Corporate Development Lead - M&A

About the Role:

The incumbent will lead the Corporate Development and M&A charter for the Group - driving inorganic growth, strategic investments, partnerships, and portfolio shaping initiatives across businesses. The role will work closely with senior leadership, business CEOs, Finance, and Legal to identify, evaluate, execute, and integrate strategic opportunities aligned to the Group's long-term growth agenda.

Key Responsibilities:

1. M&A and Strategic Transactions:

- Lead end-to-end execution of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, strategic investments, and JV opportunities.

- Drive transaction evaluation, valuation, due diligence, negotiation, structuring, and closure.

2. Corporate Development Strategy:

- Identify inorganic growth opportunities aligned to Group priorities and emerging market themes.

- Build sector intelligence, competitive mapping, and target pipelines across financial services and adjacent areas.

3. Strategic Partnerships and Investments:

- Evaluate fintech, technology, distribution, and ecosystem partnership opportunities.

- Support strategic investment decisions including minority investments and platform partnerships.

4. Deal Execution and Stakeholder Management:

- Coordinate with internal stakeholders including business teams, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Tax, and Legal.

- Manage external advisors such as investment bankers, consultants, law firms, and diligence partners.

5. Post-Merger Integration and Value Realisation:

- Support integration planning and synergy tracking for completed transactions.

- Drive governance cadence to ensure realization of strategic and financial objectives.

6. Leadership Communication and Governance:

- Prepare Board, management committee, and investment committee materials.

- Present transaction rationale, risks, valuation insights, and recommendations to senior leadership.

Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

- MBA from a premier institute / CA.

- 815 years of experience in Corporate Development, M&A, Investment Banking, or PE/VC.

- Strong understanding of valuation, financial modelling, due diligence, transaction structuring, and deal execution.

- Experience in BFSI, fintech, wealth, capital markets, or adjacent sectors preferred.

- Strong strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and executive communication skills.

- Ability to independently drive high-impact cross-functional initiatives in a fast-paced environment.