WHAT DOES A CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE DO?

Published: August 23, 2024 - The Corporate Development Associate plays a crucial role in shaping the strategic growth of the organization. This position involves developing detailed financial models to evaluate new partnership opportunities and support strategic acquisitions. The associate also manages the entire transaction lifecycle, from initial due diligence to creating business cases and presenting findings to senior management, ensuring informed decision-making through meticulous research and analysis of market dynamics and potential acquisitions.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Corporate Development Associate

1. Corporate Development Associate Duties

  • Strategy Development: Develop Uber’s M&A and capital markets strategy and identify transaction opportunities in concert with business leadership across Mobility, Delivery, and Freight.
  • M&A Support: Support the entirety of the M&A process including strategy, sourcing, diligence, negotiation, and execution.
  • Financial Analysis: Conduct thorough financial analysis to assess company valuation and synergy opportunities.
  • Executive Reporting: Prepare and give business reviews to Uber’s executive leadership team regarding progress and roadblocks.
  • Capital Raising: Support public and private market capital raising transactions.
  • Leadership Support: Work with senior leadership in the delivery of key pivotal initiatives and associated outputs, supporting the team in day-to-day stakeholder management, project management, and the development of high-quality project results.
  • Project Management: Define the scope and activities of sophisticated projects ensuring they are well-executed and leading any issues.
  • Strategic Communication: Communicate and agree with partners on a strategic level and running different interests.
  • Initiative Leadership: Support and lead ongoing initiatives across various entities including but not limited to P2P lending, remittance, payment processing, e-money, banks, logistics.
  • Synergy Management: Lead and drive initiatives involving cross-company synergies.

2. Corporate Development Associate Details

  • Due Diligence: Assist in deal execution, including due diligence, financial modeling, and negotiations.
  • Financial Modeling: Design, build, and present ad hoc analyses and financial models to support negotiations, including capitalization structures and strategic and business model scenarios.
  • Market Analysis: Analyze and understand Aurora’s strategic objectives and identify industry trends to investigate, recommend, and pursue companies/technologies that can meet those objectives.
  • Research Management: Create actionable, targeted market landscapes in key priority areas, owning the lifecycle of research initiatives end-to-end, from crafting taxonomies that make sense to Aurora, prioritization, collaborating with team members to determine evaluation rubrics, to outreach.
  • Trend Analysis: Educate Corp Dev and Engineering on developments and new trends in key areas.
  • Relationship Building: Build relationships with internal cross-functional teams including product management, engineering, and legal functions.
  • Tool Development: Help build valuation tools, including market and transaction comparables.
  • Pipeline Management: Consistently reach out to business owners via phone, email, and in-person to maintain a pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities.
  • Deal Analysis: Qualify and analyze deals based on investment criteria and operating model, and work with the senior management team to “win the deal.”
  • Event Participation: Attend industry events and conferences of interest.

3. Corporate Development Associate Responsibilities

  • Financial Modeling: Build financial models and projections, and prepare presentation materials.
  • Analytical Support: Conduct in-depth analysis and provide insights and analytical support to internal stakeholders to drive effective business decision-making.
  • Industry Research: Conduct industry research to provide helpful insights to senior management.
  • Business Evaluation: Assist in the evaluation and execution of new business initiatives and partnership opportunities.
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with business, product, finance, legal & compliance to implement highest priority corporate development initiatives.
  • Fundraising Support: Assist in fundraising and investor relations matters.
  • Adaptability: Get hands-on with many miscellaneous functions and tasks as a result of the company’s rapid growth.
  • Relationship Management: Build, develop, and maintain strong relationships with business owners considering the company as a partner for their business.
  • Messaging: Craft a compelling message to business owners on why they should partner with and sell their company.

