Executive Director, Growth & Innovation Fund

Morgan Stanley • San Francisco, CA

1d • $200,000 - $300,000

About The Position

Morgan Stanley Growth & Innovation (MSGI) is an MSIM strategy targeting late stage, growth equity investments in scaled, private, high-growth companies in fast-growing technology sectors. The strategy targets category-defining companies operating in large addressable markets with significant long-term compounding potential. The MSGI strategy is under the broader Private Credit & Equity (PC&E) platform with over 300 professionals globally managing approximately $62Bn of client capital across direct private equity and private-credit strategies.
The Executive Director will be responsible for leading all business development efforts, as well as participating in investment decisions alongside the leadership team. This individual is foundational to the strategy’s success, as it ensures a steady pipeline of high-potential companies that align with the strategy’s investment thesis, with full ownership over all origination-related activities, sourcing and initiating new investment opportunities. This role brings high exposure to company owners, founders, investment bankers, and investors globally.
Recent investments out of the MSGI strategy have included a leading unified data and AI analytics platform, and a frontier AI research and foundational model company. This is a unique opportunity to join and help lead the development of the MSGI strategy.

Requirements

• Minimum of 12-15 years of relevant industry experience, which should include time spent in business development in a private equity, growth equity or venture capital platform.
• Aptitude and experience in networking within the growth equity, venture capital, and investment banking landscape.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity, creating process where needed, and raising the bar without adding friction.
• Resourceful, highly organized, process-oriented, data-driven and tech savvy.
• Self-motivated, with a high degree of initiative and a passion for building relationships with intermediaries and industry contacts.
• Possesses an in-depth understanding of private markets.
• Established relationships with leading firms, intermediaries, consultants, and other influencers.
• Strong analytical and financial skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from top college or university
• Must be willing to travel extensively
• Operates with a strong sense of ethics and integrity in your interactions with others and decision making.
• Takes accountability and ownership in your work with a focus on long-term value creation.
• Track record of fostering a culture of honesty, transparency and accountability within teams.
• Proven ability to collaborate across teams to deliver optimal solutions for clients.
• A passion for innovation, with a continuous improvement mindset to drive excellence.
• Respect for individual differences, with an openness to diverse perspectives.
• Engagement in community service, volunteering or corporate citizenship initiatives.
• Commitment to mentoring and supporting professional growth of others.
• Passion for building and leading diverse, inclusive teams, where all individuals feel valued, respected and empowered.
• Ability to define and communicate a clear vision, align teams with organizational goals and drive long-term results.
• Navigates change with confidence, maintains composure under pressure, and leads through uncertainty.
• Sets ambitious goals, holds teams accountable and consistently delivers measurable results.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in technology / software preferred, but not required.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with senior investors to define and oversee the strategy’s overall investment sourcing strategy to optimize volume and quality of deal flow.
• Build and leverage professional networks (executives, intermediaries, management teams, brokers, other investors and lenders) and convert relationships into actionable deal flow.
• Strong commercial instincts in early conversations; quickly separate “interesting” from“ investable,” and build credibility with management teams.
• Develop, implement and manage regular marketing activities (e.g. email campaigns) to intermediaries and targeted companies.
• Leverage technology and data (e.g. Salesforce, Pitchbook, 3rd party systems, etc.);institute best practices across team for contacts and tracking deal flow.
• Cultivate and coordinate new and existing investment themes.
• Attend conferences and other industry events to foster relationships.
• Plan and track event attendance to ensure total coverage and regular touchpoints with targeted companies and intermediaries.
• Monitor activities of other active investors; analyze and examine data for gaps, opportunities, and insights.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director