The Role
Sowena Group are exclusively partnered with a boutique advisory business in Manchester in their search for an Origination Manager.
This is an origination-focused opportunity for someone who enjoys building relationships, opening doors and creating new business opportunities. The primary objective of the role will be to identify and develop new opportunities across the UK lower and mid-market, predominantly working with privately owned and private equity-backed businesses with turnover below £100m.
You will play a key role in expanding the firm’s network, building relationships with business owners, management teams, investors, accountants, corporate finance advisers and other relevant intermediaries. The focus will be on identifying businesses and situations where there may be a financing requirement, creating high-quality introductions and getting the senior team in front of the right people.
This is a standalone role, making it particularly attractive to someone who currently works within a larger origination or business development team and is looking for the opportunity to take genuine ownership of the function and make a visible impact.
While origination will remain the clear priority, there will also be the opportunity to get involved in live transactions and support execution alongside the senior team. This could be particularly appealing to someone with experience across both origination and transaction execution who wants to retain exposure to deals while making origination their primary focus.
Responsibilities
- Proactively originate new opportunities across the UK lower and mid-market.
- Identify businesses, investors and situations where there may be a financing or advisory requirement.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with business owners, management teams, investors and key intermediaries.
- Develop relationships with accountants, corporate finance advisers and other professional advisers who can generate referral opportunities.
- Undertake targeted outbound activity to identify and engage prospective clients and referral partners.
- Generate high-quality introductions and meetings for the senior team.
- Develop and manage a structured origination pipeline, taking ownership of opportunities from initial identification through to qualification.
- Qualify prospective opportunities at an early stage and assess the potential for a genuine mandate.
- Maintain accurate records of activity, relationships, opportunities and pipeline development.
- Work closely with the senior team to develop and execute the firm’s wider origination strategy.
- Remain involved in opportunities once live where appropriate, supporting transaction execution alongside the wider team.
- Contribute to the continued development of the firm’s market presence and network.
Requirements
- Previous experience within corporate finance, debt advisory, investment banking, banking or a similar professional services or financial environment.
- Genuine experience of business origination, relationship development or generating new opportunities.
- A strong understanding of the lower and mid-market business landscape.
- Confident approaching and building relationships with senior stakeholders.
- Commercially minded with the ability to identify potential opportunities and assess their relevance.
- Comfortable with proactive outbound activity and developing relationships from an initial introduction.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
- Highly self-motivated and able to work independently.
- Organised and comfortable managing a structured pipeline of opportunities.
- Transaction execution experience would be advantageous but is not essential.
Personal Attributes
- Naturally confident and personable.
- Persistent and resilient, with the ability to build relationships over time.
- Commercially curious and genuinely interested in businesses and their growth journeys.
- Comfortable creating opportunities rather than waiting for them to come in.
- Entrepreneurial and proactive in approach.
- Able to build credibility with business owners, advisers and senior professionals.
- Motivated by measurable results and the opportunity to make a tangible impact.
The Opportunity
This is an opportunity to join a growing boutique advisory business in a role where origination is genuinely at the centre of the position.
With significant autonomy, direct exposure to senior decision-makers and the opportunity to build and develop your own network, this role would suit someone who wants to take ownership of origination rather than operate as part of a large, established business development team.
There will also be scope to gain exposure to live transactions for the right individual, providing the opportunity to combine strong origination experience with wider transaction exposure over time.
Salary is £45,000 – £50,000 depending on experience, with an additional incentive structure linked to successful origination.