Founded in 1992, Cerberus is a global leader in alternative investing with approximately $67 billion in assets across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate strategies. We invest across the capital structure where our integrated investment platforms and proprietary operating capabilities create an edge to improve performance and drive long-term value. Our tenured teams have experience working collaboratively across asset classes, sectors, and geographies to seek strong risk-adjusted returns for our investors. For more information about our people and platforms, visit us at www.cerberus.com.
What is Cerberus Ventures?
“Great-power competition” has changed – Visionary commercial technology is the new battleground, and nations are increasingly directing resources toward longer-term, existential challenges, from energy and food security to public health, labor productivity, and national security. Governments can’t solve the problems alone; private capital will be needed to invest in disruptive technologies that are poised to accelerate solutions. Cerberus Ventures is a dedicated investment platform that backs pioneering advancements in critical technologies addressing these challenges. We invest from Seed to Series B across six verticals: Processing & Microelectronics, Energy Infrastructure, Networks & Communications, AI- Enabled Productivity, Synthetic & Programmable Biology, and Physical & Digital Assurance. Our team is led by a unique group of experienced investors from In-Q-Tel, Cerberus, and global technology firms.
As a Venture Fellow, you will help identify and research opportunities across one of these verticals (or specific subsegments of these verticals). This role is ideal for those interested in career opportunities in venture capital, startups, R&D, or strategy consulting.
Responsibilities:
- Technical due diligence: Assist Cerberus investment professionals in company / industry research and due diligence
- Evaluate the technical merits and competitive differentiation of investment opportunities
- Comprehend and qualify the source of technical differentiation (review patents, understand proprietary processes, etc.)
- Assess technical risks and opportunities of product roadmaps
- Distill findings into comprehensive reports
- Sourcing: Identify new investment opportunities. Leverage personal and Cerberus networks to meet with entrepreneurs and thought leaders
- Market mapping: Contribute to our industry deep-dives. Cerberus Ventures takes a thematic approach, researching the ecosystems (including emerging technologies, competitive landscapes, supply chains, etc.) of our focus markets and subsegments
Requirements:
- Current post-doc or PhD candidates in AI, computer science, or related field
- Deep technical understanding of state-of-the-art foundation model architectures and benchmarks, training and inference infrastructure, model deployment, and data curation tools
- Ability (or deep curiosity / willingness) to bridge technical research to commercial insights – e.g., How do the target company’s specs align with customer needs? What would it take for competition to displace the target company’s technology? How feasible is the technology’s path to operationalization / commercialization?
Preferred knowledge of:
- The startup, regulatory, and policy landscapes in AI
- The AI stack – from compute to infrastructure, models, data, observability, and applications.
- Experience in a technical role at a startup or technology company.
Compensation: $35/hour.
Duration: 6 months or greater
Time Commitment: ~20 hours per month.
