Director of Acquisition & Strategy

ALS Global•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Director, Acquisitions and Strategy is responsible for designing, executing, and continuously improving the USA & Canada Environmental M&A strategy in alignment with ALS global strategy. This role owns the end-to-end lifecycle of acquisitions including strategy formulation, pipeline development, due diligence, integration governance, and post-acquisition value realization - while incorporating disciplined lessons learned from prior transactions. In parallel, the role serves as a strategic partner to the USA Environmental leadership team, contributing to the overall national strategy for operations best practices, innovation, and continuous improvement initiatives that drive margin expansion, scalability, and long-term value creation across both legacy and acquired businesses.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Engineering, Business or a related field is required.
At least 10+ years’ operational and M&A experience at senior leadership level in Science, Testing, Inspection and Laboratory industry(s)
Previous M&A experience is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Supporting Building a credible, repeatable M&A pipeline and playbook
Reducing execution risk through rigorous due diligence and integration discipline
Acting as an empowered integration leader (or sponsor) post-close
Develop and maintain a clear USA and Canada Environmental M&A strategy, aligned to ALS global capital allocation and USA growth priorities
Define target criteria including: Target company profile (testing scope, geography, regulatory position, cultural maturity), Deal size thresholds and risk appetite, Strategic intent (bolt-on vs. platform vs. new-region entry), and best strategic fit (locations, services, culture)
Build and manage a 6 to 12 month rolling opportunity pipeline in coordination with Corporate M&A Lead early-stage outreach strategy appropriate to target company type and ownership profile
Act as USA and Canada point-of-contact with global M&A leadership and strategy function
Own or co-own USA & Canada side due diligence execution, ensuring rigor across: Operations, Quality, Technical Capability, Regulatory and certification risk, Culture, leadership depth, and people capability, Systems (LIMS, ERP, HRIS, IT infrastructure)
Lead and train teams from the business who will support DD phase – ensuring they are properly resourced and free from optimism bias. Require documented proof and on-site verification, not verbal confirmation
Incorporate cultural and integration readiness explicitly into valuation and deal structure
Act as Integration Sponsor or empowered Integration Leader for USA acquisitions; support early post-close stage for Canada acquisitions until they can be turned over to appropriate business personnel.
Establish integration governance from Day 1 (no soft integrations): Including clear authority, Named workstream owners, Resourced integration plan (12–18 months)
Ensure functional integration across Quality, HSE, Operations, IT, Finance, HR, Sales
Enforce Integration Plan milestone validation and benefits realization tracking
Drive early system integration to enable transparency, control, and cultural unification
Ensure acquisition thesis is translated into executable plans
Monitor delivery of: Margin improvement, Synergies (technical, commercial, procurement, logistics), Client retention and cross-selling
Intervene early if leadership, culture, or performance risks emerge
Support corrective action plans where legacy issues are uncovered post-close
Develop timeline, task lists, and handover activities to ensure completed acquisitions transition successfully into the existing regional leadership structure who will be responsible for long-term direct oversight and integration of the acquired company.
Evaluate and interact with existing legacy businesses to ensure full understanding of operational model for consistent delivery of best practices, innovation, continuous improvement and client-focused strategies across both legacy and acquired businesses promoting a OneALS approach.
Setting strategy and supporting implementation of greenfield and brownfield location strategy for expansion of service centers, courier routes, and sales personnel into new spoke locations to support hub-lab growth.
Supporting lab network optimization (hub-and-spoke, work sharing, PFAS concentration)
Mentoring Lab Directors and Regional Leaders in aspects of Operations, Team Building.
Supporting under-performing labs with on-site evaluations of existing operational challenges, designing improvements and working with personnel onsite to navigate roadblocks during implementations.