Commercial Lead
HV Capital is a European venture capital firm that provides capital and support to bold founders across multiple stages and industries. With 26 years of experience, they have backed companies across AI & Enterprise Software, Deep Tech, Resilience & Defence, FinTech, and Consumer sectors.
About HV Capital
HV Capital is a venture capital firm with 26 years of experience investing in European innovation across multiple industries and business cycles. The firm backs founders from early stage through growth, spanning multiple fund generations, with a portfolio that includes companies in AI & Enterprise Software, Deep Tech, Resilience & Defence, FinTech, and Consumer sectors. Notable portfolio companies include NEURA Robotics, Zalando, n8n, Isar Aerospace, Quantum Systems, ARX, and Scalable Capital, with several portfolio companies having reached IPO. HV Capital has approximately €2.89 billion in assets under management and works with founders across multiple disciplines and team perspectives.
Skills
About the Role
You will own the strategy and lead the negotiation table for the vendor relationships with the greatest commercial impact across Upvest. You'll prepare and drive these negotiations end-to-end, working closely with the teams who own each relationship day to day, and make sure the commercial and contractual setup is built to hold up as Upvest grows. Reporting to the Head of Network, you'll partner closely with Finance, the Procurement Manager, the Data Governance Manager, and Engineering and Product, as well as Legal. This is a rare opportunity to build the commercial negotiation playbook for one of Europe's fastest-growing fintechs from the ground up.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience leading and closing significant commercial negotiations, with a demonstrable track record of favourable outcomes
- Ability to run a negotiation from opening position to signature, hold your ground with vendor counterparts, and know when to push and when to compromise
- Experience negotiating with providers relevant to Upvest's business, ideally spanning financial data partners, cloud and infrastructure providers, and software or professional services vendors
- Structured, strategic thinking
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Fluency in English, German is a strong plus
- A CIPS or equivalent negotiation/procurement qualification is a plus, but not required
Responsibilities
- Take ownership of preparing and leading commercial negotiations for the vendor relationships with the greatest commercial impact
- Build negotiation strategy well ahead of the table by understanding market rates, competitive alternatives, and deal value
- Continuously assess whether existing and prospective contracts will hold up as the company grows, and proactively renegotiate terms
- Collaborate with the Procurement Manager on process and RfPs, the Data Governance Manager on market data specifics, and Engineering and Product on technical vendor relationships
- Build and maintain a reusable playbook for how Upvest approaches vendor negotiations
- Proactively identify vendor relationships with the highest potential for renegotiation or consolidation, and build the business case and plan
- Advise on and help structure commercial terms that protect Upvest's interests as scale changes the economics
- Prepare clear recommendations and materials for leadership sign-off
- Stay closely connected to vendor and market developments including pricing trends, new entrants, and competitive dynamics
Benefits
- €20,000 per year to spend on AI tools
- 30 days of annual leave
- Sports benefits
- Confidential professional coaching
- Flexibility to work remotely abroad for up to 183 days a year
- One-month fully paid sabbatical after every 4 years of working at Upvest
- Personal development budget
- Flexible work environment across hubs in Berlin, London or Tallinn, hybrid or remote
- Competitive salary and participation in employee equity program
- Company-wide events, dinners, offsites and Holiday party
- Employee Resource Groups