Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Corporate Development Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Corporate Development Officer leads sourcing, evaluating, executing and integrating strategic transactions—M&A, divestitures, joint ventures, and strategic investments—designed to accelerate revenue growth, capture market share, or unlock enterprise value. This role partners closely with executive leadership, finance, legal, product and operations teams to translate strategy into prioritized, executable deals and to manage end-to-end transaction processes from origination through post-close integration and performance measurement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Corporate Development Analyst / Associate (in-house)
Investment Banking Associate (M&A or coverage groups)
Strategy/Corporate Strategy Manager
Private Equity or Growth Equity Associate

Advancement To:

Head of Corporate Development / Director, Corporate Development
Vice President, Corporate Development or Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) (with strong finance background)

Lateral Moves:

Business Development Director
Corporate Strategy Lead / Head of Strategy
Head of Mergers & Acquisitions
Integration/PMI Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead origination efforts to identify and prioritize acquisition, divestiture, joint venture, and strategic investment opportunities that align with corporate strategy; build and maintain a proprietary pipeline through market mapping, sector research, and executive outreach.
Conduct end-to-end deal execution including initial screening, detailed commercial and financial diligence, valuation, deal structuring, negotiation, and preparation of investment memos and board materials to enable timely decision-making by senior leadership.
Build robust financial models (LBO, DCF, accretion/dilution, scenario and sensitivity analyses) to quantify potential deal outcomes, valuation ranges, synergies, and ROI; translate model outputs into clear commercial recommendations.
Lead and coordinate cross-functional due diligence teams (finance, tax, legal, HR, commercial, IT, operations) and external advisors to assess transaction risk, uncover deal-critical issues, and shape mitigations and contractual protections.
Design and negotiate commercial and legal terms with target companies and counterparties, including purchase agreements, earn-outs, retention and compensation structures, representations and warranties, and closing mechanics in partnership with legal counsel.
Manage the internal investment committee and board approval process: prepare comprehensive memos, executive summaries, and presentations that clearly articulate strategic rationale, financial case, integration approach, and downside protections.
Drive post-merger integration planning and execution: define integration objectives, capture synergies, develop transition plans and timelines, and lead cross-functional PMO to ensure realization of expected value and minimal operational disruption.
Monitor and report on portfolio performance and KPI tracking for acquired assets and strategic investments; provide ongoing performance reviews, reforecasting, and remedial action plans when results diverge from targets.
Execute competitive and market due diligence including TAM, SAM, market share, pricing analysis, and channel/partner ecosystem assessments to validate strategic fit and growth assumptions.
Lead commercial diligence by assessing customer concentration, contract terms, sales pipeline quality, churn metrics, and post-close retention risk to validate revenue projections and integration priorities.
Evaluate and recommend capital structure alternatives and financing approaches for transactions (debt, equity, hybrid structures); collaborate with treasury and external banks or investors to secure financing and optimize cost of capital.
Oversee vendor and advisor selection and management, including investment banks, legal counsel, tax advisors, accounting firms and consultants; negotiate scopes and fees and ensure quality and timeliness of deliverables.
Drive post-close governance: design reporting structures, board representation, incentive alignment, and performance measurement systems for newly acquired or invested businesses.
Assess and manage regulatory, antitrust and compliance risks as part of transaction planning; coordinate with legal and compliance teams on filings, approvals and regulatory strategy for domestic and cross-border deals.
Lead carve-out and divestiture transactions: structure sale processes, prepare management presentations and data rooms, manage buyer outreach, and optimize deal timing and price realization.
Maintain and refine an internal playbook and standardized processes for deal evaluation, diligence checklists, integration templates, and post-close synergy tracking to increase transaction velocity and repeatability.
Conduct valuation and scenario analysis for strategic alternatives including partnerships, licensing deals, minority investments, and strategic alliances; quantify strategic upside and downside risks.
Lead scenario planning and sensitivity analyses for different strategic pathways, presenting trade-offs and contingency plans to the executive team to support high-quality decisions under uncertainty.
Establish and maintain strong relationships with C-suite stakeholders, business unit leaders and external counterparties to accelerate deal flow, gather market intelligence, and drive alignment on strategic priorities.
Provide leadership and mentoring to junior corporate development staff; set objectives, review work products, and develop skills in financial modeling, negotiation, due diligence, and integration planning.
Collaborate with investor relations and finance teams to articulate the company’s M&A strategy externally, address analyst and investor questions related to acquisitions and portfolio strategy, and support capital markets communications.
Track and analyze industry consolidation trends, competitor M&A activity and emerging technologies to proactively recommend strategic moves and maintain a competitive edge.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc strategic initiatives such as market entry assessments, alliance evaluation, and long-range planning that require cross-functional coordination and financial rigor.
Build and maintain data rooms, manage sensitive transaction documentation, and ensure data integrity and confidentiality during diligence and integration phases.
Coordinate with HR and compensation teams to design retention and incentive programs for acquired talent and key employees, aligning pay-for-performance to realized synergies.
Contribute to continuous improvement of deal processes, including standardization of templates, automation of recurring analyses, and development of a centralized transaction knowledge base.
Assist in preparation of quarterly and annual strategic reviews, synthesizing portfolio performance, pipeline health, and forward-looking deal priorities for executive planning sessions.
Provide support for scenario-based capital allocation decisions and internal budgeting discussions tied to M&A activity and strategic investments.
Foster relationships with industry experts, consultants and thought leaders to supplement internal capabilities for specialized diligence and market validation.
Participate in special projects such as integration stand-ups, divestiture carve-outs, program management of synergy capture, and transformational cost-savings initiatives.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced financial modeling skills (LBO, DCF, accretion/dilution, scenario & sensitivity analysis) used to build deal-level and portfolio-level valuation decks.
Expert-level valuation techniques and experience applying comparable company analysis, precedent transactions, sum-of-the-parts and market-based approaches.
Transaction structuring and negotiation experience, including deal documents familiarity (purchase agreements, shareholder agreements, earn-outs, escrow mechanics).
Comprehensive due diligence expertise across financial, tax, legal, HR, commercial and IT domains, and the ability to synthesize findings into actionable risk mitigations.
Post-merger integration planning and program management skills, including synergy identification, KPI design, and PMO governance to capture expected value.
Capital markets and financing knowledge: debt and equity instruments, covenant management, and working with banks and debt providers.
Proficiency with Excel (advanced functions, macros), PowerPoint (storytelling via slides), and financial data tools (Bloomberg, CapIQ, FactSet) for rapid analysis.
Experience with virtual data rooms, deal process platforms, and secure document management systems.
Ability to perform complex commercial diligence: revenue modeling, unit economics, pricing analysis, contract review and customer analytics.
Familiarity with regulatory and antitrust review processes for domestic and cross-border transactions.
Data analysis skills, including SQL or business intelligence tools (Tableau, Power BI) for preparing management reports and tracking KPIs.

