Vice President, Catalytic Capital

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California.

📋 Description

• Lead and develop FSI’s catalytic investment function.

• Formulate FSI’s investment strategy and pipeline.

• Enhance investment theses across key focus areas.

• Identify and nurture investment opportunities through FSI’s network along with sustainable protein and investment ecosystems.

• Pinpoint financing gaps where patient, flexible, or catalytic capital can drive progress.

• Create portfolio-level capital allocation strategies across various technologies, stages, risk profiles, and financing structures.

• Oversee comprehensive diligence and underwriting of prospective investments.

• Evaluate management teams, technologies, markets, business models, commercialization pathways, unit economics, capitalization, valuation, financing needs, and risks.

• Develop and manage financial models and scenario analyses.

• Analyze expected financial performance, catalytic impact, additionality, and alignment with mission.

• Collaborate with scientific and technical experts to evaluate technology readiness, scale-up challenges, techno-economics, manufacturing feasibility, and cost competitiveness.

• Prepare investment recommendations and investment memoranda.

• Lead the structuring, negotiation, and execution of mission-aligned investments.

• Design various catalytic structures including equity, debt, guarantees, recoverable grants, and blended finance.

• Maintain relationships with portfolio companies and monitor their financial performance, operational milestones, mission impact, financing needs, and emerging risks.

• Recommend follow-on investments, restructurings, exits, and other portfolio-related decisions.

• Collaborate with FSI’s scientific, market, philanthropic, capital, and Capital Solutions teams.

• Advise FSI leadership on the distinctions between investment capital versus grants, research, market interventions, or other philanthropic strategies.

• Build relationships with founders, investors, corporate partners, scientists, advisors, and senior stakeholders.

• Represent FSI externally through research, reports, presentations, convenings, and educational materials.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 10 years of relevant investment experience.

• Extensive principal investing experience in venture capital, growth equity, private equity, corporate venture, special situations, or similar investment roles.

• Experience functioning at the Principal, Partner, VP, or equivalent level.

• Proven track record throughout the entire investment lifecycle, including sourcing opportunities, developing investment theses, leading diligence and underwriting, building financial models, preparing investment memoranda, negotiating transactions, and managing post-close investments.

• Strong skills in valuation, financial modeling, capitalization, unit economics, scenario analysis, and financing structures.

• Experience assessing technology-driven businesses with commercialization, scale-up, financing, or execution risks, particularly in early and growth stages.

• Excellent analytical and communication abilities.

• Capability to synthesize complex scientific, technical, commercial, and financial information into clear investment recommendations.

• Sound judgment and credibility to collaborate effectively with founders, investors, scientists, corporate executives, philanthropists, and senior stakeholders.

• High intellectual independence and capacity to make decisions in uncertain environments.

• Entrepreneurial, hands-on approach.

• Comfort working in a small, mission-driven organization and taking ownership of tasks from investment strategy to detailed analysis and execution.

• Direct investment or operational experience in the alternative protein sector is strongly preferred.

• Background in adjacent science- and capital-intensive industries such as food and agriculture, industrial biotechnology, fermentation, life sciences, climate technology, or advanced manufacturing is preferred.

• Experience assessing commercialization and scale-up, including B2B models, complex enterprise sales cycles, manufacturing, and transitioning from pilot to commercial scale is preferred.

• Strong networking connections within the alternative protein ecosystem are preferred.

• Familiarity with nontraditional and catalytic financing structures is preferred.

• Experience deploying patient, catalytic, or impact-oriented capital is preferred.

• Legally authorized to work in the United States.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive medical coverage.

• Vision care coverage.

• Dental insurance.

• 401(k) retirement plan.

• Reimbursement for work phone expenses.

• Internet reimbursement.

• Benefits for companion animals.

• Unlimited paid time off (PTO).

• 11 paid holidays.

• Paid sick leave.

• Flexible working hours.

• Domestic travel opportunities.

• Occasional international travel.