Portfolio Operations – AI & Operational Excellence

St. Louis, MO

Lewis & Clark Capital is a family office investing in and partnering with lower middle market businesses across a range of industries. We are seeking a highly motivated Value Creation professional to work directly with portfolio company leadership teams to drive operational improvements, process automation, and the practical adoption of software, data, and AI-enabled workflows.

This role sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and technology, with a mandate to identify and execute initiatives that create measurable value across our portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

  • Partner with Lewis & Clark team members and portfolio company executives to identify and prioritize value creation opportunities across operations, data, and technology
  • Translate business problems into practical, implementable solutions using modern tools and technologies
  • Lead and support initiatives spanning workflow optimization, process automation, and data infrastructure, reporting, and analytics
  • Evaluate emerging software and AI-enabled tools and platforms, distinguishing high-impact applications from low-value noise
  • Develop and implement practical solutions, building lightweight and scalable tools that drive adoption within portfolio companies
  • Serve as a thought partner to management teams on operational strategy and technology adoption
  • Manage multiple projects across companies, balancing strategy development with hands-on execution
  • Track and communicate the impact of initiatives to internal stakeholders
  • Document and share learnings across portfolio companies to build repeatable playbooks

Qualifications

  • 3–7 years of experience in management consulting, technology implementation, or private equity value creation and portfolio company operations
  • Hands-on experience with modern data tools, automation platforms, and AI/LLM workflows with a track record of building and deploying solutions, not just evaluating them
  • Experience working in code (Python, SQL, or similar) at a scripting level and ability to build and configure solutions independently, including API integrations, automation workflows, and no-code / low-code platforms. This is not a software engineering role and deep coding expertise is not required.
  • Experience in private equity-backed or multi-company environments strongly preferred

Core Competencies

  • Strong business acumen with the ability to quickly understand complex business models, products, and operational challenges
  • Strong listening skills and the ability to diagnose problems and synthesize inputs quickly
  • Execution-oriented mindset with comfort moving from idea to implementation 
  • Systems thinking and the ability to understand how processes, data flows, and tools connect across a business
  • Deep curiosity about technology and AI, with practical judgment to distinguish high-impact opportunities from hype
  • Technical self-sufficiency, with the ability to scope, build, and troubleshoot solutions independently across a range of tools and platforms
  • Proven project management skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives across different companies simultaneously
  • Executive presence and confidence working with senior leadership teams 
  • Adaptability and comfort working in ambiguous, fast-moving environments 

What Success Looks Like

  • Identifying and executing on high-impact, practical opportunities across portfolio companies 
  • Driving measurable improvements in efficiency, cost, and growth
  • Building and deploying solutions that are adopted and sustained over time
  • Helping portfolio companies adopt modern tools without over-engineering solutions
  • Developing a repeatable playbook for how L&CC approaches AI and technology implementation across the portfolio
  • Becoming a trusted partner to management teams and internal stakeholders 

Why This Role

This is a unique opportunity early in your career, working across multiple businesses, building real solutions, and shaping how AI and automation are applied in practical, value-accretive ways.