Principal, Investments Performance Management (Private Equity) in London

Capital Dynamics is an independent global asset management firm focused on private assets, including private equity (primaries, secondaries and direct investments) and clean energy. Established in 1988, the Firm oversees more than USD 15 billion in assets under management and advisement across offices in Europe, North America and Asia. Capital Dynamics is a recognised industry leader in responsible investment, holding top marks (Five Stars) from PRI across all categories and strategies, and strong GRESB benchmarking results for its clean energy strategy.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Capital Dynamics' Product Development & Solutions (PDS) team leads every product launch on the CD platform and owns several critical strategic initiatives. It's a global, tightly-connected group sitting at the intersection of investment, sales, legal, compliance, structuring and responsible investment. The firm is now creating a third pillar within PDS - a dedicated Performance Management function, alongside product origination and product management - to bring systematic, data-driven rigour to how product performance is monitored and governed. This role is the first hire into that function, and you will build it.

You'll own the design and delivery of a comprehensive performance management framework across the entire CD product platform - formalising how each product is tracked against its target return, catching risks and opportunities early, and giving the Performance Management Committee, investment teams and senior leadership the structured insight they need to act. There is no existing infrastructure to inherit and no team to manage: this is a hands-on, individual-contributor role for someone who wants to architect a capability from first principles.

You'll bring deep private markets experience - ideally within private equity funds - and the commercial maturity to act as a credible governance partner to investment teams: someone who can design robust oversight frameworks, interpret fund performance data with authority, and earn the trust of senior investment professionals as the function takes shape.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

• Build the Framework
  • Take ownership of Capital Dynamics' Performance Management Framework end-to-end, the programme that tracks every product against its target return, underpinned by formal performance models and defined annual milestones.
  • Design and build the processes, workflows and analytical tools that underpin the function, as its builder and owner - not as a consumer of infrastructure someone else has already created.
  • Develop and maintain a quarterly health-check analytical engine, automating the capture of NAV, liquidity, milestone-tracking and return-attribution data across every fund.
  • Architect the performance dashboards and committee reporting tools that translate complex model outputs into clear, decision-ready materials for the Performance Management Committee and senior leadership.
• Analyse and Advise
  • Embed annual milestones and quarterly performance guidance across every product, working directly with investment teams to operationalise the framework.
  • Monitor fund performance against target-return models, surfacing deviations early with data-backed analysis and proposed remediation pathways.
  • Track liquidity facility utilisation and NAV exposure across the platform, building automated alerts and risk dashboards for proactive portfolio management.
  • Build fund return forecast models and performance attribution frameworks, decomposing product-level returns against target profiles by vintage and strategy.
  • Prepare structured, auditable materials for the Performance Management Committee, with every analytical output traceable to clearly documented methodology.
• Partner and Translate
  • Act as the firm's internal analytical authority on fund performance data - translating quantitative output into commercially relevant narrative for investment teams, senior leadership and the Committee.
  • Partner with Finance, IR and Product Development on performance data requirements for LP reporting, DDQ responses and fundraising materials.
  • Leverage internal data systems and emerging AI tools to improve the quality and efficiency of performance monitoring, keeping a forward-looking view on how technology will reshape the function.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Experience:
  • 8-10 years in a quantitative analytics, data science or portfolio performance management role within private equity, private markets, or an adjacent financial services environment.
  • A demonstrable track record of designing and building performance measurement or analytics infrastructure in a private markets or investment management context.
  • Prior exposure to PE fund structures, GP/LP dynamics and, fund-level financial data - capital calls, distributions, NAV statements, cash-flow histories.
  • Experience within a PE fund manager, fund-of-funds, secondaries manager, infrastructure fund or institutional investor with a meaningful private markets allocation.
• Skills & Attributes:
  • Strong financial modelling capability, with proven ability to build and interrogate fund return forecast models and performance attribution frameworks.
  • Ability to translate complex performance data into clear, structured narrative for committee and senior leadership audiences.
  • Strong working knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and/or Machine Learning (ML) techniques applicable to performance monitoring, anomaly detection, or predictive analytics in a private markets context.
  • Experience with data visualisation, including the use of AI tools to support performance management.
  • Advanced proficiency in Python and/or R and/or Matlab for data analysis, modelling and automation.
• Education & Qualifications:
  • Degree in a quantitative discipline - Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Finance or Economics (2:1 or above, or international equivalent).
  • CFA Charterholder, or meaningful progress toward the CFA designation.
  • CAIA or an equivalent private markets qualification.
• Language:
  • Fluent in English with superior writing skills.
  • Proficiency in another European language - German, French or Italian preferred - is desirable but not essential.

Our Equal Opportunity Commitment:

Capital Dynamics is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to creating a global diverse workforce. We are a global company with 24 nationalities represented across our staff in 14 offices, spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. We believe diversity and inclusion ("D&I") is key to being better at what we do, and our initiatives are designed to attract, develop, and advance talented individuals, regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion, age, gender, disability status or any other dimension of diversity. We welcome and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply to join Capital Dynamics.

Please inform our recruitment team if you have a disability, condition or difference that may require us to make any adjustments as part of your application process or during employment.

Disclaimer: Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are only able to contact candidates who have been shortlisted for further consideration. If you have not heard from us within two weeks of submitting your application, please assume that your application has not been successful on this occasion. We appreciate the time you have taken to apply and encourage you to monitor our careers page for future opportunities.