaching ability – can develop junior team members and guide CIRs without being condescending

• Coachability – eager to get feedback, iterate and improve

• Entrepreneurial judgment – comfortable making decisions with imperfect information

• Low ego, high standards – confident but coachable; demanding but supportive

• Ownership mentality – treat every deal as if it's your own capital at risk
  

  
  What Makes Someone Successful in This Role

  Balances analytical rigor with practical judgment – knows when analysis is sufficient vs. over-analyzing
  Genuinely enjoys working with operators – respects their experience and learns from their insights
  Comfortable with ambiguity and incomplete data – makes sound decisions without perfect information
  Takes ownership of outcomes – doesn't pass blame when deals underperform
  Teaches well – elevates junior team members through coaching, not just doing it yourself
  Challenges respectfully – pushes back on weak investment theses without undermining relationships
  Thinks like an owner – focuses on long-term value creation, not just closing deals
  Thrives in small teams – high visibility means accountability, and you embrace it
  Values operational wins – as excited about process improvements as multiple expansion
  

  What Makes Someone Fail in This Role

  Pure financial engineer – only cares about leverage and multiples, not operational reality
  Can't work with operators – dismissive of CIR insights or uncomfortable with messy operational decisions
  Analysis paralysis – endlessly refines models instead of making decisions
  Needs extensive structure – requires detailed processes and can't operate autonomously
  Defensive about mistakes – blames others when deals don't perform
  Poor teacher – hoards knowledge or can't explain concepts clearly to junior team
  Deal junkie – prioritizes volume over quality; pushes marginal deals to hit activity targets
  Big firm mentality – expects large support teams, formal hierarchies, and extensive resources
  

  
  What We Offer

  
  Professional Growth
  

• Deal ownership: Lead live transactions with €1-5M EBITDA companies from start to finish

• Operator partnership: Daily collaboration with 15 experienced CEOs-in-Residence

• GP exposure: Direct access to General Partners on every investment decision

• Portfolio impact: Drive value creation in portfolio companies, not just financial monitoring

• Entrepreneurial environment: Shape investment strategy and firm development as we grow

• Learning velocity: Exposure to diverse industries, deal structures, and operational challenges
  

Compensation & Incentives

• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience

• Employee benefits according to market standards
  

Work Environment

• Location: Brussels office in Jette, 

• Flexibility: Hybrid work schedule (Mon/Tue/Thu in office, Wed/Fri remote)

• Team size: Small and collaborative – no bureaucracy, direct impact

• Autonomy: Significant decision-making authority with appropriate oversight

• Culture: Intellectually honest, operationally focused, low-ego, high-performance
  

Career Trajectory

• Clear path to senior leadership roles as WAD Capital grows

• Opportunity to shape firm's investment strategy and team development

• Build track record for future fund leadership or entrepreneurial ventures
  

  Next Steps

If you're an experienced investor who genuinely values operational excellence, wants to work directly with entrepreneurs, and is ready for a high-accountability role in a small, high-performing team, we want to hear from you.
Ready to lead investments in Benelux SME succession? Apply now.
Questions? Review our website or reach out by email with specific questions about the role, team, or firm strategy