Director of Corporate Development

Job Overview:

Jensen Hughes is seeking a Director of Corporate Development to support the company's global acquisition strategy. This role is centered on financial acumen, Excel modeling, transaction analysis, and the development of clear, executive-ready presentation materials. The successful candidate will help evaluate acquisition opportunities, build valuation and return models, prepare investment recommendations, and support M&A transactions from initial screening through diligence, closing, and integration planning.

The ideal candidate is a highly analytical, detail-oriented corporate development professional who can translate incomplete or complex information into practical financial insights and concise Board, investor, and executive-level presentations. The position offers significant exposure to senior leadership, private equity stakeholders, investment bankers, business owners, and operating executives across a global organization.

Primary emphasis: financial modeling, valuation analysis, acquisition economics, and high-quality presentation development. Sourcing, diligence, legal coordination, negotiation, pipeline management, and integration support are also important parts of the role.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build detailed acquisition models to evaluate target company performance, valuation, returns, payback, financing impact, and transaction economics.
• Analyze historical and projected financial performance, including revenue, EBITDA, margin trends, working capital, cash flow, and key operating drivers.
• Prepare valuation analyses using relevant methodologies, including comparable companies, precedent transactions, EBITDA multiples, discounted cash flow, and scenario-based returns.
• Develop sensitivity analyses around purchase price, growth, margin expansion, integration costs, synergies, earnouts, and timing assumptions.
• Support recommendations on acquisition pricing, transaction structure, rollover equity, earnouts, and other commercial terms.
• Create polished PowerPoint presentations for executive leadership, the Board of Directors, investors, and Investment Committee discussions.
• Convert complex financial, operational, commercial, and diligence findings into clear, concise, decision-oriented slides.
• Prepare acquisition screening summaries, investment memoranda, diligence readouts, transaction updates, pipeline materials, and strategy presentations.
• Develop slide narratives that clearly articulate strategic fit, financial attractiveness, key risks, valuation rationale, and recommended next steps.
• Support acquisitions from initial evaluation through closing, including screening, valuation, diligence, negotiation support, documentation, and integration planning.
• Coordinate diligence workstreams across finance, operations, human resources, technology, legal, tax, insurance, and other functional areas.
• Participate in negotiations with business owners, investment bankers, intermediaries, and advisors, including both proprietary processes and competitive auctions.
• Review and help coordinate key transaction documents, including letters of intent, purchase agreements, disclosure schedules, employment agreements, and related legal materials.
• Manage multiple active transaction workstreams while maintaining strong attention to detail and deadlines.
• Maintain and improve the corporate development pipeline, including target lists, outreach status, prioritization, valuation metrics, and transaction progress.
• Conduct market mapping and industry research to identify attractive acquisition candidates in fire protection, engineering, consulting, risk, security, and related technical services markets.
• Support proactive outreach to founders, business owners, executives, investment bankers, and M&A intermediaries.
• Develop outreach materials and acquisition pitch messaging that communicate the Jensen Hughes value proposition clearly and professionally.
• Assist with post-acquisition integration planning, including financial reporting, operating cadence, communications, systems, people-related activities, and synergy tracking.
• Help translate diligence findings into practical integration priorities and risk mitigation actions.
• Support leadership teams in ensuring a smooth transition for acquired company employees, clients, and founders.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• 10 to 12 years of experience in corporate development, investment banking, private equity, transaction advisory, M&A consulting, or a related finance and transaction-oriented role.
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills, including valuation, acquisition returns, payback calculations, sensitivity analyses, and scenario modeling.
• Exceptional PowerPoint skills, with the ability to produce executive-ready, visually clear, well-structured presentations.
• Strong financial acumen and ability to interpret company financial statements, quality of earnings findings, and key business drivers.
• Familiarity with M&A transaction processes, diligence coordination, legal documentation, and negotiation dynamics.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment while maintaining accuracy, discretion, and professional judgment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to interact effectively with senior executives, founders, external advisors, and private equity stakeholders.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience evaluating professional services, consulting, engineering, architecture, environmental, fire protection, or technical advisory businesses.
• Experience in a private equity-backed or acquisitive corporate environment.
• Exposure to both proprietary deal sourcing and competitive auction processes.
• Experience supporting post-merger integration or acquisition onboarding activities.
• International transaction experience or experience working across multiple geographies.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

• Highly analytical and financially rigorous, with strong attention to detail.
• Comfortable building models from scratch and explaining the assumptions behind the analysis.
• Strong slide-development instincts and the ability to simplify complex topics for senior decision-makers.
• Commercially minded and able to assess both the strategic and financial merits of acquisition opportunities.
• Organized, proactive, and capable of driving transaction workstreams with limited supervision.
• Credible and professional when interacting with founders, investment bankers, counsel, consultants, and senior internal stakeholders.
• Equally comfortable working in Excel, PowerPoint, and live transaction environments.

What Success Looks Like:

Within the first 12 months, the Director of Corporate Development will:

• Become a trusted analytical partner to the Chief Development Officer and senior leadership team.
• Own and improve the financial modeling process for acquisition opportunities across the global pipeline.
• Produce high-quality Board and Investment Committee materials that support clear transaction decisions.
• Support the evaluation and execution of multiple acquisition opportunities.
• Improve the consistency, speed, and quality of Jensen Hughes' corporate development materials and processes.
• Contribute to successful handoffs from transaction execution to integration.

Compensation and Benefits:

The national pay range for this position is $130,000 to $180,000 USD. The salary range is a good faith estimate for the position at the time of posting and not a guarantee of compensation. Final compensation may vary based on factors including responsibilities, education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, geographic location, internal equity, and market data.

Jensen Hughes offers a competitive total rewards package, which includes a retirement plan, healthcare coverage, and a broad range of other benefits. Incentives and/or benefit packages may vary depending on the position and location.

Jensen Hughes is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.