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Investment Director/Officer, VC/Growth/Buyouts – West Coast Based

Tufts University

Tufts is a student-centered research university that educates approximately 11,500 students, almost equally divided between undergraduate and graduate, across eight schools—Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, Law and Diplomacy, Medicine, Nutrition Science and Policy, and Veterinary Medicine—and a College of Civic Life. At the undergraduate level, it is one of the most selective universities in the country. The graduate and professional schools are similarly distinguished and selective. It is an institution with a strong commitment to both teaching and research where faculty are known as the quintessential teacher-scholars.  

The university has a longstanding commitment to inclusion, pragmatic innovation, and international engagement, and a track record of multi-disciplinary collaboration in research and education across its different schools.  Recent programmatic initiatives and investments have been guided by the university’s T10 strategic plan. In 2016, Tufts significantly deepened its commitment to the arts and humanities with the acquisition of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), now part of the School of Arts and Sciences. During the 2017-18 academic year, Tufts launched the public phase of its Brighter World comprehensive campaign, which seeks to raise $1.5 billion to strengthen teaching and research, support a distinctive culture of collaboration and innovation, increase financial aid and bolster Tufts’ ability to attract the finest students from all backgrounds, and advance the university’s capacity to translate ideas into practical solutions for global problems. Most recently, in July of 2020, an important strategic initiative, “Tufts as an anti-Racist institution”, was announced and formalized as a pledge to eradicate any structural racism in the institution and take the steps necessary to become a more equitable university tomorrow than it is today. 

The university encompasses four intimately scaled Massachusetts campuses: a liberal arts, engineering, and international affairs campus in Medford/Somerville; an urban life sciences campus in the heart of downtown Boston; an arts campus in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood; and a rural campus in Grafton that houses the veterinary school. It also operates the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France. 

Tufts has a history of fiscal prudence and strength implemented though an operating budget of $1 billion and long-term investable assets of roughly $2.6 billion.  The Tufts Investment Office (“TUIO”), located in downtown Boston, oversees three distinct pools of capital, incorporating endowment and other long-term assets critical to the university, and is led by Chief Investment Officer Craig Smith.  In conjunction with the university’s highly skilled Investment Committee, TUIO is responsible for all investment and operational aspects of running these portfolios, including asset allocation, portfolio construction, investment manager due diligence and selection, monitoring, portfolio analysis and reporting. 

Location 

West Coast Based

Reporting Relationship

Craig Smith, Chief Investment Officer

Reporting to the Chief Investment Officer, the Investment Director/Officer will collaborate with the investment team and the Investment Committee in the management of the university’s long-term investable assets.  Following an on-boarding period in Boston, the position is expected to be based on the West Coast, with regular visits to the Boston-office and frequent domestic and international travel. 

The Investment Director/Officer is expected to have a strong working relationship with external investment managers and service providers, some of whom may already have an existing relationship with the university.  A key aspect of the Investment Director/Officer role is the ability to partner with other senior members of the investment team and the Investment Committee to drive strong risk-adjusted, long-term returns for the endowment through independent sourcing, excellent manager selection, prudent risk management, and thoughtful portfolio construction.  Qualified applicants for the role should have a deep, pre-existing network on the West Coast, demonstrated investment experience within private capital markets (seed, venture, growth equity and buyouts) and have an interest and willingness to conduct diligence on public market investment opportunities.  Experience in direct private capital market investing, while not required, is valuable in support of the Investment Office’s co-investment program. 

It’s a great time to be at Tufts. The leadership team is engaged, empowered and unified. An incoming Investment Director/Officer should view this as an outstanding opportunity to have real impact and help lead a sophisticated investment program, work with highly talented and committed colleagues and contribute to the growth of a top-tier academic institution and secure its financial future.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the overall investment process by serving as a thought partner to the Chief Investment Officer
• Collaborate with colleagues to identify the highest priority investment opportunities for the portfolio
• Source and maintain a deep pipeline of prospective, often aspirational, managers and develop strategies to continually strengthen the portfolio, particularly in areas of secular importance such as climate, energy transition, digital health and AI
• Play a leading role in evaluating and recommending investment opportunities across asset classes
• Conduct thorough due diligence, in coordination with other members of the senior team, on the most compelling prospective opportunities including analysis of investment strategy, process, organization, portfolio positions and performance
• Assess co-investment opportunities sourced from managers within the portfolio
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with leading investment thinkers, including individual managers, and a network of colleagues within the investment community to stay abreast of emerging trends and issues
• Assist in building the investment office’s reputation for professional excellence and extend its network in the West Coast ecosystem
• Position the endowment to be an investor of choice and a strong strategic investment partner
• Monitor performance, portfolio positions, current events, and organizational changes of existing fund managers and complete analytical reviews on a regular basis
• Oversee the preparation of reports and informative materials for the Investment Committee’s quarterly meetings and present findings and strategic recommendations
• Research and lead topics for internal discussion on an ad-hoc basis
• Act as a team player within the investment office; holding others accountable, providing clarity, encouragement, and feedback, as well as being receptive to feedback
• Perpetuate a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, open dialogue and communication, encouraging both strategic and tactical brainstorming on investment and financial issues
• Promote a culture of holistic and independent investment thinking beyond traditional approaches and asset class silos
• Conduct frequent domestic and international travel to meet with investment managers and leading industry participants

