Job Description

Shepherd lower middle market portfolio companies to thrive.

What We're About

Saturn Five is a long-term-hold investment firm focused on buying and operating some of the best small businesses in America. We are, technically, a lower-middle-market private equity company, but we're a bit different. We buy and hold our investments for the long term, and we invest in companies that we're proud of, but most of the private equity market isn't interested in. If you love the impact of well-run businesses and want to play a key role in helping these companies thrive, we may have a seat for you. You can learn more about Saturn Five in our 2025 Annual Letter .

The Role: Operating Partner

Operating Partners are Saturn Five's primary connective tissue between our funds and the portfolio companies. An Operating Partner works one-on-one with our CEOs and engages with their leadership teams to guide and support them, to monitor our investments, and to help direct key activities like distributions, strategic decisions and large capital expenditures. Think of this as a hands-on board member role. You’ll engage with three to six of our portfolio companies from the onboarding stage to steady state, and support them at key inflection points.

The Operating Partner ensures there’s a regular cadence with the portfolio company leadership: from regular check-ins, to monthly financial reviews, quarterly goal-setting, and annual planning and budgeting. In addition, the Operating Partner is responsible for hiring and onboarding portfolio company CEOs as need arises.

Key Responsibilities

• Transition new investments into the Saturn Five ecosystem, including managing transition of banking, insurance, payroll, and internal management systems of the new entities, either through Asset or Stock Purchase Agreements
• Quickly gain domain expertise in your portfolio companies' respective industries, identifying 'who we need to know' in a given industry and how Saturn Five can be most immediately helpful to new acquisitions at a strategic level
• Jump in to assist portfolio company leaders with key initiatives - negotiating a new contract, developing and coaching on a hiring plan for a key management role, helping identify new vendors for a critical project, or managing bank permissions and authorities
• Coach, mentor, and assess company senior leadership
• Lead CEO/President/GM hiring processes when sellers retire or a leader needs to be replaced
• Assist portco leaders in the creation and refinement of Annual Operating Plans and Annual Budgets
• Lead Weekly Metrics calls and Monthly Book Reviews with portco leadership on an iterative journey towards data-driven management
• Design senior and second-level-leader compensation and incentive programs for individual portcos
• Roll out the Saturn Five Way (an EOS-informed small business operating system) at new and existing portfolio companies
• Project targeted quarterly distributions and support portco leaders to achieve targeted results

Who You Are

The position calls for a strong general-management athlete who knows what it’s like to be in the leaders’ seat and understands small business finance, sales, and operations. You’ll excel if you can move from the boardroom to the factory floor or construction site with ease. We like “scrappy” around here, so if you know what it means to roll up your sleeves and serve, and you genuinely enjoy doing so, you’ll like this gig.

• You are a mid-career leader who has had senior-level leadership experience, and been in the final decision makers seat.
• Ideally, you’ve owned or led a business, and had true P&L and balance sheet responsibility, preferably at a smaller company ($2-10M EBITDA)
• You are a high EQ ‘leader of leaders’ who can toggle easily between highly-directive (when needed, usually rarely) and leadership-by-influence (more common) styles
• You have equal comfort with implementing structured reporting systems (like disciplined quarterly board meetings) and connecting relationally on a jobsite with entry-level, hourly employees
• You have a high capacity for rapid context switching between the varied issues across multiple portfolio companies several times a day
• You're wicked smart and proactive
• You’re kind, firm, and grounded
• You have a good sense of humor … you take your work seriously, but not yourself
• You prize excellence, and hold a high bar for the quality of your work and the work of others around you
• You’re comfortable with some ambiguity and stepping into messy situations, with a bias toward action, process improvement, and systematizing
• You have high intensity horsepower, stamina and drive; you enjoy moving mountains, pushing initiatives forward, and driving successful outcomes with a willingness to jump in and do hands-on work
• You love small business
• You want your work to matter
• You share our core values of Adventure, Joy, Trust, Excellence, and Love

What You Must Bring

• An undergraduate degree in Business, Finance, or a related field; an MBA or other relevant graduate degree is a plus
• 10+ years of post-undergrad work experience, with a broad base of business and leadership experience, including hands-on operating experience as a business owner or leader in a SMB with P&L responsibility; experience successfully scaling and exiting a SMB is a plus
• Solid financial acumen, knowledge of general finance and budgeting, including profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow management
• Functional expertise in one or more of the following: corporate finance, sales management, digital marketing, safety, insurance and risk management, human resources, M&A, succession planning, incentive compensation, blue collar hiring programs, EOS implementation, etc.
• Facility with strategic planning, metrics and management rhythms
• Domain expertise in service businesses, manufacturing, specialty contracting, materials distribution, private equity, or early-stage investing is a plus
• Emotional intelligence to support leaders and organizations through strategic milestones and day-to-day battles
• Comfort with being on-site with blue-collar portfolio companies, sometimes out-of-state, and often quite intensively (every week to every-other-week) the first few months post-acquisition
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels
• Unquestionable integrity and ethics

The Details

Location: On-site in the Saturn Five office in Northwest Denver with travel at least twice a month to visit portfolio companies

• Base salary commensurate with experience
• Performance-based bonus
• Betterment 401(k) with an up-to 4% match
• Health and dental insurance
• Self-directed PTO
• Monthly coaching/counseling stipend
• Monthly date night allowance for you and your spouse

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Prior to this job post, were you familiar with Saturn Five? If you have connected with us in the past, whether that be through following us online, grabbing coffee with a team member, or perhaps having collaborated with us in some capacity, we'd love to know!

This position will require working on-site with our team in Denver, CO and will also require somewhat frequent travel (twice a month or more) to visit portfolio companies. Where are you currently located? Feel free to add comments regarding the travel component. *

We look forward to learning more about you. What interests you most about this opportunity? *

Our portfolio companies are most often 30-130 person organizations with $6M-$40M in revenue, therefore we are looking for hands-on operating experience as a business owner or leader in a SMB with P&L responsibility. Which experience(s) from your past most closely aligns to this? *

Have you led a company through growth, scale and exit? If so, please briefly tell us about it (we'll be interested to discuss this in greater detail if/when we have the chance to meet). Note: this is not a requirement, but is helpful to know. *

This role requires solid financial acumen, knowledge of general finance and budgeting, including profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow management. Briefly tell us how your experience supports this requirement. Please share candidly if there is any aspect of financials in a SMB that is less familiar to you. *

We are looking for functional expertise in one or more of the following: corporate finance, sales management, digital marketing, safety, insurance and risk management, human resources, M&A, succession planning, incentive compensation, blue collar hiring programs, EOS implementation, or other functional disciplines that would add value to a SMB.If you were to highlight no more than 2-3 areas where you feel you have particular strength (from this list or otherwise), which would they be? *

Have you been a part of implementing strategic planning, metrics and management rhythms in an organization? Please briefly tell us if you have been a part of implementing a framework (such as EOS) to support planning an]]> <

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