Soft Skills

Strategic thinking with the ability to translate high-level corporate objectives into a prioritized set of actionable transactions and investments.
Strong written and verbal communication skills for clear and persuasive presentations to executives, boards, and external stakeholders.
Excellent stakeholder management and political savvy; ability to align cross-functional leaders and secure buy-in for deals and integrations.
Negotiation and influence: close deals while protecting company interests and preserving long-term relationships with counterparties.
Project and time management: coordinate multiple simultaneous transactions and integration workstreams to meet tight deadlines.
Leadership and people development: coach junior team members, delegate appropriately, and build a high-performing corporate development function.
Analytical rigor combined with commercial judgment: balance quantitative outcomes with strategic fit and execution risk.
High ethical standards and confidentiality in handling sensitive commercial and financial information.
Resilience and adaptability in fast-moving, ambiguous deal environments.
Collaborative mindset and customer orientation when working with business units and external partners.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or related quantitative field.

Preferred Education:

MBA from a top-tier business school or relevant advanced degree (e.g., Master's in Finance); professional certifications such as CFA, CPA are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Economics
Business Administration / Strategy
Corporate Law or Legal studies (for regulatory/transaction exposure)
Data Analytics / Quantitative disciplines

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–12 years of progressive experience in corporate development, investment banking (M&A), private equity, growth equity, or corporate strategy with demonstrated transaction execution and integration experience.

Preferred:

8+ years with a proven track record of leading multiple closed transactions and post-merger integrations.
Demonstrated experience on cross-border deals, carve-outs, divestitures, or strategic minority investments.
Experience working directly with C-level executives and investment committees, and presenting to boards of directors.
Demonstrated success in developing and executing M&A strategy, delivering measurable value creation (synergy capture, revenue acceleration, margin improvement).