Director, External Venturing

Fortum Innovation & Venturing (I&V) focuses on the future business opportunities which are beyond Business units’ current activities (i.e., primarily so-called Horizon 3) and included in Fortum’s purpose to power a world where people, businesses and nature thrive together. I&V’s role is primarily to gain strategic insights and to develop future business opportunities for the benefit of Fortum Group, as well as secondarily investment returns. The new leadership team consists of four roles that will be instrumental in driving the development, forming the new way of working and ensuring I&V strategic choices are aligned and support Fortum Group strategy. 

About the role
As Director, External Venturing, you will have the opportunity to impact how Fortum innovates and invests for the future. As a member of the leadership team, you will, in collaboration with various key areas within Fortum, define our innovation thesis and drive the investment process to make sure that Fortum is positioned towards the future growth drivers in our industry. You will be responsible for creating a holistic investment strategy related to external venturing based on our innovation thesis. You will be accountable for new and existing venture investments and running the end-to-end investment process from sourcing deals, to managing and supporting the portfolio, and optimizing integration into Fortum core business or external exits. You will also be responsible for our sizeable current venture fund (Valo Ventures, Energy Impact partners, NECAP) positions and our minority investments. 

Key responsibilities and activities:

• Proactively developing, identifying and evaluating the long-term business development opportunities for I&V to ensure that we have an up-to-date and broad deal flow of external investment opportunities. 
• Leading the entire investment life cycle by leading the end-to-end investment process and overseeing all our external venture investment positions. 
• Managing the portfolio, conducting periodic reviews, and adjusting to optimize portfolio outcomes.
• Managing the current venture funds and minority stake investments, and all activities related including piloting, collaboration, and rotation partners.  
• Conducting thorough due diligence on potential partners or investment opportunities and leading negotiations and structure deals to ensure mutual benefit and alignment with our strategic objectives. 
• Engaging with entrepreneurs and attending other networking events to build an attractive pipeline of potential investments. 
• Facilitating seamless collaboration across Fortum Group and the portfolio companies. 
• Developing and executing value creation plans for portfolio companies. 
• Realizing the value of investments through integration with the core business, or profitable exits. 
• Analyzing data and metrics to track performance and inform decision-making and providing regular updates to senior management. 

In this role you will be reporting to Vice President, Innovation & Venturing. You can be working from any of our offices in Espoo, Stockholm or Oslo.

About you
To succeed and thrive in this role, we see that you have: 

• Extensive experience with proven results from similar corporate functions, venture capital, private equity or a top-tier management consulting firm that operates in a global context. 
• External fundraising experience from a growth business or investment fund is an advantage
• Proven track record of building and leading a portfolio of ventures successfully in alignment with strategic targets. 
• Experience in commercial due diligence and value creation planning 
• Strong decision making, negotiation and influencing skills 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to build the required network among entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and co-workers 
• Strong demonstrated leadership skills 
• Master’s degree from a top tier university with strong results 
• Fluency in English and good knowledge of the local Nordic language

Interested?
If you are interested in this position, please apply as soon as possible but no later than 2024-10-20. For more information about the position, please contact Gustav Eilertsen, VP Innovation & Venturing at gustav.eilertsen@fortum.com. If you have questions about the recruitment process, please contact Fabian Åhlin, Senior Manager Global Talent Acquisition at Fabian.ahlin@fortum.com. 

We are Fortum
Fortum is a Nordic energy company. Our purpose is to power a world where people, businesses and nature thrive together. We are one of the cleanest energy producers in Europe and our actions are guided by our ambitious environmental targets. We generate and deliver clean energy reliably and help industries to decarbonise their processes and grow. Our core operations in the Nordics comprise of efficient, CO2-free power generation as well as reliable supply of electricity and district heat to private and business customers. For our ~5 000 employees, we commit to be a safe, and inspiring workplace. Fortum's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. fortum.com