The Candidate

The Investment Director/Officer will be an accomplished investment professional with an outstanding track record of success who brings significant investment experience gained from working on a sophisticated pool of assets in an endowment, foundation, investment consultancy, family office or investment management firm.

Specific qualifications:

• Strong academic and professional credentials including roughly 10 years of immediately relevant investment VC, growth and buyout investment experience
• Rigorous and analytical approach with broad knowledge of global capital markets and macro-economic issues affecting investments, providing a top down as well as bottom-up perspective
• A track record of outstanding investment performance achieved through an assemblage of external, third-party managers and accountability for outperformance with an awareness and sensitivity to risk/return trade-offs
• Deep existing relationships with industry peers as well as knowledge and relationships with a broad array of fund managers, particularly VC and growth managers on the West Coast, including best-in-class established players as well as smaller, niche, emerging funds
• High degree of professionalism and ability to be an outstanding ambassador for the university and the investment office on the West Coast
• Energetic self-starter who naturally pursues network development and sourcing of investment opportunities
• Ability to incorporate rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses in the evaluation of investment strategies, human and organizational dynamics, investment processes, and investment performance
• Possessing a clear investment philosophy, with the ability to remain creative and intellectually open to off-the-run ideas and approaches
• Effective oral and written communication skills, with an emphasis on the ability to engage in robust, constructive investment dialogue
• Willingness to lead or assist on efforts to build out the investment office capabilities outside of day-to-day investing

Personal Qualities:

• Unquestioned integrity and the highest ethical standards
• Talented and ambitious yet displays humility
• Curious, proactive mindset with an evident passion for investing
• Imagination, creativity and the ability to pivot
• A team orientation and inclusive, collegial style
• Foresight and pragmatism
• Proclivity for simplifying, prioritizing, streamlining, and clarifying complex processes and issues
• A commitment to a culture of excellence
• Outstanding communication skills and a diplomatic interpersonal manner
• A passion for education, a commitment to the mission of the endowment

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• CFA or MBA (or other related advanced degree) are preferred

Total compensation may also include an annual bonus.

To apply for this position, please contact:

Belinda Yan

Presidio Search Group, LLC

belinda@presidiosearchgroup.com

About Tufts University

This is Tufts. Tufts is a student-centered research university with a constellation of world-class schools encompassing undergraduate, graduate, professional, and lifelong learning programs. Across the university, students satisfy their intellectual curiosity, jump-start rewarding careers, and unlock bright, promising futures. Through rigorous academics, groundbreaking research, and a commitment to civic engagement and leadership, our community of students, faculty, and staff collaborate across four Massachusetts campuses to build a brighter world (Medford/Somerville, Grafton, Boston-Chinatown, and Boston-Fenway). Our employees light the way. Tufts develops innovative solutions for the most complex global challenges of our time through teaching, research, and an unparalleled investment in civic engagement. In administration and operations, in dining centers and in labs, every employee plays a role in our mission for a better, brighter world. At Tufts, the work you do matters. So do you. Enjoy flexible and remote opportunities, innovative benefits, and an inclusive, welcoming, collaborative culture that supports you. Develop your skills. Take classes. Advance your career. ...Do work that makes you proud in a community you love. All while taking great care of yourself and the people who matter most. We’re all in on creating an anti-racist culture of belonging. Across Tufts, we’ve deepened our commitment to making the university a truly inclusive place. Where every member of our community contributes and feels like they belong. Where diverse perspectives are seen as our strength, and great ideas are always heard. In offices, labs, classrooms, and beyond, we’re doing this work together, knowing it is the foundation of our mission to create a brighter world. An innovative university needs resourceful people who make things happen. Here, collaboration isn’t just a buzzword, colleagues actually care, and community means everything. Sound appealing? Come join us. Choose a campus and find the role that fits you. Tufts University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff and fostering their success when hired. Members of underrepresented groups are welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. See the University’s Non-Discrimination statement and policy here https://oeo.tufts.edu/policies-procedures/non-discrimination/. If you are an applicant with a disability who is unable to use our online tools to search and apply for jobs, please contact us by calling the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) at 617-627-3298 or at oeo@tufts.edu. Applicants can learn more about requesting reasonable accommodations at https://oeo.tufts.edu/

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