Head of Corporate Development

Overview

This role owns the organization’s M&A function end to end, including building and prioritizing a pipeline of acquisition and partnership opportunities, leading financial evaluation and deal execution, and driving post-close integration. The position is an individual-contributor role at the outset, with a mandate to build out a small function as deal volume warrants.

Responsibilities

Market Thesis & Target Origination

• Partner with company leadership to translate strategic priorities into acquisition criteria (target segment, geography, capability gaps, and deal size).
• Build and continuously refresh a target database, tracking strategic fit, estimated size, ownership structure, and readiness signals for each prospect.
• Develop and maintain relationships with investment bankers, M&A advisors, and industry contacts to generate proprietary deal flow ahead of a formal process.
• Conduct ongoing market and competitive research to identify opportunities, including technology tuck-ins, provider-network expansion, complementary platforms, or geographic expansion.
• Apply a consistent screening framework to both proactively sourced targets and inbound approaches.

Financial Analysis & Valuation

• Build and maintain financial models for prospective transactions, including DCF, comparable company, precedent transaction, and returns/accretion analysis.
• Develop preliminary valuation ranges and deal economics early before significant diligence resources are committed.
• Stress-test key assumptions (synergy realization, retention, integration cost, working capital impact) and identify where deal economics depend on optimistic assumptions.
• Translate financial analysis into a clear, defensible investment case for board- and sponsor-level scrutiny.

Due Diligence & Deal Execution

• Own the end-to-end due diligence process across financial, operational, legal, and commercial work streams, coordinating outside advisors (accountants, counsel, consultants) alongside internal stakeholders.
• Identify and quantify key risks and potential deal-breakers early in a process.
• Lead negotiation of transaction terms (price, structure, representations and warranties, earn-outs, indemnification) in close partnership with Legal and Finance.
• Manage the full transaction timeline and workstream dependencies while maintaining diligence rigor.

Executive & Board Communication

• Prepare decision-ready materials for the executive team, investment committee, and board, including market landscape, deal rationale, financial case, key risks, and recommendation.
• Present and defend analysis directly to senior leadership and the board, including answering detailed questions and addressing pushback on assumptions.
• Keep stakeholders informed throughout live deals, surfacing changes in risk, economics, or timeline as they emerge.

Post-Close Integration & Performance Tracking

• Build integration plans with clear milestones, owners, and success metrics before a deal closes.
• Partner with functional leaders across Finance, Product, Engineering, People, and GTM to execute the integration plan and resolve issues as they surface.
• Track acquired-business performance against the original underwritten case on a defined cadence and flag material variances.
• Document lessons learned from each transaction to improve future target criteria, deal structures, and diligence focus areas.

Requirements

• 7–12+ years of experience in investment banking, private equity, or corporate development, with direct, full-cycle deal experience (sourcing through integration, not diligence alone).
• Advanced financial modeling skills (DCF, comparable transactions, precedent transactions, returns/LBO-style analysis).
• Track record structuring and closing transactions, including direct ownership of diligence workstreams and deal terms.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a trusted partner to C-suite executives and, ideally, a PE sponsor or board.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to distill complex financial analysis into clear board- and executive-ready materials.
• Bachelor’s degree required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in a PE-backed or founder-led company, particularly one that has executed multiple bolt-on or platform acquisitions.
• Experience in marketplace, SaaS, or services businesses.
• MBA or equivalent advanced degree.
• Experience building or scaling a corporate development function from an individual-contributor seat.

Compensation & Benefits

• Unlimited paid time off
• Annual vacation bonus (a bonus to take paid time off)
• Individualized growth and development plans
• Strong values around work/life balance
• Community involvement opportunities
• Competitive benefits: medical, dental, vision, paid parental leave + 401K

Employment Conditions

• Employment is contingent on passing a pre-employment background check. Written consent will be obtained prior to a background check being performed.