Private Equity Associate

Onni Group of Companies • Vancouver, BC

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Onni Capital invests its own capital, offering a unique environment free from fundraising cycles, external investment committees, and external timelines. This allows for agile pursuit of good businesses and swift decline of weak ones. Permanent capital changes the conversation with founders, enabling a focus on long-term value rather than short-term flips. Onni's operating businesses provide a distinct diligence advantage by allowing assumptions to be tested against existing companies and operators, rather than relying solely on external market studies. Team members will have direct access to decision-makers, bypassing traditional hierarchical structures.

Onni Capital is designed as a high-ownership, low-bureaucracy team that operates in small project groups, tests ideas rapidly, and makes decisions based on evidence. Team members are expected to challenge assumptions, communicate directly, take responsibility for outcomes, utilize AI tools for efficiency, share work early for feedback, and be comfortable with both strategic analysis and hands-on execution. This role is suited for individuals who learn quickly, take initiative, enjoy solving ambiguous problems, and want to contribute to building something from the ground up, rather than seeking a rigid job description or narrowly defined responsibilities.

Requirements

• Three to six years in private equity, investment banking, corporate development, transaction advisory, or a comparable transaction environment, with live deals you can walk through in detail
• Demonstrated ownership of a transaction, not only support. You have run workstreams, managed advisors, and been in the room when terms were negotiated
• Strong modelling capability built from scratch rather than from templates, with real command of LBO mechanics, debt structures, and returns analysis
• Sound accounting judgment, including EBITDA normalisation, quality of earnings, and working capital bridges
• Genuine comfort in front of owners and management teams. Much of this job is a conversation with a person who built a business over thirty years and is deciding whether to trust you
• Commercial judgment that connects operating detail to valuation, structure, and returns
• Demonstrated ability to use modern AI tools to research, analyse, model, automate, and produce high quality work
• Strong written communication, with the ability to compress a complex situation into a one page recommendation
• Willingness to travel across North America, including Vancouver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Phoenix
• A bias toward action and comfort making progress with incomplete information
• The confidence to state a view and defend it while remaining open to evidence and feedback
• Comfort working in a small, fast moving team where responsibilities change as deals develop
• High personal standards for accuracy, quality, ownership, and follow through

Nice To Haves

• Experience in construction services, industrial services, manufacturing, building products, or trades businesses
• Experience with buy and build or roll up strategies, including add on acquisition programmes
• Experience with founder led businesses and owner operator transactions
• Direct operating experience inside a portfolio company
• CFA or CPA designation
• Debt financing experience, including working directly with lenders and credit committees
• Cross border transaction experience between Canada and the United States
• Familiarity with tools such as Claude, Linear, Slack, or similar platforms

Responsibilities

• Source acquisition opportunities directly through owner outreach, Onni's operating and industry network, trades contacts, supplier networks, and portfolio company management
• Build and maintain relationships with brokers, advisors, lenders, and intermediaries in target sectors
• Screen inbound and sourced opportunities against investment criteria and write the screening memo with a clear recommendation to pursue or pass
• Develop sector theses and build target lists for roll up strategies across construction services, building products, industrial services, mechanical, HVAC, and adjacent trades
• Own the operating and returns model on live transactions, including LBO structures, debt schedules, returns waterfalls, sensitivity analysis, and downside cases
• Run due diligence across financial, commercial, operational, tax, and legal workstreams, and manage external advisors to scope, budget, and deadline
• Lead the quality of earnings review with advisors, including EBITDA normalisation, working capital analysis, and net debt calculation
• Structure transactions and financing, including consideration mix, earnouts, founder rollover, and lender terms
• Draft and present investment committee memos and lender presentations, and defend the recommendation to ownership
• Manage transaction execution, including the data room, issue tracking, legal documentation review, and coordination with counterparties through to close
• Own the first hundred days, including integration planning, reporting setup, banking, and management alignment
• Track portfolio company performance against the acquisition thesis, including monthly performance, budget versus actual, covenant compliance, and integration milestones
• Identify and quantify value creation opportunities across pricing, procurement, overhead, working capital, and add on acquisitions, then work with operators to execute them
• Work with the Controller on purchase accounting, opening balance sheets, and post close true ups
• Support add on acquisitions into existing platforms
• Direct the private equity analysts on execution, review their work, and hold the quality standard
• Build and maintain the deal flow tracker, pipeline reporting, and diligence templates so the process is repeatable rather than reinvented each time
• Document processes, models, decisions, and operating standards so successful approaches can be repeated across the team
• Contribute to internal investment discussions, portfolio reviews, and Onni Capital events

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and a discretionary performance bonus
• A comprehensive company paid benefits package
• An annual education and professional development allowance
• Regular product demonstrations, founder sessions, investment discussions, and team events
• Free access to a fully equipped gym
• Friends and family rates across participating hospitality brands
• Employee discounts at participating restaurants, retailers, fitness providers, and other businesses
• A generous employee referral program

What This Job Offers

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