Corporate Development Manager

Ascend Technologies•Chicago, IL

8d•$110,000 - $125,000•Onsite

About The Position

Ascend Technologies is building a repeatable acquisition engine. This role owns the front half of that engine: identifying, evaluating, and closing the right acquisitions — then handing a clean, well-understood deal to the integration team. The Corporate Development Manager drives Ascend’s inorganic growth strategy: building and managing a proprietary pipeline of acquisition targets, leading early-stage business development with owners, founders, and M&A intermediaries, and running the financial analysis and diligence needed to get a deal to close. This person combines a finance background (modeling, valuation, diligence) with a business-development mindset (outbound relationship-building, comfort representing Ascend to external sellers and advisors). They report to the Chief Integration and Transformation Officer and work in close partnership with the CEO and CFO on deal strategy and execution.

Requirements

3–6 years of experience in corporate development, investment banking, private equity/growth equity, or FP&A, with direct exposure to deal execution.
Demonstrated financial modeling and valuation skills — comparables, DCF, and deal economics.
Experience sourcing or evaluating deals directly, not only executing deals originated by others — comfortable operating in an outbound business-development capacity.
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field.

Nice To Haves

Prior M&A experience in MSP, IT services, or broader B2B services.
CFA, MBA, or equivalent.
Direct experience working with sell-side advisors, brokers, or investment banks.
Exposure to post-merger integration, not just deal execution.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain a proprietary pipeline of acquisition targets aligned to Ascend’s growth strategy — service line fit, geography, client base, and cultural fit.
Run outbound business development: direct outreach to owners and founders, and relationship-building with M&A intermediaries, brokers, and investment bankers active in the MSP and IT services space.
Represent Ascend credibly in early-stage conversations with sellers and their advisors, setting the tone for the relationship before diligence begins.
Track and prioritize the target list through a structured pipeline, reporting status and momentum to leadership on a regular cadence.
Screen prospective targets on revenue quality, margin profile, recurring-revenue mix, and client concentration before committing diligence resources.
Build and maintain valuation models and deal economics — multiples, synergies, integration cost estimates — to support go/no-go and pricing decisions.
Coordinate financial, legal, and operational due diligence workstreams, working directly with the CFO, legal counsel, and external advisors.
Prepare clear deal summaries and recommendations for leadership review ahead of LOI and closing decisions.
Partner with the Acquisition Integration function to ensure deal-stage findings — client base, revenue quality, tech stack risk, team structure — transfer cleanly into the post-close integration plan.
Participate in integration planning before close so Day 1 planning reflects what diligence actually found, not just what the deal thesis assumed.
Maintain a running playbook of lessons learned from each deal to sharpen future target criteria and diligence checklists.