Investment Manager, Private Markets

Job Type: Permanent
Location: This role will be based in our London office and there will be some flexibility to work between the office and home, and we will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here.
Salary and Benefits: c. £100,000 (subject to experience), plus bonus, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more.

Who are we? 

We’re Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone’s journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we’ve been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures.

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day.

Help shape the next phase of our Private Markets capability

This is an exciting time to join our Private Markets team.

We’re growing and evolving our investment capability, creating an opportunity for someone with strong structured credit and/or mortgage investment expertise to make a visible impact, bring fresh thinking and help shape how we work as we grow.

As an Investment Manager, you’ll work on complex, high-value investment opportunities across Structured Credit, Mortgage Solutions and broader Private Markets. You’ll be involved throughout the investment lifecycle, from assessing and structuring opportunities through to execution and ongoing portfolio management.

Just as importantly, we want you to challenge thinking, contribute new ideas and help us build smarter, more effective ways of working. This isn’t simply a role where you inherit an established playbook. You’ll have the opportunity to influence how our capability develops during a period of growth and transformation.

You’ll work alongside experienced investors, transaction specialists and colleagues across Standard Life and RS&AM, gaining broad exposure to the market while developing your own expertise, relationships and influence.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Lead and contribute to complex transactions across structured credit, securitisations, Equity Release Mortgages and other Private Markets investments.
• Structure and execute internal and external securitisations, including ABS/CLO and mortgage-related transactions, optimising risk-adjusted returns and capital outcomes.
• Work with Actuarial, Risk and Capital colleagues to evaluate assumptions, investment structures and regulatory considerations.
• Analyse opportunities through detailed cash-flow modelling, credit analysis and investment recommendations.
• Act as a key structuring partner across cross-functional deal teams, working with internal colleagues and external counterparties to progress transactions successfully.
• Contribute to the evolution of our securitised asset and wider Private Markets strategy, bringing market insight, new ideas and constructive challenge.
• Support pricing and negotiation of complex investments, including financial, commercial and legal terms.
• Monitor portfolio performance, emerging risks and covenant compliance, supporting asset management and restructuring where required.
• Become a trusted technical resource for complex transactions, helping improve tools, processes and execution across the wider team.
• Identify opportunities to innovate, simplify and improve how we work as our Private Markets capability continues to grow.

What we’re looking for

We want to be clear about the experience you’ll need to succeed in this role, while recognising that great candidates rarely have identical career paths.

Essential experience

To be successful, you’ll need:

• Professional investment experience within a buy-side or sell-side environment, with hands-on exposure to assessing investments across Structured Credit and/or Mortgage Solutions. This could include Equity Release Mortgages, securitisations such as ABS/CLO, Asset-Backed Finance or Insured Credit.
• Strong technical knowledge of securitised or asset-backed investments, for example ABS, MBS, CLOs, ERM/mortgage solutions or underlying pools such as mortgages, SME lending, mid-market loans or direct lending.
• Strong cash-flow modelling, credit and analytical capability, with experience assessing investments or structures dependent on specific underlying asset pools.
• Experience evaluating or structuring investments within complex regulatory and/or capital environments.
• A track record of delivering high-quality analytical work while managing multiple priorities and workstreams.
• The confidence and judgement to work with a high degree of autonomy, while collaborating effectively across different teams and stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel capability and strong working knowledge of PowerPoint and Word, with familiarity with Intex.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to turn complex analysis into clear investment conclusions and recommendations.

These are important foundations for the role, but we don’t expect everyone to have followed the same route to get there. If you have the core structured credit or mortgage investment experience above and believe your broader experience could add something different to the team, we’d be keen to hear from you.

Experience that would be an advantage

It would also be helpful, but isn’t essential, if you bring experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Solvency II and the Matching Adjustment framework.
• Investment origination and ongoing asset surveillance.
• Commercial, contractual or legal negotiations relating to investments.
• Programming and/or VBA.
• An established or developing network across relevant Private Markets participants.

What you’ll bring

Beyond technical expertise, we’re looking for someone who is curious, commercially minded and motivated by the opportunity to build and improve.

You’ll be someone who:

• Brings ideas and constructive challenge rather than simply accepting how things have always been done.
• Takes ownership and is comfortable operating in a growing, evolving environment.
• Enjoys solving complex problems and turning analysis into clear investment decisions.
• Builds credibility and effective relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicates complex concepts clearly and confidently.
• Is collaborative and willing to roll up their sleeves when required.
• Can support, guide and develop junior colleagues.
• Balances pace with rigour, accuracy and sound judgement.
• Is excited by the opportunity to help shape a growing Private Markets platform, not simply perform a defined role within it.

Qualifications

A degree or equivalent professional experience is required.

Further investment or financial qualifications, such as a CFA, CAIA, CQF, Master’s degree or equivalent, would be beneficial but are not essential.

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about working at Standard Life

• Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us