Strategy Associate

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions (SMR) is global market leader for enhanced, productivity-enhancing products and solutions for the mining and construction industries. The Parts and Services Division (P&S) supports customers from the installed base as well as other, broader industries with component parts and advanced solutions. This division has set up a strategy office with a focus on major strategic projects, M&A and a portfolio of fast growing companies (Venture Business). The Strategy Associate will join this strategy office to contribute to the strategic agenda, work on global projects, and be heavily involved in M&A.

Sandvik mining and rock solutions

For more than 150 years, the Swedish company Sandvik has been committed to developing the most advanced engineering solutions. Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions (SMR), part of the Sandvik Group, is global market leader for enhanced, productivity-enhancing products and solutions for the mining and construction industries. It has a local presence in 160 countries, over EUR 4 billion annual revenue, and more than 14.000 employees. Innovation is one of SMR’s key values – a core focus is placed on digital transformations and adopting new technologies.

Parts and services division
The Parts and Services Division (P&S) supports customers from the installed base as well as other, broader industries with component parts and advanced solutions. P&S is the largest division within SMR with over EUR 1.0 billion annual revenue and more than 6.000 employees. This division has set up a strategy office with a focus on major strategic projects, M&A and a portfolio of fast-growing companies (Venture Business).

Strategy & venture business teams
The Strategy & Venture Business Team of the Parts and Services Division is responsible for defining and executing the division strategy for both organic and inorganic growth. The Strategy component within the team currently consists of 2 people: Vice President Strategy & Business Ventures, and his direct report, the Strategy Manager. They both contribute extensively to the strategic agenda and are responsible for a number of global strategic projects – such as the creation of a B2B E-commerce platform.

The Strategy & Venture Business Team also has a strong focus on ventures and M&A. A portfolio of three ventures has recently been put together, with a total revenue of €60 million, and a mandate to explore growth opportunities within a broad scope in terms of products and industries – including, among others, the software industry. Most of the ~35 employees in the Strategy & Venture Business Team are directly involved with one of these ventures.

Whether the focus is on organic or inorganic growth, the Strategy & Venture Business Team has a clear mandate to explore new options for Sandvik to further strengthen its core business – while also branching out into related fields. The company places high value on investing in success, ensuring a range of options for both interesting M&A and Strategy projects to be pursued.

Vacancy: Strategy Associate

From the start, the Strategy Associate will be closely involved in several high-profile strategy projects; sometimes as part of a multidisciplinary team, sometimes in close cooperation with the Vice President Strategy & Business Ventures or the Strategy Manager; and sometimes standalone. These projects may happen in various locations, allowing for global travel and exposure to different business lines and senior leadership. Part of this work will be conducting research and analyzing industry and company trends related to business development. To be successful in these responsibilities, the Strategy Associate should be able to work independently and run projects on a standalone basis, while they should also be comfortable working as part of several, often changing teams.

The Strategy Associate will also be heavily involved in the team’s M&A activities. This includes both pre-acquisition work, transaction execution and post-acquisition work (business strategy implementation and integration). This aspect of the role provides unique exposure to a number of interesting businesses, as well as to the entire M&A process and external parties involved in an acquisition. Examples of responsibilities may include the development of strategic and financial analyses related to M&A; generating strategy and M&A related materials and presenting them to internal stakeholders; the screening and evaluation of companies to identify potential acquisition targets; the creation of financial and operating models; and the coordination of due diligence activities.

Lastly, within this role there is a focus on making the Business Ventures successful, by supporting these Ventures from a strategic perspective. A large part of the Strategy & Business Ventures Team consists of business leaders from these ventures. The Strategy Associate will cooperate with them to build their strategy and facilitate growth.

The candidate
The ideal candidate may be a strategy or management consultant with 4 years’ experience, who is excited to be in the driver’s seat, rather than the advisor’s seat – and who is curious about the world of ventures and M&A. Alternatively, they may be a high-performer within private equity or investment banking, looking for a growth path with a higher focus on business strategy. With the versatile and unique combination of organic strategy projects and M&A trajectories, this role promises to be highly dynamic and to provide a steep learning curve.

Interested?

Sandvik works with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, contact Imke Peters at imke.peters@topofminds.com.