Head of Corporate Development

About the Client:

Our client is an evergreen holding company that acquires and operates proven software businesses that have significant growth potential in a variety of vertical markets, enabling them to be market leaders in their niche industry. They own several software companies in various market spaces: Human Resource Technology, Fleet Telematics, Asset Management, E-Health, Document Management, and other innovative software solutions in a variety of industries. The client is backed by a group of advisors and investors that have built software businesses of material scale M in ARR) and advised many. The client compounds for decades, not quarters.

About the role:

At part of our client, it's Day 1 of a decades-long journey. As Head of Corporate Development, you are our go-to-market leader for acquisitions. You will architect and operate a scaled origination team that systematically identifies exceptional investment opportunities and builds founder relationships—converting market coverage into closed, enduring partnerships.

You'll lead, coach, and performance-manage a rapidly growing global team (10 today to 30+ in the next year) while owning the strategy, tooling, and operating system that make Solen the preferred buyer in target verticals.

You will act as company's closer-in-chief, shepherding exceptional opportunities from initial outreach to transaction closing.

About You

• A builder who has scaled outbound origination or enterprise new-logo sales teams to 15–30+ with durable funnel metrics and coaching systems.
• A closer who's credible with founders—expert at value proposition building and creating "shared by all" understandings of success, leading to closed transactions with successful long-term performance.
• A systems thinker who loves EOS-style operating rhythms (rocks, L10s, scorecards), data, experimentation, and playbooks.
• A relationship leader with executive gravitas—low ego, high integrity, and strong cross-functional collaboration.
• 10–15+ years in B2B software; prior success in VMS consolidators, PE-backed platforms, or SaaS new-logo sales with meaningful M&A interface.
• Mastery of outreach sequencing, pipeline management, market mapping, qualification frameworks, and the tooling required for a modern origination engine.

The successful candidate will work from one of Solen's offices: Salt Lake City, New York City or Toronto.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy & Market Coverage

• Own Solen's origination GTM: vertical theses, ICPs / personas, account universe, and coverage model (direct-to-owner, advisor, partner).
• Build multi-touch programs (email, phone, LinkedIn, conferences, in-person) with cadences tailored to founder-owned, sponsor-owned, and carve-outs.
• Stand up "always-on" nurture (content drips, founder events, roundtables) to compound relationships and close readiness over time.

Team Leadership & Scale

• Hire, onboard, and manage 10 immediately; design the organizational blueprint and hiring plan to scale to 30+ (Team Leads, Managers, enablement).
• Coach high-tempo outreach, discovery, qualification, and close planning; lead WBRs, MBRs, and quarterly performance reviews.
• Establish a performance culture grounded in transparency, feedback, and results.

Pipeline, Metrics & Operating System (EOS-Aligned)

• Own the Corporate Development Scorecard and dashboards: universe covered, outreach, connect rates, 1st meetings, qualified opportunities, LOIs signed, and transactions closed.
• Ensure CRM rigor (hygiene, stage definitions, fields) and a single source of truth from accounts outreach meetings qualified opportunities LOIs.
• Run disciplined operating rhythms; translate insights into updated theses, messaging, and targeting.

Channel Development & Brand-to-Owner

• Build and manage operator / advisor coverage with formal contact plans, SLAs, and event calendars.
• Lead the creation of founder-centric content (stories, FAQs) and micro-events that build trust and enforce Solen's position as the buyer of choice for leading VMS companies.

Founder Closing & Late-Stage Shepherding

• Serve as Solen's closer-in-chief, converting verbal interest into signed LOIs and enduring partnerships.
• Frame founder-friendly transaction constructs (certainty / speed / structure) and sustain momentum through LOI.
• When deals enter deep negotiations, act as executive sponsor—maintain founder confidence, resolve issues rapidly, and shepherd to definitive agreement while the M&A team runs diligence.
• Institutionalize win / loss learnings on close dynamics; update processes accordingly.

Tooling, Enablement & Playbooks

• Own the origination stack (CRM, sequencing, enrichment, intent, call intelligence) and build close-support collateral (1-pagers, FAQs, term summaries).
• Codify and continuously A/B test playbooks (cadences, talk tracks, discovery frameworks, close plans) and roll out improvements at scale.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Align tightly with M&A team on qualification thresholds, handoff SOPs, LOI term guidance, and feedback loops from diligence.
• Collaborate with Operating team on top-down and bottom-up market maps and vertical prioritization.
• Partner with People team on recruiting, onboarding, and ongoing skill development for a high-growth team.