Growth equity associate vs sr manager strategic finance

Really depends how much you like your current role and where you want to grow. If you are working for a large public company and have every interest to stay in that realm, going to GE doesn't make much sense from a development perspective

On the other hand if you are working a growth-stage co that could easily be a portco or is a portco of a growth fund (venture growth, traditional growth PE, or otherwise), and you like the role, I think going to an investor seat could be value-additive for learning and career advancement. You could see a lot more different situations, potentially make a career out of investing, and/or easily go back to a portco seat. Manager or sr. manager won't seem to be a stretch with prior exp + 2 years associate program, have seen GE analysts land similar roles if not higher when leaving their fund

That being said, would make sure if you are interested in going back to portco that your GE role has some form of split between sourcing and execution. Sourcing is a great skill but the sourcing-focused programs are better fits for folks interested in staying in venture / growth or going to a BD role eventually. Getting execution reps will expose you to more of the thorny CFO-level issues you might encounter day-to-day in strategic finance