Senior Associate

About Gray Capital Investors

Read on to find out what you will need to succeed in this position, including skills, qualifications, and experience.

Gray Capital Investors is a privately held investment and advisory platform focused on strategic technology, infrastructure and real estate investments and advisory services. We operate within a dynamic ecosystem of businesses shaping the future of the built world, working closely alongside our affiliate entities: Graycor , a leading construction business, and BuiltWorlds , a premier industry networking platform. Gray Capital Investors also supports the reporting, governance, and investment needs of the Gray family's broader enterprise holdings.

The Role

Gray Capital Investors is seeking a Senior Associate to provide reporting, analytical, and operational support across the platform — with a particular initial focus on BuiltWorlds operations and enterprise holdings reporting and governance — alongside supporting analytical work for the Real Estate Investment & Advisory team. 

The successful candidate will operate in an inside-oriented, execution-focused capacity — highly analytical, comfortable working both in independent and team environments, and energized by building processes and reporting infrastructure from the ground up, rather than pursuing an externally facing, deal-origination role. Because this individual will regularly prepare materials for firm leadership and the family and coordinate across multiple business units, strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.

This role reports to the Vice President, Corporate Investments, who oversees Emerging Technology & Strategic Venture, Corporate Development, and Family Enterprise Holdings Governance.

Key Responsibilities

This role will work across the firm's four business units — Real Estate Investment & Advisory, Emerging Technology & Strategic Venture, Corporate Development, and Family Holdings Governance — as detailed below.

Real Estate Investment & Advisory

• Portfolio & Asset Management Support: Support tracking of key investment decisions, sponsor relationships, and investment activity across the current real estate portfolio.
• Advisory Engagement Support: Assist with financial analysis and project work for active advisory clients as the platform expands.
• Cross-Functional Flexibility: Build working knowledge of Real Estate Investment & Advisory to support the team during periods of high volume and contribute to a broader career path within the firm.

Emerging Technology, Strategic Ventures, and Corporate Development

• BuiltWorlds Financial & KPI Reporting: Prepare regular financials, KPI updates, and performance reporting for BuiltWorlds leadership.
• BuiltWorlds Operational Cadence: Maintain and drive updates through Asana and other operating tools to keep BuiltWorlds workstreams on track.
• BuiltWorlds Process Build-Out: Do the early-stage, hands-on work of setting up processes, documenting procedures and finding alignment across BuiltWorlds stakeholders where infrastructure doesn't yet exist.
• BuiltWorlds Website & Technology Maintenance: Support ongoing updates and maintenance of BuiltWorlds' website and technology platforms.
• Emerging Technology & Strategic Ventures Portfolio Support and Corporate Development: As Gray Capital Investors makes new investments within Emerging Technology & Strategic Ventures, extend similar financial, operational, and reporting support to those portfolio companies and strategic projects.

Corporate Development

• Project Tracking: Support efforts (leveraging tools such as Procore) to maintain visibility into active and in-progress Graycor projects — status, ownership, and timing.
• M&A & Strategic Project Support: Provide analytical and diligence support for M&A opportunities and strategic projects, including supporting market research projects, as they arise.
• Cross-Team Coordination: Work with the broader Gray Capital Investors team to keep reporting on project status current and accessible, including preparing materials for the monthly oversight committee.

Family Enterprise Holdings Governance

• Financial & Administrative Support: Provide day-to-day operational, financial, and administrative support to the family's enterprise holding structure.
• Holdings Visibility: In conjunction with the Vice President, build and maintain a comprehensive view of the family's investment holdings across all entities and asset classes to support family access and decision-making.
• Cash Management: Support cash management processes across the family's enterprise holdings.
• Reporting: Prepare periodic (quarterly, and eventually monthly) reporting packages and shareholder reporting materials for the family.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field.
• 5–8 years of experience blending finance/accounting with operations — for example, strategic finance, FP&A, portfolio operations, or a private equity portfolio-company operations team (level commensurate with experience).
• Demonstrated ability to identify operational issues, propose practical fixes, and see them through to execution.
• Technical Skills: Strong financial modeling, reporting, and Excel skills. Proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint and Word for preparing reporting packages, board materials, and presentations. Familiarity with leveraging modern AI tools (like Claude or ChatGPT) to accelerate analysis, drafting, and reporting workflows.
• Strong Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication is essential — this role prepares reporting and materials for firm leadership and the family, and coordinates regularly across multiple business units.
• Adaptability & Responsibility: Comfortable working independently in a lean, inside-oriented capacity, with a focus on reporting and analytics.
• Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy and attention to detail, particularly in financial reporting and family-facing materials.
• Discretion & Integrity: Given regular exposure to sensitive financial, family, and business information, sound judgment, confidentiality, and integrity are essential.

Preferred

• CPA or CFA or similar achievement or track.
• Prior experience in a strategic finance team or on a private equity portfolio company's operations team – someone that wants to drive operational excellence and value creation within portfolio companies.
• Experience with Asana, PowerBI, Salesforce, Claude, OpenAI, Accounting Systems, HTML/Wordpress, and other software systems and reporting tools.
• Experience preparing reporting or materials for a family office, board, or investor audience.
• A desire to help build a growing infrastructure that supports long-term career success, with greater ownership and broader scope within a smaller, entrepreneurial team, relative to a larger-firm environment.

Compensation & Benefits

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $125,000 to $150,000 per year. Actual base salary will be determined based on the candidate's relevant experience, qualifications, analytical & strategic capabilities, and other job-related factors.

This position is eligible for an annual performance-based bonus as a percentage of base salary, based on individual performance and overall company performance. This position will be eligible for additional incentives, such as long-term and profit-sharing, upon satisfactory performance and tenure.

Gray Capital Investors offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) and employer contribution match, paid vacation/PTO and sick leave, and paid holidays.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Gray Capital is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. xhyhwjd All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability, age, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the State of Illinois or the City of Chicago.