Head of M&A & Corporate Development

About the Company

The employer is an AI-first recruitment platform that is reshaping talent acquisition for growing businesses. By pairing proprietary AI systems with a network of specialist talent partners, the company claims to deliver hiring outcomes that are substantially faster and stronger than conventional agencies.

The platform reaches more than 13,000 candidates each week and draws on a proprietary database of close to one billion candidate profiles to help ambitious startups and scaleups assemble high-performing teams.

Its growth story includes being 3–4 times faster than industry averages for hiring, achieving 5–10 times higher fill rates than traditional agencies, and generating 6x revenue growth in the previous year while staying profitable. The business is supported by investors and operators with backgrounds from Notion Capital, Frontline Ventures, Workday, eBay, Monzo, HubSpot, McKinsey, and Hg Capital, and is now moving into its next stage of expansion.

This is a senior, full-time remote position based in the United Kingdom. Applicants must have valid UK work authorization.

Role Overview

As the Head of M&A and Corporate Development, you will design and deliver the acquisition strategy from the ground up. The role suits an entrepreneurial operator who can generate opportunities, structure financing, manage complexity, and complete transactions with limited support rather than someone who relies on established institutional infrastructure.

For the right person, this position can serve as a pathway toward becoming the company’s future CFO.

What You Will Do

• Create and maintain a proprietary acquisition pipeline across Europe.
• Reach out to business owners and build relationships with SME targets.
• Develop long-term connections with founders and entrepreneurs.
• Spot attractive acquisition opportunities with strong growth potential.
• Take transactions from initial sourcing through to completion.
• Draft and negotiate LOIs, commercial terms, and exclusivity arrangements.
• Coordinate legal, financial, and operational due diligence workstreams.
• Oversee advisers, data rooms, and the overall transaction process.
• Work with lenders and financing partners to support deals.
• Structure debt, mezzanine, vendor finance, and earn-out components.
• Assist with capital-raising activity when needed.
• Improve transaction economics while balancing risk allocation.
• Support integration after acquisitions are completed.
• Help acquired businesses use the company’s AI infrastructure effectively.
• Build repeatable playbooks for future acquisitions.
• Contribute to initiatives that increase portfolio value.

Candidate Profile

The ideal hire is an entrepreneurial M&A leader with a track record of executing deals in lean, resource-constrained environments.

Experience likely includes end-to-end SME M&A delivery, sourcing and owner outreach, hands-on acquisition financing, strong legal and financial due diligence capability, and the ability to work independently without heavy institutional backing.

Backgrounds that are especially relevant include corporate development or M&A roles in high-growth companies, founder or entrepreneurship experience, professional services or recruitment-sector M&A, roll-up or buy-and-build models, and private equity or lower middle-market transactions.

Nice-to-Have Experience

• Experience structuring earn-outs.
• Background in professional services M&A.
• Exposure to building acquisition engines at scale.
• Experience with AI-led or technology-enabled service businesses.
• Evidence of progression toward CFO or broader finance leadership roles.

What Is Offered

• Competitive base pay.
• Meaningful equity participation.
• A remote-first working arrangement.
• Direct interaction with founders and investors.
• The chance to help build a category-defining business from an early scaling stage.
• A clear and explicit route toward CFO responsibilities as the platform grows.

Additional Information

Location: United Kingdom (Remote)

Employment Type: Full-time

Seniority Level: Senior Level

Work Authorization: Valid work permit for the UK

The company is at the point of moving from validating its model to scaling it, with an ambition to build a leading AI-driven roll-up in the global recruitment market.