About the role

BizScout is a dynamic marketplace revolutionizing how businesses connect, grow, and transition ownership. Our Private Client program is a concierge service for serious, qualified buyers: we source businesses to buy, screen and underwrite opportunities, and guide buyers from intake through close.

We are hiring an Associate Advisor, Private Client to add execution capacity to the senior advisory team as the program scales. You will work day to day alongside our senior advisors, owning analytical and operational work that keeps buyer search moving: working with our BD team to match deal flow to each buyer, first-pass underwriting, buyer profiles, and pipeline reporting. You will eventually work directly with clients, serving as a day-to-day point of contact for buyers. This is a hands-on role with a clear path to managing your own client portfolio and, over time, leading transactions through close.
Responsibilities

Client relationship management - Serve as a day-to-day point of contact for assigned buyers: answer questions, gather feedback on presented deals, and keep buyers engaged and moving through their search.
BD partnership on deal flow - Turn buyer criteria into sourcing direction for BD, review sourced opportunities for buyer fit, and relay feedback to BD to sharpen targeting.
First-pass underwriting - Review CIMs, P&Ls, tax returns, and broker packages; normalize financials (SDE/EBITDA add-backs), run valuation and SBA debt-service checks, and write concise deal summaries for buyers and senior advisors.
Buyer profiles and intake - Assist in building professional buyer profiles that BD can use with sellers and brokers.
Pipeline and CRM management - Keep every buyer's pipeline current in the CRM, track deal stages and next steps, and flag closed-lost opportunities to BD for re-engagement.
Client strategy calls - Participate in and increasingly lead bi-weekly client calls.
Acquisition support - Support buyers and senior advisors through LOI, diligence, and financing to close, taking on increasing ownership of deal execution: build diligence request lists, track lender and third-party deliverables, and manage closing timelines.

Skills and qualifications

2-4 years of relevant experience - investment banking, private equity, search fund, M&A advisory, business brokerage, transaction services or valuation, or SBA/commercial lending.
Financial fluency - able to read small-business financials, calculate SDE/EBITDA with add-backs, apply valuation multiples, and test debt service on SBA-financed deals. Strong Excel modeling.
Deal execution exposure - hands-on exposure to business acquisitions, sales, or acquisition financing through LOI, diligence, or close (e.g., as an analyst, underwriter, or broker associate).
Organization and follow-through - able to track multiple buyers, deals, and deadlines at once without dropping details; proficient with CRM systems and Google Workspace.
Clear writing and client presence - writes crisp deal summaries and emails; professional and credible with buyers, sellers, and brokers.
Discretion - handles confidential client and financial information with sound judgment.
Coachability and ownership - takes feedback well, asks good questions, and owns outcomes in a fast-changing environment; collaborates well across teams, especially BD.

Strongly preferred: having led or co-led a business acquisition or sale through close.

Nice to have: SBA 7(a) lending knowledge, exposure to lower-middle-market or Main Street deals, experience with deal-sourcing tools or data platforms.
Position details

Type: Full-time
Reports to: Charlie Jacobson, Head of Private Client
Works with: Private Client advisory team
Compensation: $90,000-$105,000 base, depending on experience, plus performance bonus eligibility
Location: Austin, Texas, 5 days in-office required; travel as needed
Education: Bachelor's degree required; finance, accounting, or economics preferred
Experience: 2-4 years in M&A, private equity, investment banking, business brokerage, valuation, or lending
Growth path: Expected progression to Advisor, managing a dedicated client portfolio and eligible for the advisor commission plan, within roughly 12 months based on performance, with a longer-term path to leading transactions through close as a senior advisor

Contrarian Thinking LLC

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