4. Corporate Development Associate Accountabilities

  • Strategic Planning: Work with the corporate development team to formulate, evaluate, develop, and help implement R&D strategic plan and infrastructure.
  • Research Contribution: Contribute to diligence and intelligence research on collaborators and competitors in the field.
  • Information Research: Direct and or perform research as needed to obtain information required for business analyses and competitive benchmarking.
  • Opportunity Identification: Identify and present opportunities to leverage the Company's technologies to advance their strategic vision.
  • Due Diligence Support: Support strategic, commercial, and scientific due diligence evaluations of licensing and strategic collaboration opportunities and make recommendations to senior management as part of an integrated team.
  • Outreach Support: Support business outreach activities at scientific and business development conferences.
  • Presentation Skills: Translate complex scientific ideas and concepts into succinct presentations.
  • Vendor Management: Manage external vendor relationships/contracts.
  • Research Initiative: Initiate appropriate research and analysis and prepare reports for internal and external projects.
  • Financial Modeling: Build complex financial models for company valuation purposes including discounted cash flow, comparable public companies, precedent transactions, and leveraged buyout analyses.

5. Corporate Development Associate Overview

  • Transaction Execution: Lead day-to-day transaction execution, coordinate due diligence, and support the structuring of acquisition opportunities in coordination with operational leads, legal counsel, and external parties.
  • Data Analysis: Conduct in-depth analysis of financial, legal, and operational data to evaluate potential M&A targets.
  • Financial Modeling: Develop detailed financial models in support of strategic acquisitions and other new growth partnership opportunities.
  • Lifecycle Support: Support the full transaction lifecycle including reviewing confidential information presentations, preparing, and reviewing data rooms, conducting due diligence, etc.
  • Memorandum Creation: Create in-depth memorandums and present to senior management regarding the rationale of prospective acquisitions.
  • Process Improvement: Drive continuous improvement of analytical tools, processes, and outputs.
  • Project Assistance: Assist with the management of select business development initiatives and other strategic projects.
  • Pipeline Support: Support the Corporate Development pipeline by researching industry dynamics, screening potential acquisitions, and developing acquisition business cases.
  • Synthesis: Synthesize information gathered in the due diligence process to inform key decision-makers.
  • Financial Analysis: Perform financial analyses/modeling for strategic and M&A initiatives.
  • Stakeholder Interaction: Interface with potential acquisition C-level members in the gathering of due diligence.

6. Corporate Development Associate Tasks

  • Market Research: Research adjacent markets, monitor competitors, and identify key trends impacting eCommerce.
  • Account Management: Create new accounts on eCommerce platforms and list new products.
  • Platform Operations: Daily operation on the eCommerce platform.
  • Partnership Management: Partner with Reseller to provide quotation after receiving RFQ.
  • Opportunity Analysis: Identify and evaluate potential Merger & Acquisition/investment/business opportunities.
  • Financial Modeling: Own the financial modeling for deals, including accretion/dilution, DCF, ROI, comparable analysis, and other market models.
  • Deal Support: Support deal execution by working with corporate finance, legal, HR, and communications leads.
  • Presentation Preparation: Prepare presentations for Corporate Development Manager that balance detailed analysis with crisp conclusions.
  • Portfolio Support: Support the existing portfolio of products, investment, and new opportunities.
  • Sales Pitching: Pitch to potential offline customers to seek new opportunities.
  • Logistics Support: Work with a logistics coordinator to support goods' delivery after PO is signed.

7. Corporate Development Associate Roles

  • Opportunity Sourcing: Support the sourcing of acquisition opportunities and manage the M&A pipeline.
  • Due Diligence Support: Provide support in the due diligence process for acquisitions, including the management of key objectives, timelines, and deliverables across business units and corporate functions.
  • Coordination: Coordinate with internal and external subject matter experts on due diligence.
  • Financial Analysis: Assist with financial analysis and modeling for Corporate Development activities.
  • Market Research: Support research and analysis of market segments and competitors.
  • Liaison Coordination: Regularly liaise/coordinate with Arsenal on the M&A process.
  • Strategy Review: Support the periodic review of the M&A strategy.
  • Presentation Development: Develop presentations for management, investors, and the Board to drive sound and quick decision-making.

