M&A Director

Aston Carter•Deerfield, IL

1d•$90 - $110•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, M&A Separations & Execution leads planning and execution for complex divestitures, carve-outs, asset sales, and other portfolio transactions, from initial planning and pre-sign preparation through Day 1 readiness, close, and post-close execution. Working within the Separation Management Office (SMO), the Director translates transaction strategy into operating plans, identifies separation requirements, establishes interim operating models, manages Transition Service Agreements (TSAs), and guides the organization toward its intended post-transaction end state. The role works closely with Strategy & Corporate Development and leaders across Finance, Legal, IT, Human Resources, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, Commercial, and other functions. It also collaborates with executives, business leaders, transaction counterparties, and third-party advisors. This is a hands-on individual contributor position with no direct reports and works directly with the VP of Strategy & Corporate Development. The ideal candidate brings significant sell-side M&A and carve-out experience, strong operational execution capabilities, and the ability to manage detailed plans, facilitate cross-functional work, and provide executive-level recommendations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, Operations, or a related discipline.
5+ years of direct carve-out, divestiture, separation, or related transaction execution experience, with meaningful responsibility for operational delivery.
Significant professional experience in M&A, Separation Management Offices, transaction execution, business operations, transformation, or related disciplines.
Demonstrated sell-side M&A experience, ideally involving complex carve-outs, divestitures, or asset sales.
Experience across multiple transaction lifecycle stages, including pre-sign planning, sign-to-close execution, Day 1 readiness, and post-close separation.
Demonstrated ability to develop and execute complex separation plans spanning multiple business functions.
Direct experience developing, implementing, or managing TSAs, including governance, performance management, and exit planning.
Experience designing or implementing interim operating models related to carve-outs, asset sales, or business separations.
Strong understanding of transaction operational implications across processes, people, systems, supply chain, manufacturing, and business continuity.
Experience working effectively in global, matrixed organizations across multiple jurisdictions and time zones.
Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead complex programs without formal authority.
Strong financial, commercial, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to senior executives.
Ability to work as a hands-on individual contributor and personally develop plans, analyses, executive presentations, issue logs, dashboards, and operating-model documentation.

Nice To Haves

MBA or another relevant advanced degree.
Experience in medical devices, MedTech, healthcare, pharmaceutical, or another highly regulated global industry.
Previous experience in a Big Four transaction/deal advisory practice, strategy consulting firm, corporate development organization, or private equity portfolio environment.
Experience supporting transactions involving manufacturing, supply chain, regulated products, or complex international operations.
Experience working directly with buyers, sellers, investment bankers, transaction counsel, and third-party advisors.

Responsibilities

Lead operational separation planning for divestitures, carve-outs, asset sales, and other portfolio transactions from pre-sign through close and post-close.
Translate transaction strategy and deal requirements into integrated separation plans, workstreams, milestones, dependencies, and decision points.
Conduct operational carve-out assessments across business processes, technology, legal entities, employees, regulatory requirements, manufacturing, supply chain, and commercial operations.
Identify separation complexity, stranded-cost considerations, operational risks, dependencies, and resource requirements early in the transaction process.
Establish deal governance, decision rights, escalation procedures, and execution cadences.
Serve as an operational lead on complex sell-side transactions in partnership with Corporate Development, functional leaders, external advisors, and transaction counterparties.
Support operational due diligence and buyer requests while identifying and resolving separation dependencies.
Translate transaction terms and deal assumptions into actionable operational requirements, and partner with Legal and Corporate Development on operational inputs for transaction documents, schedules, and separation agreements.
Lead sign-to-close readiness and coordinate priorities across functional workstreams.
Develop and manage the overall Separation Management Office plan and transaction timeline.
Oversee functional separation planning across signing, closing, Day 1, and post-close transition activities.
Establish Day 1 readiness criteria and lead cross-functional readiness assessments.
Identify and resolve material gaps that could affect operational continuity or transaction execution.
Oversee functional cutover plans and coordinate critical activities required for a successful close.
Monitor post-close execution and drive progress toward the defined end-state operating model.
Develop executive dashboards and reporting that communicate progress, risks, dependencies, issues, and required decisions.
Lead the operational development, implementation, and governance of Transition Service Agreements (TSAs).
Partner with functional owners and Legal to define TSA scope, services, duration, service levels, costs, dependencies, and exit requirements.
Establish post-close TSA governance and performance-monitoring processes; develop TSA exit strategies early and identify barriers to successful exit.
Monitor TSA performance, costs, and milestones, escalating issues that require executive decisions.
Design interim operating models that maintain business continuity following carve-outs, asset sales, and other separation transactions.
Define how critical processes, systems, services, resources, and decision rights will operate between Day 1 and the targeted end state.
Partner with functional leaders to determine which capabilities transfer, remain with the seller, operate temporarily through TSAs, or require alternative solutions.
Develop transition roadmaps from interim environments to sustainable standalone or buyer-owned operating models.
Pressure-test operating-model assumptions against transaction timing, organizational capacity, cost, and execution risk.
Lead complex cross-functional separation initiatives without direct reporting authority and coordinate decisions and dependencies across workstreams.
Anticipate cross-functional challenges, facilitate timely issue resolution, maintain an integrated view of risks, decisions, dependencies, and milestones, and develop mitigation strategies with appropriate ownership and follow-through.
Provide concise, decision-oriented updates and recommendations to senior executives and transaction leadership, translating complex operational issues into options, trade-offs, and recommendations while remaining involved in execution.
Personally develop plans, analyses, executive presentations, issue logs, dashboards, and operating-model documentation.