Operations Associate

About SMEVentures

SMEVentures is the leading platform for Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA) in Asia Pacific, with a core focus on the ANZ market. We've built a unique investment model that backs elite entrepreneurs to find, acquire, and lead established, profitable SMEs. We address the succession challenge faced by many SMEs by connecting talented entrepreneurs with retiring owners to continue their legacy and drive the next phase of growth.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an Operations Associate who will own the operational execution that keeps the internal team moving. This is the person who keeps things moving, making sure documents are filed correctly, tasks are tracked and followed up on, communications land where they need to, and the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

The work is varied, some days you are coordinating e-signature documents for a fundraise, other days you are building a new workflow or figuring out why a process is not working. What ties it together is that you take operational friction out of the system so the team can focus on other tasks.

What You Will Drive

• Deal Execution Logistics: When a deal is closing, there is a lot of administrative coordination that needs to happen — setting up documents in our e-signature platform, chasing signatures, updating records with ASIC, etc. Detailed, process-heavy work.
• Workflow Automation and AI Integration: Identify slow or repetitive processes and build improvements using AI tools, no-code automations, or better workflows to increase team speed.
• Generalist Problem Solving: Pick up and resolve emerging issues across the business — broken tools, missing processes, time-sensitive problems — with initiative and without waiting for step-by-step direction.
• Cross-Functional Operations: Handle a varied workload across functions delivering reliably with minimal oversight.

What This Role Is Not

• This is not a strategy or analysis role. The day-to-day is operational, not analytical.
• This role is operational at its core. The strength of this role is in excellent, reliable execution and that is something we genuinely value and reward. If you are looking for a path into analysis or investing, this is probably not the right fit.

Our Cultural Foundation

• Act Like an Owner: You take radical accountability for outcomes, have a bias for action, and solve problems proactively.
• Accelerate to Win: You build repeatable playbooks and use technology as a force multiplier to create leverage and amplify impact.
• Commit to the Partnership: You build deep, resilient relationships founded on trust, candor, and unwavering, empathetic support.

Requirements

• Dependable: When you say you will do something, it gets done. You follow through without needing reminders, and if something needs to be chased for the third time, you chase it. This is the quality we value most.
• Detail-Oriented: You notice when a name is misspelled, when a record has the wrong status, or when a file is saved in the wrong place. You take pride in things being correct and organized, especially when it comes to contracts, documents, and data.
• Self-Motivated Problem Solver: You can take a high-level instruction and figure out everything that needs to happen on your own. You break the problem down, get it done, and flag anything that needs a decision.
• Tech-Savvy and AI-Literate: You are comfortable navigating tools like Asana, HubSpot, Google Workspace, and similar platforms. You already use AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude to draft emails, summarize information, and work more efficiently. You pick up new tools quickly and instinctively reach for technology when you see a better way to do something.
• Loves the Nitty-Gritty: You enjoy operational and administrative work. You are energized by bringing order to chaos, tracking things to completion, and being the person the team depends on to keep everything running smoothly. You want this role because this is the kind of work you like doing.
• Intellectually Curious: You are interested in learning about business models, private equity, and search funds. Even though the work is operational, you are genuinely curious about the world you are operating in.

Benefits

• Access and Education: You will be exposed to how investors and entrepreneurs think and operate, gaining a practical education in entrepreneurship through acquisition
• Autonomy: We do not micromanage. We give you a goal and trust you to find the best path to get there.
• Impact: Your work directly contributes to acquiring real businesses. You are not a cog in a machine; you are building the machine.

Ready to join us?

We are looking for someone who is dependable, detail-obsessed, and genuinely loves living in the operational nitty-gritty. If you are passionate about keeping things running, take pride in nothing falling through the cracks, and want to support entrepreneurs by removing the friction from their day-to-day work, apply today.