What are the responsibilities and job description for the Private Equity Associate - Pittsburgh position at Blacklock Group?
About the Job:
Blacklock Financial is partnered with a leading Pittsburgh-based private equity firm seeking to add a Private Equity Associate to its investment team. The firm invests across a broad range of industries with a particular focus on industrials, manufacturing, and business services, and is looking for a generalist investor with strong analytical skills and a passion for middle-market investing.
Responsibilities:
The Associate will support senior investment professionals across all stages of the deal lifecycle—from sourcing and evaluation through due diligence, execution, and ongoing portfolio management.
Specific responsibilities will include:
- Screen, evaluate, and analyse middle-market investment opportunities across industrials and adjacent sectors, developing independent views on market attractiveness, competitive positioning, and value creation potential.
- Lead financial modelling responsibilities, including detailed valuation work, operating model development, returns analysis, and scenario/sensitivity assessments to identify key value drivers and risks.
- Support the due diligence process, coordinating with commercial, operational, financial, and legal advisors to assess target company fundamentals and validate investment theses.
- Prepare internal investment materials, including memos, models, and presentations, and contribute to presenting recommendations to the Investment Committee.
- Work closely with portfolio companies, supporting operational improvement initiatives, tracking financial and KPI performance, and contributing to strategic planning and value-creation efforts.
- Conduct thematic and sector research across industrials, manufacturing technologies, supply chain/logistics, and other relevant markets to identify emerging trends and new investment themes.
- Represent the firm at industry events and conferences, helping strengthen relationships with management teams, advisors, and the regional investment community.
- Maintain internal deal tracking and market databases, ensuring accuracy and relevance of market intelligence and pipeline information.
- Perform other responsibilities associated with executing the firm’s generalist private equity investment strategy.
Qualifications
Ideal candidates will have 1–5 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, consulting, or a related analytical discipline. Candidates should demonstrate strong technical capabilities and an interest in industrials and middle-market private equity investing.
Additional qualifications include:
- Proven analytical and financial modelling skills, including comfort with valuation, capital structure, and transaction analysis.
- Demonstrated transaction or project experience, ideally within industrials, manufacturing, business services, or other relevant sectors.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to produce high-quality investment materials and articulate insights clearly.
- Entrepreneurial, self-starting mindset with the ability to work collaboratively in a lean, high-performance team environment.
- Strong sense of ownership and accountability, with enthusiasm for supporting value creation across portfolio companies.
