This is an exciting opportunity for someone highly motivated to work in a dynamic team and to contribute to our Investment Banking EMEA M&A franchise.

The EMEA Shareholder Engagement and M&A Capital Markets (“SEAMAC”) team is a critical component of the firm’s globally integrated investment banking model and M&A practice.

The J.P. Morgan EMEA SEAMAC team advises clients on all aspects of activism defense – from preparedness through live activism campaigns – as well as capital markets.

The J.P. Morgan EMEA SEAMAC team is now expanding its market-leading activist defence franchise in EMEA. This role represents a unique opportunity to be involved in further building a unique franchise with significant senior sponsorship under J.P. Morgan’s world-class banner as part of our EMEA M&A team.

As an associate in the EMEA SEAMAC team, the successful candidate will play a central role in advising clients with respect to activist defence preparedness and live activist campaign defence for corporates across industry and country in EMEA.

You will work with expert professionals at the heart of a leading global investment bank and will get exposure to formal training, hands-on learning opportunities, continuous mentoring and feedback, and numerous development opportunities. You will develop strong skills in the major areas of investment banking and will be given the opportunity to develop into a senior officer who is capable of generating and executing his/her own activist defence mandates.

Job responsibilities

• Develop proprietary knowledge and insights into activist defence and the transactions resulting from shareholder activism
• Understand in detail specific activists and their campaigns globally
• Lead the process in preparing to pitch activist defence, spearhead activist defence preparation mandates, including white paper and rebuttal analysis, and drive the defence streams in live campaigns, including analysis of activist demands, crafting responses to activist demands, formulating campaign strategies, and crafting campaign narratives
• Possess and acquire superior market knowledge relating to developments in EMEA and globally of activist campaigns, shareholder engagement, governance best practices, proxy advisory firm trends, and be able to clearly articulate this knowledge to internal and external parties
• Work independently, producing high quality, differentiated, deliverables such as attack and rebuttal materials for activist defence preparedness, investor presentations, fight letters, Board materials and other materials for use in strategic client dialogue or shareholder activism defence engagements (including activism with respect to M&A campaigns), while also helping advance the development of new and insightful tools to further drive strategic client dialogue
• Leverage the Bank's resources on behalf of the client, including industry, company and country knowledge from partners in industry and country coverage groups and expertise from product partners in debt and equity capital markets and corporate finance advisory – collating various inputs and analysis and presenting findings and messaging to relevant deal teams and client management team

Required qualifications, capabilities and skills

• Relevant experience in activist defence, activism/shareholder engagement related roles more broadly (e.g., at activist funds), M&A or Equity Capital Markets
• Deep knowledge of corporate finance and accounting with outstanding financial analysis skills
• Solid understanding of equity markets and trading dynamics and key institutional shareholders and hedge funds in EMEA and trading dynamics
• Highly organized, detail oriented and proactive, with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, handling multiple projects with different deal teams and tight deadlines
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with specific ability to communicate concepts and ideas concisely and defend their validity
• In-depth understanding of investment banking products
• Solid project management skills and ability to work collaboratively across industry and countries teams
• Experience in training analysts with varied professional backgrounds

Preferred qualifications, capabilities and skills

• Prior experience in leading activist defence preparation and live campaign mandates on activist defence teams at an investment bank
• Solid understanding of broader IB products
• CFA charter holder preferred, though not mandatory