Corporate Development – M&A Origination and Founder Relationships

• Research European software markets and identify high-quality acquisition targets that align with Volaris’ strategic and investment criteria, using sound judgment to prioritize the most relevant opportunities.
• Build and nurture multi-year relationships with software company founders, owners, and senior executives. Prepare thoroughly, ask thoughtful questions, understand each stakeholder’s objectives, and communicate Volaris’ permanent ownership model with credibility and integrity.
• Create and execute targeted origination strategies across calls, email, LinkedIn, industry networks, conferences, and referrals. Personalize outreach, test and refine messaging, follow up with discipline, and convert priority targets into meaningful founder and executive dialogues.
• Own early-stage opportunity development by conducting initial qualification, maintaining accurate and timely records, identifying key risks and next steps, and partnering with the Manager, Corporate Development to transition well-developed opportunities into the later stages of the M&A process.
• Deliver against individual and team objectives for targeted activity, meaningful dialogues, qualified opportunities, pipeline progression, and relationship development. Use data to assess performance, adjust your approach, maintain strong pipeline hygiene, and contribute actively to shared team priorities.
• Geographic focus: UK & EU, some MENA exposure

Success in this role means combining intellectual curiosity with consistent execution. You will become credible with founders, develop informed points of view on software markets, create high-quality opportunities through disciplined outreach, and manage a portfolio of relationships with excellent judgment, preparation, and follow-through.

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to earn credibility with founders and senior executives, lead thoughtful discovery conversations, listen carefully, and tailor messages to different stakeholders and cultural contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to work with a high degree of autonomy in a remote environment: set priorities, manage time effectively, exercise judgment, maintain attention to detail, and follow through reliably on commitments and agreed outcomes.
• A strong record of building senior B2B relationships and creating opportunities through proactive outreach. Relevant experience may come from M&A origination, business development, executive search, consulting, enterprise sales, investment banking, or another environment requiring credibility with founders and executives.
• Strong analytical and commercial judgment, with the ability to synthesize incomplete information, assess market and company attractiveness, identify key questions and risks, and form a clear, evidence-based point of view.
• Self-motivated, resilient, and receptive to coaching, with the discipline to sustain high-quality effort through long sales cycles, learn from unsuccessful outreach, and continuously improve your approach.
• Experience in strategic outbound business development using multiple channels preferred but not essential (calls, email, LinkedIn).
• Candidates should be based in Europe
• Professional fluency in English is required. Fluency in German or another European language relevant to the target markets is a strong asset.