Common Trust - Transaction Advisory Associate

About Us

Common Trust exists to help business owners sell to their employees, creating shared prosperity that strengthens companies, communities, and the broader economy. We are the first of our kind in the category of alternative exit planning, allowing business owners who will seek a sale within the next decade to get a competitive price while rewarding loyal employees, maintaining company culture, and avoiding the hassles and risks that often come with more traditional sales processes.  Companies that are employee-owned benefit from increased loyalty, pride, and performance, and an owner can rest assured knowing they have done well by doing good and solidified a future that secures the legacy of their business.

With a 93% client satisfaction rating, Common Trust has supported over 60,000 workers in becoming employee-owners to date through Employee Ownership Trusts, and for us, this is just the beginning.  We’re building the infrastructure for the next generation of business ownership. 

Learn more about us:  Common-Trust.com

Position Summary

In response to growing demand, our delivery team is now hiring an additional Transaction Advisory Associate to guide small and mid-sized business owners through the process of executing a sale to their employees. With 75% of all business owners in the U.S. looking to sell over the next decade, we believe that making employee ownership the exit of choice for small businesses is one of the most powerful ways to close the wealth gap in America, and in this role, you'll be at the center of making it happen.

Reporting to our Chief Customer Officer, the Transaction Advisory Associate is a client-facing role, responsible for ensuring our client understands and is aligned with the financial, tax, and estate impacts of the sale for the seller, as well as the long-term impact of the sale on the company, its governance, and its employees.  In this role, you will be responsible for sharing data and providing guidance during regular client meetings, and for building strong and sustained relationships with our clients and their teams, all with the goal of providing a smooth and successful transition of ownership. 

We have a distributed workforce and this position can be done remotely from anywhere in the United States.  We have team members in Eastern and Pacific time zones, and our clients could be located anywhere in the U.S., so the ability to work across time zones will be important.  We also get together in person several times throughout the year for quarterly team meetings and occasional special events, such as industry conferences.

While we are seeking a highly motivated, intellectually curious individual who has strong foundational knowledge in business, legal, and financial matters, we are pleased to provide structured on-boarding and training to build fluency in employee ownership structures and Common Trust’s advisory approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Guide business owners through the process to sell their business to their employees, including analyzing the opportunities and risks associated with the sale, evaluating the sale proceeds, estate impact, tax outcomes, decision-making and governance, long-term company stability, and employee benefits
• Translate complex information regarding financial, legal, estate, and tax matters in terms that clients can understand so they can make values-aligned decisions
• Collaborate with and project manage trust, estate, and corporate attorneys to ensure clients receive the best legal advice and their goals are integrated into the legal documentation for the transaction
• Collaborate with clients’ accounting and tax professionals to ensure clients receive thorough and actionable guidance with respect to the employee ownership sale and post-sale tax outcomes
• Facilitate employee engagement meetings to help employees understand the impact of the employee ownership sale
• Prepare clear, decision-oriented client deliverables that synthesize goals, risks, tradeoffs, recommendations, and key transaction and governance terms
• Develop long-term, high-trust relationships with clients
• Support the delivery team in integrating efficiencies and automation in the data collection, financial due diligence, valuation, and transaction structuring processes
• Support our continuous learning culture by ensuring that learnings about our clients are captured and shared across the organization to contribute to long term company strategy

Education and Experience

• Education in business, finance, entrepreneurship, public policy, sustainability, or a related program is a plus, however we place equal value on relevant work experience that demonstrates the skills and character traits needed to be successful in this role
• 3+ years of experience in a client-facing advisory role navigating complex business, legal, and/or financial decisions; such as in any of the following: wealth management, financial services, management consulting, paralegal with a particular focus on paralegal work in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions for small and mid-sized businesses, trust and estate law
• First-hand experience (either personal or professional) that provides a knowledgeable and compassionate understanding of the decisions a business owner will face when they are ready to transition out of owning their company is a plus
• Experience building scalable systems and processes in an early-stage, entrepreneurial environment is a plus

Skills and Character Traits

• Comfort with complex legal and tax information and distilling the implications of such information for a range of audiences
• Ability to review and understand company financial statements, valuation reports, business plans, and cash flow models
• Ability to build authentic and trusted relationships with small business owners, senior leaders, and workers of various backgrounds across the U.S.
• Excellent organizational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders, timelines, and workstreams simultaneously
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including comfort with complex legal, corporate governance, and financial topics
• Adaptability and willingness to work on a small team and take on the range of tasks necessary to deliver a high-quality product to clients, solve hard problems, and take initiative in improving processes
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, remote environment
• Proactive communication style, including the ability to manage up and keep internal and external stakeholders aligned on progress, risks, and next steps
• Interest in learning how to integrate new technologies into our workflows, including AI
• Passion for our mission to build a more prosperous and competitive economy through shared ownership

Why Join Our Mission

Our clients are inspiring and successful small business owners. Our clients are industry agnostic, located anywhere in the US, and range from $300,000 to $5M+ in EBITDA. Most business owners launched their company 20+ years ago, have a strong track record of profitability, and want to reward their long-term employees who helped build the successful business.

You will join a small, elite team with opportunity to make a real impact. Common Trust has approximately 10-15 employees, and the delivery team currently includes four incredibly talented, dynamic individuals who are shaping the way we do business. Two members of the delivery team have been with the company since its founding, and every member of the team has driven key innovations that are helping us scale our work while maintaining exceptional customer satisfaction. We are seeking another dynamo who wants to help us learn and improve the way we work, with plenty of opportunity for innovation and sharing ideas!

The work is hard and interesting. The Employee Ownership Trust structure was first utilized for business ownership in 2019, and is growing in popularity. Common Trust has been a key player in pioneering the structure and uncovering efficiencies with respect to transaction structure, tax, and estate impacts. And, the work to clarify and improve these outcomes is not done!

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape the future of business ownership in the U.S.
• A values-driven culture that prioritizes integrity, inclusion, and long-term thinking
• Compensation: $90,000 - $120,000 base salary, commensurate with experience; eligibility for a performance bonus, and an equity incentive plan (restricted stock units)
• Benefits:

• Remote and flexible work schedule and environment
• Monthly coworking stipend + one-time home office stipend
• Health insurance: 99% medical and 50% vision/dental covered by employer
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Paid time off
• Paid parental leave plan

Equal Opportunity Employer

Common Trust provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, military status, height and weight, genetic predisposition or carrier status, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.  We strongly encourage people of color, people with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ candidates to apply.