Venture Development Manager (m/f/d)

About Us

smalt is the AI-first backoffice and growth engine empowering skilled tradespeople to become entrepreneurs - from company setup to invoicing, documentation, and growth tools. Since 2023 we've raised €12M from top global VCs (General Catalyst, Owl Ventures, noa and others) and built strong revenue traction. We only win when our Handwerk partners win.

The Role

As Venture Development Manager (m/f/d), you'll own a book of partners - Meister-led Handwerk businesses in Elektro and SHK - as their trusted operator and coach. And, uniquely in the team, you'll act as an AI product manager and lead the repeatability of our work: auditing how we work, codifying best practices, driving adoption, and identifying what we should build in our platform next - filling the gaps where it can't yet, and turning what you learn into the next automation.

Your Impact

• Own a book of Handwerk partners end-to-end - onboarding, operational delivery, activation, and growth.
• Audit how the team delivers today, codify best practices into playbooks and SOPs, and drive their adoption through evidence and influence.
• Act as a product manager for our delivery: spec the highest-leverage automations with our CTO and measure hours saved per partner.
• Build the measurement foundation - manual touchpoints per partner, activation pace, process adoption and report progress to the founders.

What Makes You a Great Fit

• 3-6 years of experience, trained at a top consulting firm (McKinsey, Bain, BCG or equivalent) or in PE portfolio operations / shared-services transformation.
• An A+ track record: fast progression, top ratings, real transformations delivered.
• You build processes people actually use and prove the adoption and you're hands-on without ego: no task too small.
• Analytically rigorous, with the financial fluency to coach an owner on cash-flow, pricing, and invoicing basics.
• Native-level German (non-negotiable) and fluent English; quick with modern CRM/automation tooling (Attio, Notion, Make, n8n).
• Bonus: Elektro, PV, or SHK exposure; startup/scale-up experience.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape product and operations of an AI-native platform company
• Real ownership and direct proximity to the founders and to General Catalyst, noa, Owl Ventures & Heartfelt_
• Competitive compensation, an attractive VSOP package, 30 vacation days, and Deutschlandticket or Urban Sports Club

Sounds like you?

We'd love to hear from you. smalt is an equal-opportunity employer - we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds.