We are PEAK6, a leading investment firm headquartered in Chicago and with offices nationwide. Over 20 years ago, we were one of the first firms to develop sophisticated proprietary technology to use in our equity options trading business. Today, we continue to leverage our technical ingenuity and operational excellence across several investment areas, ranging from early stage to growth capital to operational control. Throughout the years, we've built and operated several financial technology firms, an e-sports organization and a flood insurance technology platform, and we continue to evolve. You'll find a bit of everything here, and we're always looking to take on new endeavors.

The Strategic Capital investment and operating team is focused on the top strategic priorities for PEAK6. The team is responsible for setting strategy and driving long-range planning for PEAK6, investigating strategic opportunities, designing and conducting qualitative and quantitative research and analyses, driving M&A and corporate development initiatives, and working closely on key initiatives with senior leaders in PEAK6’s portfolio companies and shared services.

The successful candidate is an independent, analytical, and intellectually curious individual who can identify issues, structure analyses, develop solutions, and articulate findings to wide range of business stakeholders, including senior leadership throughout the organization.  The ideal candidate will have a financial and operational skill set and an entrepreneurial mindset.  It is essential that a candidate has outstanding interpersonal and communication skills and is comfortable taking on responsibility in a fast-paced, dynamic – and oftentimes ambiguous – environment.

You will participate in curated rotational assignments within various PEAK6 operating businesses, while receiving exposure to our diverse ecosystem. You will support both the Strategic Capital team and PEAK6 operating businesses’ efforts in formulating company strategy and analyzing business opportunities to drive organic and inorganic growth. This opportunity will offer accelerated career growth through diverse experiences, including product management and growth, relationship management, data-driven analysis and decision-making, finance and investing and P&L exposure, at various PEAK6 portfolio companies in multiple industries. During each assignment, you will have the opportunity to build operating and financial skills while also gaining exposure to key business, financial and operational leaders. You will be given significant responsibility and the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to business results. This program aims at developing your talent and your leadership potential to jump, at the end of the program, into a key position within PEAK6 or its portfolio companies.

This role will not only offer individuals unique on-the-job growth opportunities, but also will afford individuals participation in a proprietary “internal MBA” program developed by PEAK6. This is a comprehensive, hands on educational experience with a focus on operating, fixing and growing businesses.
 

You’ll be responsible for:

Product & Growth

• Shaping the Firm’s growth strategy by identifying and evaluating new growth segments and markets, including assessment of market potential and competitive dynamics, framing and evaluation of strategic alternatives, and developing recommendations and execution plans.

• Managing the key performance and growth metrics that help inform company-wide planning and goal-setting.

Relationship Management

• Actively participating in key corporate strategic planning processes, working across businesses and functions to frame the company strategy, outline key initiatives, and develop financial plans.
• Working with leaders of PEAK6 and our operating businesses to define strategic priorities and goals in the context of broader company strategy, and how these translate to focus areas.

Data-Driven Analysis & Decision-Making

• Developing a deep understanding of the key drivers of our business and defining critical KPIs, dashboards, and operating rhythms to help teams manage performance and create operational rigor.
• Supporting key strategic projects end-to-end: define the problem, develop a hypothesis, structure the analysis, collect the necessary data, communicate findings thoughtfully, and build consensus.

Finance & Investing

• Supporting evaluation, negotiation and execution of potential merger and acquisition opportunities by conducting due diligence and capital structure reviews, developing business cases, building detailed financial models (DCF, comps, accretion / dilution, etc.), and working closely with internal leaders and external advisors.
• Supporting assessment of potential partnership and other corporate development opportunities.

• Supporting key corporate financial processes, including capital structure reviews.

P&L Exposure

• Running point with our senior leaders on understanding P&L metrics and trends in our business, and provide data-driven insights on poorly understood business questions.
• Working with PEAK6 business leaders on strategic decisions that impact revenue and cost drivers for products, services or at the company level.

You’ll gain loads of experience in this role, but before you do, you should have:

• A strong learning agility and proactive mindset – you love data and are intellectually curious – always asking “why” and finding areas for improvement and opportunity.
• Comfort with ambiguity – demonstrating resilience, maturity, and sound judgment.
• A desire to learn and grow – you’re driven to be the best and challenge yourself by setting goals, beating them, and encouraging your teammates to do the same.
• High ethics and integrity – you always conduct yourself with honesty and operate ethically. You say what you mean, and mean what you say.
• The ability to take ownership – you take active responsibility not only for those tasks that you directly control, but also support teammates to ensure success.

Additional Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 3-5 years of work experience, ideally with background in management consulting, investment banking, accounting, private equity, and/or strategy at a leading technology or consumer company.
• Exceptional problem-solving, decision-making and quantitative skills, including strong financial modelling abilities and research and analytical skills to support data-driven decision making.
• Entrepreneurial self-starter who thrives in a fast-moving environment and is independently capable of seeking information, corralling resources, and delivering results without waiting for direction.
• Ability to prioritize deliverables and meet demanding deadlines.
• Ability to move seamlessly between conversing with engineers or frontline ops employees to leading presentations with senior executives.
• High-energy, positive team player who has a proven ability to influence without authority and build strong working relationships with business partners; this is a highly cross-functional role, so a low ego and a high instinct for collaboration are musts.
• Strong judgment and ability to make well-informed decisions – displaying both high IQ and EQ.
• *Should have a willingness to travel as needed, with potential relocation after program*