Associate – Valuation and Structuring

Following recent investment from Bain Capital and aligned with our strategic goals around succession and renewal in the network, we’re building a team to oversee and manage our strategic investments into the franchisees within The Openwork Partnership.

 As an Associate within the Strategic Investments team, you’ll play a key role in evaluating M&A opportunities, structuring deals, and delivering robust financial models to support strategic investment decisions. You will also report directly to the Strategic Investments Director / Senior Portfolio Manager.

This is a permanent hybrid role, and can be based in either our Swindon or London office, with the requirement to be in the office 2 days a week.

The benefits:

• Salary – up to £85,000
• Bonus scheme - on target bonus – 15%
• Pension scheme - contribute up to 5% of your salary and Openwork will match you and put in an extra 5%
• Critical illness cover
• Income protection - 1x salary 
• Death in service - 4x salary
• 27 days holiday + bank holidays, with the opportunity to buy up to an additional 10 days. 
• A range of other flexible benefits to include private medical insurance, dental insurance and much more.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the development of detailed financial models to support acquisition valuations
• Assessing target company performance to determine appropriate acquisition pricing.
• Conducting sensitivity analysis and scenario modelling to evaluate different structuring options, deal terms, and post-acquisition financial performance.
• Preparing detailed financial reports and presentations, clearly articulating the rationale behind valuation assumptions and modelling outputs.
• Collaborating with internal teams to ensure alignment between financial models and business strategy, particularly in the context of client transitions and synergies.
• Providing insights into the optimal structuring of deals, including earnouts, and other financing mechanisms and future exit options.
• Working closely with legal, finance, and commercial teams to ensure that financial structures meet both strategic goals and regulatory requirements.
• Undertaking Due Diligence & Post-Transaction Analysis.
• Contributing to the financial due diligence process.
• Ensuring that all valuation assumptions and deal structures are accurately reflected in post-acquisition integration planning.
• Providing post-deal analysis to assess the financial performance and return on investment of completed acquisitions.

• Strong experience in financial modelling, valuation, and structuring, ideally from investment banking, corporate finance, or a Big 4 advisory firm.
• Experience of the intermediate / retail financial services industry and / or experience of working on project management, acquisitions, diligence and integration beneficial
• Relevant post graduate professional qualification (e.g. ACA, CFA) highly beneficial
• Good understanding of the UK financial advice market, including regulatory frameworks (FCA), client servicing models, and adviser business structures.
• Awareness of business commercials and ability to identify risks and commercial mitigations
• Company systems and procedures, i.e. contracts, regulatory regime.
• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in excel, financial modelling and valuation techniques
• Strong understanding of corporate finance, deal structuring, financial reporting, and valuation methodologies.
• Highly detail-oriented with a strategic mindset; able to handle large amounts of data and extract key insights.
• Committed and flexible team player with the ability to work on own initiative.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex financial information clearly to senior leadership and stakeholders.
• Competent at prioritising, resourcing, planning and performance management.

We're a dynamic, fast paced, and growing business with huge ambition. This is all made possible by the brilliant people who are part of The Openwork Partnership family. We're investing heavily in our colleagues, continuously striving to give them the platform to develop personally and professionally and reach their full potential.

We’re also very proud of our culture, as one of the Best 100 Large Companies to work for in 2022. The Openwork Partnership values, and respects individuality and we are committed to building an inclusive culture and environment which truly recognises and celebrates our colleague’s individual differences and identities – just like our financial advice, for us, it’s personal. We believe everyone can make a difference and your race, religion, disability, and gender will never be a barrier. At Openwork, we have a strong ethic of care for each other where you can balance a successful career with your commitments and interests outside of work. We believe that you will bring your best self to work if you are trusted to choose when, where and how you do it.