8. Corporate Development Associate Additional Details

  • Benchmarking: Create and maintain internal benchmarking reports to track operational and financial performance.
  • Business Case Analysis: Analyze and evaluate the business case for key strategic initiatives, including organic growth opportunities and acquisitions.
  • Operational Analysis: Analyze operational concerns relating to existing business execution, profitability, and efficiency.
  • Financial Modeling: Create financial models to prove project thesis and assist with corporate and division-level financial planning.
  • Strategic Partnership: Partner with key internal stakeholders to develop strategic investment themes and assess potential acquisition and investment opportunities.
  • M&A Coordination: Coordinate all aspects of the M&A process (e.g., due diligence, data rooms, internal updates, proforma financial modeling), support M&A integration workstreams, and run the suite of corporate development systems & tools.
  • Market Research: Research and develop a robust understanding of current and new market trends & competitive landscape, and provide regular reporting to senior management team.
  • Problem Solving: Distill complex problems efficiently, anticipate issues, and evaluate possible solutions.
  • Project Management: Plan, manage, and execute a wide variety of corporate & special projects.
  • Data Management: Assist with internal data management projects, including data auditing, corrections, and reporting tool creation.
  • Decision Analysis: Conduct holistic, detailed analyses to influence decision-making, including industry TAMs, competitive landscapes, customer overlaps, and valuation and business case modeling.
  • Teamwork Promotion: Promote teamwork throughout the organization and assist on special projects.

9. Corporate Development Associate Essential Functions

  • Growth Strategy Support: Support Rapyd’s growth strategy through identifying, targeting, assessing, and executing potential mergers, acquisitions, investments, and divestitures by the company.
  • Opportunity Evaluation: Execute a robust and comprehensive process of identifying and evaluating potential opportunities, including a rigorous idea generation and screening process that will bring quality acquisition and investment ideas to the company’s management team.
  • Market Research: Research adjacent markets, monitor competitors, and identify key trends impacting Rapyd.
  • Synthesis: Conduct market research, synthesize findings, and work with Rapyd’s executive leadership team to identify acquisition and investment opportunities that accelerate mission.
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Work with cross-functional teams in developing acquisition business case analyses and executing and interfacing with finance, accounting, legal, tax, HR, and other departments of Rapyd to ensure seamless deal execution.
  • M&A Support: Support the Corporate Development team during, and after the M&A processes, to ensure the deals make strategic sense, fit with the forward-looking business plans, and are integrated smoothly and fully optimized.
  • Deliverable Management: Execute key deliverables including creating analyses, overseeing execution, and identifying next steps in the process flow.
  • Financial Modeling: Own the financial modeling for deals, including accretion/dilution, DCF, ROI, comparable analysis, and other market models.
  • Negotiation Skills: Present at meetings with confidence and negotiate M&A deals with composure, objectivity, balancing diplomacy with the ability to drive outcomes that are in Rapyd’s best interests.

10. Corporate Development Associate Essential Functions

  • M&A Analysis: Drive the analysis of potential M&A opportunities, from sourcing of deals to mapping and analyzing opportunities across all geographies and different business verticals.
  • Workstream Leadership: Lead all commercial and financial-related workstreams, working hand in hand with advisors and Corporate Legal and Tax teams.
  • Fundraising Support: Support on all aspects of equity fundraising rounds and other debt-like instruments, from preparation of decks and introductory materials to business plan, valuation, term sheet, and Due Diligence management.
  • Reporting: Prepare ad hoc reports for the Management team, Board of Directors, investor relations, and other team presentations.
  • Opportunity Execution: Support identification, evaluation, and execution of M&A opportunities.
  • Due Diligence Assessment: Assess qualitative and quantitative business, financial, and other due diligence in conjunction with Enstructure executives and third-party banks and consultants.
  • Research: Conduct industry and company-specific research.
  • Briefing Production: Produce internal briefing documents.
  • Presentation Preparation: Prepare and maintain industry-specific business development presentations and pipelines.
Relevant Information
What Does A Corporate Development Analyst Do?