The Head of Corporate Development leads a business's inorganic growth — its mergers, acquisitions, and strategic deals. Here is what the role involves.
What the role owns
A Head of Corporate Development leads a business's inorganic growth — growth and change through transactions rather than organic operations. This includes identifying and evaluating potential acquisitions, investments, partnerships, and divestitures, and executing the deals that fit the company's strategy. The role is about shaping and growing the business through M&A and strategic transactions, working closely with the CEO, CFO, and board on some of the company's most significant decisions.
Strategy and deal-making together
The role blends two capabilities: strategic thinking — understanding where the business should grow or change and what transactions would serve that — and deal-making expertise — evaluating, structuring, negotiating, and executing transactions well. A strong Head of Corporate Development connects strategy to deals, pursuing transactions that genuinely advance the business's goals rather than deals for their own sake. This combination of strategic judgement and transaction capability is central to the role.
Evaluating and executing deals
A core part of the work is rigorously evaluating opportunities — assessing whether a potential acquisition or transaction makes strategic and financial sense — and then executing well, through due diligence, negotiation, and completion. Good corporate development brings discipline and rigour, pursuing the right deals and executing them soundly, and walking away from the wrong ones. Since transactions carry significant risk and cost, this rigour and judgement genuinely matter, and connect closely to diligence.
Where the role matters and hiring
Corporate development matters most for businesses that grow or reshape themselves significantly through M&A and transactions — including many PE-backed and acquisitive consumer businesses. A strong Head of Corporate Development combines strategic judgement, financial and transaction expertise, and the ability to execute. A retained search can match a corporate development leader to the business's strategy and deal ambitions.
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Explore PE-Backed Consumer Search →Frequently asked questions
What does a Head of Corporate Development do?
They lead a business's inorganic growth and strategic transactions — identifying, evaluating, and executing mergers, acquisitions, investments, partnerships, and divestitures that support the company's strategy — blending strategic thinking with deal-making expertise.
What is the difference between corporate development and M&A?
Corporate development is the broader function of driving inorganic growth and strategic transactions (M&A, investments, partnerships, divestitures) in line with strategy; M&A refers specifically to mergers and acquisitions. M&A is a core part of what corporate development does.
Related: What Is Management Due Diligence? · What Does a CFO Do? · Beauty M&A: Leadership in Deals
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