Senior Corporate Development & M&A Manager

Role Overview

This opportunity is with a global, multi-billion-euro leader in heavy industrial engineering, metallurgical plant construction, and advanced lifecycle technologies. The business is navigating major industry change driven by decarbonization, digitalization, and the move toward more sustainable production, and is using capital proactively to strengthen its future portfolio.

The Executive Board is looking for a highly disciplined Senior Corporate Development & M&A Manager to serve as a key strategist and deal lead. This is a highly visible role at the center of the organization, extending well beyond standard M&A delivery. The position involves leading international acquisitions end to end, shaping complex industrial carve-outs and divestitures, and driving major value-creation initiatives across the wider group.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead global M&A activity from target screening and pipeline development through to transaction close, including acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships.
• Design and manage technically complex divestment and carve-out processes for non-core businesses, including perimeter definition, carve-out financial preparation, and information memorandum drafting.
• Build, refine, and defend detailed financial models and perform advanced valuation work such as DCF, trading and transaction multiples, SOTP, scenario analysis, and risk-based investment cases.
• Run multi-workstream due diligence processes, coordinate and challenge external advisors, and support negotiation of transaction documentation together with internal legal and tax teams.
• Support post-merger integration by working with business leaders to define integration plans, synergy targets, KPI tracking, and delivery of expected financial outcomes.
• Translate commercial, technical, and financial complexity into clear executive-level presentations and lead cross-functional corporate development and transformation initiatives.

Candidate Requirements

• 5 to 8 years of deal-focused experience gained in a leading investment bank, top private equity firm, MBB strategy consulting, or a corporate development team within a complex multinational company.
• Strong exposure to, or genuine interest in, heavy industrial sectors such as plant engineering, mechanical engineering, advanced manufacturing, or steel is preferred.
• Excellent analytical ability with the capacity to independently construct, break down, and defend sophisticated financial models, carve-out structures, and business cases under board-level review.
• Strong project leadership skills, commercial judgment, and the ability to manage advisors, negotiate with counterparties, and influence cross-functional teams without direct reporting lines.
• High levels of confidentiality, integrity, initiative, and practical decision-making in a large, matrixed organization.
• Fluent German and English are both essential, including the ability to negotiate and prepare complex materials in either language.
• Strong academic background from a leading university in business, finance, economics, or engineering; postgraduate qualifications such as a Master’s degree or MBA are an advantage.
• Advanced proficiency in MS Excel and PowerPoint is required; familiarity with BI tools such as Power BI or Tableau is a plus.
• Willingness to travel within Germany and internationally for transaction work is required.

Additional Information

This role offers a chance for an experienced transactions professional to move into a high-impact, entrepreneurial corporate environment and help shape the strategic direction of a major industrial group.

Work Location

The role is based in the Düsseldorf metropolitan area, Germany, with a hybrid working setup.

Employment Details

This is a full-time position.