HR (People) M&A Lead

Kraken

5d • $110,400 - $220,800

About The Position

Payward is hiring a HR (People) M&A Lead to own the people side of our M&A activity end to end — from first-pass diligence through close and integration. Reporting directly to our CPO, this is a high-pace, high-volume seat that needs someone who thrives on fast turnarounds and incomplete information. We're looking for an in-house operator with an analyst's mindset who can use AI to move fast through messy data rooms, but whose real edge is judgment — knowing what risks matter and when to deviate.

Requirements

• 8+ years across M&A people/HR diligence, integration, total rewards, or corp dev — with hands-on ownership of the people workstream on completed deals.
• A track record of running multi-diligence processes in tandem, to a hard timeline: knowing what to prioritize or defer.
• Strong analytical depth — comfortable modelling comp, equity, dilution, retention cost and integration spend directly, not briefing someone else to do it.
• Global/cross-border deal experience with multi-jurisdiction and/or regulatory change of control employment considerations.
• Demonstrated use of AI and automation to review large document volumes, with judgement about where the model's output can and cannot be trusted.
• Ability to make and communicate risk calls on incomplete information, and to state a position clearly to executive stakeholders.
• Credibility in founder-facing negotiation conversations on comp, equity and retention structures.
• Rigorous confidentiality instincts and comfort operating on live, undisclosed transactions.
• High agency in ambiguity — deals move, scope shifts, and no one hands over a finished process.

Nice To Haves

• Crypto, fintech or regulated financial services acquisition experience.
• Experience integrating founder-led or early-stage teams into a larger platform.
• Prior work building a diligence or integration playbook from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Own the people's workstream of Payward's M&A activity end to end — from first-pass diligence through close and integration.
• Build and own PX due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) including data requests and questions to the target, follow-ups and deeper-dive workshops.
• Crunch high-volume, low-structure data rooms — employment contracts, org data, comp and equity files, policies, claims history — using AI and automation to compress review cycles.
• Filter signal from noise: translate hundreds of findings into a short list of flags scored against Payward's risk tolerance, with a clear recommendation attached to each.
• Lead the drafting of the people-side deal mechanics: comp modelling, equity treatment, retention and earn-out structures, and deal-specific considerations that hold up in negotiation with founders.
• Sit in the room with corp dev, legal, finance and PX leadership — leverage SMEs and push recommendations upward, defending them with data.
• Act as PX program manager during integration after signing: support org design, levelling and comp harmonisation, retention execution, and Day 1 people readiness.
• Turn each deal into reusable infrastructure and learnings — playbooks, DDQ templates, risk scoring, and automation that make the next deal faster.

Benefits

• We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job.
• We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.
• We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process.
• As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed