2026 Private Debt Summer Senior Associate

Job Description

Job Description

We are global private markets specialists delivering tailored investment solutions, advisory services, and impactful, data driven insights to the world's investors. Leveraging the power of our platform and our peerless intelligence across sectors, strategies, and geographies, we help identify the advantages and the answers our clients need to succeed.

Application deadline : Rolling basis

The team you'll join

StepStone Private Debt (SPD) is a global private debt investor with over $71B in AUM / AUA including $12B based on the latest Q2 firm figures. SPD covers the breadth of the private debt market and constructs bespoke portfolios on a primary, secondary and co-investment basis. SPD focuses on two areas of the market : performing and non-performing debt across the corporate, real estate, and infrastructure sectors. SPD is a subsidiary of the StepStone Group, a global private markets firm specializing in Private Equity, Infrastructure, Private Credit and Real Estate.

About the role

StepStone is currently seeking MBA students graduating between December 2026 through June 2027 to join our Private Debt team as Summer Senior Associate. This internship offers an exciting opportunity to achieve valuable learning experience working across the private debt industry. Through analysis of direct lending, opportunistic lending and specialty finance funds and investments, Summer Senior Associates gain exposure to a wide array of industries and capital structures and become accustomed to a variety of private debt funds and investment strategies.

What you'll do

As a Summer Senior Analyst, you'll work in a team environment with other StepStone team members to review private debt opportunities and perform due diligence on selected GPs. The investment opportunities can encompass Primary Funds, Separately Managed Accounts, Secondaries or Co-Investments. This experience will provide you with opportunities to interact with many of the top fund managers in the private credit industry.

Key responsibilities

• Interpret financial analyses prepared by target fund managers, including investment track records and financial statement analysis
• Conduct market research using publicly available information and proprietary databases to identify, quantify, and analyze macroeconomic trends across a variety of credit strategies
• Assist Senior Research staff in managing and tracking the inflow of investment opportunities
• Evaluate marketing and supporting materials of prospective fund managers to identify key value drivers and important areas for further investigation
• Construct and communicate arguments regarding investment decisions, and defend positions in team environments, including Investment Committee meetings
• Write Fund Summaries and Investment Memorandums in line with StepStone standards
• Utilize creativity to analyze data and to test hypotheses regarding attractiveness of specific sectors and investment opportunities
• Form independent opinions about the attractiveness of a credit strategy or funds as investment opportunities and clearly articulate findings
• Monitor and analyze the performance of the firm's existing fund managers and underlying investments; prepare for and participate in meetings with assigned managers, and conduct ongoing due diligence

What we're looking for

Why join us?

At StepStone, we foster a supportive and inclusive team culture where collaboration and learning are the core of what we do. Our collegial atmosphere encourages teamwork, mentorship, and professional development. This summer internship is a great opportunity to gain practical experience and develop critical skills that will help you launch a successful career in Private Debt.

Click here to learn more about the intern experience.

Salary : $130,000

The salary is an estimate of pay for this position. Actual pay may vary depending on job-related factors that can include location, education, skill, and experience. The salary does not include any benefits or other forms of possible compensation that may be available to employees.

Application deadline : Rolling basis

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At StepStone, we believe that our people are our most important asset and crucial to our success. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer that strives to create an environment that empowers our employees and allows them to be heard, regardless of title or tenure. Our organizational community features multiple Employment Resource Groups as well as mentorship programs to enhance the employee experience for all.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, StepStone does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law.

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