Manager, Europe - Impact Investing (Business Development + Client Services)

Experience level: Mid-career
Location: Continental Europe (with a preference for candidates based near major cities where BlueMark has prospective clients)

About BlueMark

BlueMark was founded with a mission to strengthen trust in impact and sustainable investing, and to help bring more transparency and accountability to the impact investment market. We believe third-party impact verification is a key ingredient for establishing and maintaining trust between impact investors and their stakeholders. By providing a reliable resource for independent, third-party assurance of impact claims and practices, BlueMark plays an important role in advancing best practices and ensuring the impact investing industry scales with integrity.

Founded in early 2020, BlueMark has quickly become the leading provider of independent impact verification and intelligence for the impact and sustainable investing market. BlueMark closed its Series A funding round in April 2023, and has quickly grown to a 30-person team, with additional growth planned for 2024 and beyond. Our team brings unparalleled expertise in impact investing along with high commitment to excellence and integrity in everything we do. We value compassion, emotional awareness, a sense of humor, and an entrepreneurial drive in every new hire.

About the position

BlueMark has ambitious growth plans for 2024 and beyond, and expanding our presence in continental European markets is a strong priority for 2024. The Europe Manager will have a unique opportunity to help grow an early-stage company in this dynamic, impactful industry. 

The right person for this role will be adaptable and creative; familiar with the impact investment or sustainable finance space in Europe; and driven to help build, manage, and execute a regional growth strategy for a high-potential startup.

As BlueMark’s Europe Manager, you will be instrumental in building partnerships and business development in the region, overseeing client engagements, and shaping the development of new services. The role will provide exciting opportunities to work with diverse impact investing firms, contribute to best practices in impact management, reporting, and assurance for the impact investing industry, and help grow a new pioneering business.

Responsibilities

Business Development & Marketing

• Collaborate with the Europe Director and the US-based BD & Marketing teams to develop BlueMark’s strategy for further growth in European markets

• Proactively prioritize and develop the pipeline for business development, oversee proposal development, and finalize negotiations with clients in Europe

• Enhance BlueMark’s identity, positioning, and reputation in the European impact investing market through developing relationships with industry professionals, attending conferences and other convenings, and supporting targeted marketing and thought leadership efforts

 Service Delivery and Development

• Oversee client engagements in Europe, including managing client relationships and providing guidance and direction-setting for the internal team

• Deliver strong subject matter expertise on impact management and verification

• Ensure client engagements are delivered in line with business goals, including monitoring and reporting out on project profitability, timeliness, staffing, and risks

• Contribute to the strategic development of impact verification services, in collaboration with the senior management team

• Support our existing UK-based team to ensure that voices from the European markets are well-represented in product development

Management and Operations

• Manage members of the impact verification team on client projects and contribute to a healthy and productive work environment across the European business

• Support the Europe Director to budget and plan for the European business

• Be BlueMark’s “boots on the ground” in continental Europe, including advising on future establishment of European offices and helping to lead hiring, onboarding, and meeting operational needs in the region.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of post-bachelor’s degree work experience (may include master’s degree)

• Meaningful familiarity with impact investing markets in Europe

• Demonstrated aptitude for building client relationships and an interest in business development

• Strong written and oral communication skills

• Entrepreneurial and self-motivated, with a bias towards action and an interest in working in a small-business environment

• High level of personal and professional integrity

• Sense of humor and self-awareness 

• Open to regular business travel within Europe and the UK, as well as 1-2 trips per year to the US

Hiring Process FAQs

What are some of the benefits and perks?

• A professional development stipend is available for every employee to use towards improving their expertise and soft skills.

• Beyond providing a work laptop, we have a “Work From Home” stipend available for employees to help make their home working space better.

• Retreats: We hold retreats every year where team members get together in a beautiful location to brainstorm and just have a fun time.

• We close the office for the last week of December so everyone can enjoy time with family and friends during the holiday season.

• Every other Friday is a "Free Friday"

What will the hiring process look like?

• Looking for a new job can be a daunting experience. Our approach is based in empathy and a desire for candidates to have a good experience. We want to give everyone an opportunity to display their strengths through their answers to our questions.

• Hiring Process: Our timeline from application close date to decision typically takes ~6 weeks. Below are the steps week by week. Please note that these start after the date that applications close, not after the date that you submit your application.

• Week 1 - Applications are blind-reviewed : Our process is designed to remove bias by having your application answers randomly assigned to our team for review. Two team members score the responses based on a set of guidelines. The candidates with the highest average scores get invited to the interview round. We do not look at resumes and we do not know whose answers we are scoring. We embrace a diversity of working styles and backgrounds and believe that limiting applications to resumes fails to capture the full potential of an individual. We also believe that answering a few short, tailored questions is a far better use of your time than customizing a cover letter.

• Week 2-3 - Behavioral Interview - The first interview is a 45-minute structured interview with non-senior team members.

• Week 4-5 - Case Exercise - This is a timed take-home exercise.

• Week 6 - Senior Management Interview: The candidates with the highest average scores from the first round interview are invited to a second structured interview with Senior Management.

How would you describe your culture?

• Collaborative, inclusive, passionate, and fun. We encourage all team members to be their full selves at work. As a relatively small team, there are a lot of opportunities to have your voice heard. Our structure is relatively flat, and you are able to influence decisions, processes, and policies even as an analyst.

What’s your commitment to DEI to life in culture and workplace?

• We have an internal DE&I working group that is committed to improving DE&I practices, culture, and employee experience. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are core tenets of our culture and we place a heavy emphasis on constantly learning and improving our own understanding of what that means for our business. At Tideline, we believe that compassion, equity, diversity, and inclusion are fundamental to our success. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion manifests in three key ways:

  • The mission and vision of BlueMark and its sister company, Tideline -- Our firm’s vision of shared, sustainable prosperity is inseparably rooted in the credo of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world.

  • How we conduct ourselves as an employer -- BlueMark is an equal opportunity employer, and we value the unique contributions of each of our team members. Through our hiring, mentoring, and managing, we encourage our team to bring their full selves and individuality to our work.

  • How we use our influence -- In our work with clients, we strive to be an enabling force in the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within our society.