Business Development & Deal Origination Associate

Adaptive Teams

3d • Remote

About The Position

This is a relationship-first business development role connecting independent sponsors with capital for established, profitable lower middle market businesses. The employer is a private equity investment group that provides equity capital to independent sponsors acquiring proven businesses in resilient industries with durable demand; it does not focus on startups or venture capital. The position is fully remote and open to candidates based in Latin America, South Africa, and Europe.

The Associate manages sponsor outreach and relationships, identifies and qualifies potential opportunities, and communicates with suitable accredited investors about deal-by-deal private equity using approved messaging. The role also helps build and improve the firm’s CRM practices, sourcing channels, follow-up processes, and reporting systems. Success is measured by the quality of relationships and qualified opportunities rather than message volume.

The role offers the opportunity to work closely with senior leadership in a lean team and progressively take ownership of sponsor relationships and origination work. The expected progression is to learn the model and own the pipeline in the first month, lead sponsor calls and nurture relationships in months two and three, and become a trusted contact who improves the origination engine in months four through six. This is not a high-volume SDR role, a pure investment-underwriting position, or a role with an established playbook.

Requirements

• Around 2–5 years of relevant experience in finance, investing, lending, M&A, financial services, or financially sophisticated B2B business development.
• Working familiarity with EBITDA, enterprise value, leverage, and equity financing.
• Strong written and spoken English, with clear, concise, professional communication.
• Excellent organization, CRM discipline, and follow-through.
• Persistence without pressure, sound judgment, curiosity, and the ability to qualify genuine opportunities.
• A proactive mindset, including the ability to research new audiences, test sourcing channels, and build processes without waiting for a playbook.
• Comfort working independently in a lean, fast-moving environment.
• Business and finance fluency.

Nice To Haves

• Private equity expertise is a plus, but not a prerequisite.

Responsibilities

• Manage outreach replies, follow-ups, introductory calls, and long-term nurturing with independent sponsors.
• Research and connect with sponsors, M&A professionals, lenders, attorneys, and referral networks.
• Understand investment strategies, assess initial fit, gather transaction details, and prepare concise internal handoffs.
• Explain deal-by-deal private equity to suitable accredited investors using approved messaging, without hard selling or making performance promises.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, track next steps, and ensure promising contacts receive follow-up.
• Develop follow-up cadences, refine sourcing channels, and report on what generates meaningful relationships and qualified deals.
• Help shape the CRM, relationship-management process, sourcing strategy, and reporting systems.
• Progress toward leading sponsor relationships and owning a meaningful part of the origination process.

Benefits

• Base salary plus a defined performance bonus.
• Opportunity to shape the CRM, relationship-management process, sourcing strategy, and reporting systems.
• Work closely with senior leadership in a lean team without layers of management.
• Growth path toward leading sponsor relationships and owning a meaningful part of the origination process.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed