The Role
The Senior Associate will enhance Protolabs' investor relations and corporate development by supporting earnings preparation, strategic analysis, and market evaluation, while managing investor communication and growth opportunities.
Summary Generated by Built In
Be yourself at Protolabs
Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a diverse team that feels they are valued in the workplace. So do you feel you do not meet every single requirement but still intrigued? We encourage you to still apply! You can help make our company even better. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, mental or physical ability, or any way you represent yourself. We strongly believe diversity makes for more successful teams.
Why Protolabs?
We are the leaders in digital manufacturing. We hire doers, makers, and creative thinkers who tackle our roles with an entrepreneurial spirit. Our culture is centered around meaningful work that brings new and innovative products to market at unprecedented speeds. We are a diverse team that comes from all walks of life and take pride in our team who is smart, genuine, humble, and passionate about what we do. It’s our people who fuel our creativity and make our culture feel like home.
Join our team as a Senior Associate of Investor Relations & Corporate Development!
This is a hybrid role being onsite in Maple Plain, MN Tuesday-Thursday.
The Senior Associate, Investor Relations & Corporate Development plays a critical role in shaping and communicating Protolabs’ growth story to the investment community while advancing the company’s long‑term strategic agenda. This highly visible role blends financial acumen, strategic thinking, and business development capability to strengthen investor confidence, elevate market perception, and accelerate corporate growth.
Sitting at the crossroads of investor relations, M&A, corporate finance, and strategy, this position partners closely with senior leadership to develop compelling narratives, analyze market opportunities, support strategic transactions, and drive initiatives that influence Protolabs’ future trajectory. The Senior Associate will contribute meaningfully to how the company engages investors, evaluates partnerships and acquisitions, and positions itself for sustainable, high‑value growth.
This role is uniquely designed to span both investor relations and corporate development, offering the Senior Associate a rare opportunity to build a versatile and strategic skill set. Responsibilities will evolve over time based on business priorities, allowing the individual to rotate between investor‑focused initiatives and deal‑driven corporate development work. With meaningful flexibility to shape their focus according to their interests and strengths, the Senior Associate can deepen expertise in either area while maintaining broad exposure across both functions—gaining high visibility, executive interaction, and direct influence on Protolabs’ growth strategy.
What you'll do
Investor Relations
- Support quarterly earnings preparation, including developing content for press releases, earnings slide presentations, management scripts, Q&A documents, and other support.
- Support the design and production of core investor materials
- Monitor and analyze peer announcements, financial performance, and macroeconomic landscape for competitive trends, financial results, investor sentiment, and latest developments/market conditions to provide strategic insights to senior management.
- Maintain a comprehensive scorecard with updated consensus estimates, stock ratings, valuation metrics, share price performance, and other relevant key financial indicators for Protolabs and its peers.
- Track institutional ownership and assist with investor and analyst engagement.
- Coordinate logistics for company and sell-side hosted events.
- Maintain the Investor Relations website in coordination with external vendors, ensuring that all disclosures, presentations, and company information is accurate and current.
- Prepare ad-hoc analysis as requested.
Corporate Development
- Support evaluation of inorganic growth opportunities.
- Perform research and analysis on potential opportunities, including acquisitions, partnerships, strategic investments, and commercial partnerships that align with Protolabs’ strategic priorities.
- Build company profiles and prioritization frameworks for potential opportunities.
- Create and maintain financial models and valuation analyses to support decision-making and business case development.
- Manage investment documentation and portfolio analysis for past and future strategic initiatives.
- Assist in preparation of detailed presentations for senior leadership and the board of directors.
- Build relationships with internal cross-functional teams including product management, R&D, sales, marketing, operations, finance, legal, etc.
- Coordinate and manage due diligence process; gather required information from all relevant functional teams.
- Communicate with external advisors to ensure alignment.
- Assist with post-close integration planning and execution.
What it takes
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or a related field.
- 4+ years of experience in corporate development, investor relations, investment banking, strategic finance, corporate strategy, or management consulting.
- Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills with the ability to connect market insight to business impact.
- Strong financial modeling skills and understanding of valuation theory and methodologies.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.
- A high degree of attention to detail, integrity, and execution discipline.
- Highly motivated self-starter with strong intellectual curiosity and teamwork orientation.
Bonus points for
- Experience with M&A execution (due diligence, deal structuring, integration).
- Knowledge of capital markets, shareholder engagement, and other institutional investor trends.
- Comfort working in cross-functional teams and with senior leadership.
What's in it for you!
- We offer a competitive salary and annual bonus opportunity
- In addition, we offer amazing benefits including but not limited to:
- Health Insurance: Traditional OR High Deductible plan
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Health Savings Account (including employer contributions)
- Dental and Vision
- Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance
- Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
- Paid caregiver leave
- You will receive 3 weeks of PTO, plus Holiday Pay and Volunteer Hours
- 401k with company match and immediate vest
- Employee Stock Purchase Program at a 15% discounted rate
- Matching grants through Protolabs foundation
- And More!
Proto Labs maintains ITAR-compliant operations in all of our United States based facilities. Due to ITAR regulations, this role is only open to U.S. Citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders) or foreign nationals granted refugee or asylee status. Individuals with temporary visas (e.g. E, F-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J, TN or OPT) are not eligible for hire in this role.
Proto Labs, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Physical Demands:
While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use a computer keyboard, monitor and mouse, telephone and printer; reach with hands, and arms, talk, see and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop or kneel and must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
Work Environment:
Indoors (A/C); nonsmoking; the majority of this job function is performed in an office setting requiring normal safety precautions. However, there may be job duties that require the employee to spend time in the manufacturing areas exposed to machinery and noise; eye protection occasionally required. Occasionally works in outside weather conditions. Occasionally works near moving mechanical parts and in high, precarious places and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, risk of electrical shock and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Finance or related field
- 4+ years of experience in corporate development or related fields
- Strong financial modeling skills and understanding of valuation theory
- Excellent communication skills
- High degree of attention to detail and integrity
- Motivated self-starter with strong teamwork orientation
Protolabs Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Protolabs and has not been reviewed or approved by Protolabs.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision options are broadly available and described as good to excellent. Additional protections like short- and long-term disability and life insurance bolster the overall package.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — A starting PTO allotment plus paid holidays, along with added wellness and volunteer time, is emphasized, with some roles noting PTO growth over tenure. Paid caregiver leave appears in postings and supports flexibility for life events.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match and immediate vesting is offered, supporting long-term savings. This foundation is frequently cited alongside core financial benefits as a strong element of total rewards.
Protolabs Insights
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The Company
What We Do
Protolabs is the world's fastest digital manufacturing source for rapid prototyping and on-demand production. The technology-enabled company produces custom parts and assemblies in as fast as 1 day with automated 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding processes. Our digital approach to manufacturing enables accelerated time to market, reduces development and production costs, and minimizes risk throughout the product life cycle. 3D Printing Our 3D printing service offers a wide selection of materials and technologies to create prototypes and end-use parts with complex geometries and detailed features. With tight process controls, careful design reviews, and extensive quality monitoring, we ensure precise and repeatable 3D-printed parts, every time. CNC Machining We use 3- and 5-axis milling along with turning to machine parts from commercial-grade plastics and metals. Our online quoting system and automated manufacturing process enable us to ship parts within 24 hours, helping customers accelerate development and reduce time to market. Sheet Metal Fabrication Protolabs is an industry leader in quick-turn sheet metal parts for both prototyping and low-volume production. Our digital approach to manufacturing enables us to fabricate sheet metal parts in as fast as 5 days. Additionally, we can support our customers’ development efforts with component assemblies, several finish options, and screen printing. Injection Molding Our injection molding service offers two options—prototyping and on-demand manufacturing—which provide customers a tooling solution that aligns with their project’s requirements. It’s used for quick-turn prototyping, bridge tooling, and low-volume production of up to 10,000+ parts in 15 days or less.
