Business Dev & Partnerships

CorpDev

Corporate development professionals architect the deals that reshape entire industries, building portfolios of strategic investments, acquisitions, and partnerships. This path creates executives who think like investors but execute like operators.

Leads to: CCO

Career Progression

Rotational Tours · L1–L3

Build the craft. Prove you can wield the tools of Business Dev & Partnerships.

Transformational Tours · L4–L7

Deliver outcomes. Each tour has a defined mission and success criteria.

Foundational Tours · L8–L10

Shape the organization. Build institutions, not just products.

What Hiring Managers Look For

L1-L3: Demonstrates deal sourcing ability through concrete examples of identifying and qualifying acquisition targets or partnership opportunities worth $10M+ in value.

L4-L6: Shows end-to-end deal execution experience including due diligence leadership, negotiation of complex terms, and post-transaction integration that delivered measurable synergies.

L7+: Proves strategic portfolio thinking with track record of building inorganic growth engines that generated 20%+ of company revenue or market expansion into new verticals.

Common Career Transitions

CorpDev → Strategy & Operations at L5-L6 for broader business transformation scope

CorpDev → Product Strategy at L4-L5 when M&A focus shifts to technology integration

CorpDev → Investment Banking at L6+ for buy-side private equity or growth equity roles