Senior Corporate Development Manager

Sphera is a leading global provider of enterprise software and services that enables companies to manage and optimize their environmental, health, safety and sustainability. Our mission is to create a safer, more sustainable and productive world.

Sphera is a portfolio company of Blackstone, a U.S.-based alternative asset investment company that focuses on private equity, technology and innovation, and more. Blackstone businesses succeed through strong partnerships, a personalized approach and a commitment to exceptional performance with uncompromising integrity. Sphera and Blackstone are leaders in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space.

We are guided by our core values of Customer Centricity, Accountability, Bias to Action, Innovation, and Collaboration. These values help us recruit the right talent to join our rapidly expanding team around the globe. It is important to us that each and every Spherion is not only eager to challenge themselves and knows how to get work done but is an awesome addition to our company culture.

Senior Manager of Corporate Development  

Sphera has a proven track record of growth through acquisitions and M&A is an integral part of the go-forward strategy. The Senior Manager of Corporate Development will be a key member of the team that is responsible for executing these transactions on a global basis. Based in downtown Chicago as a hybrid in-person / remote role, this highly visible position will report to the SVP / Head of Corporate Development and interact regularly with other senior leadership at Sphera including C-Suite executives and functional leaders. This individual will also interact frequently with deal professionals at Blackstone, our private equity investor. This individual must be a highly motivated self-starter who possess very strong analytical, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.   

This individual must have extensive experience and continued interest in building detailed financial models with an expectation that financial modeling will make up at least 50% of their daily activities. Other M&A responsibilities will include participating in all phases of the acquisition process and at times supporting various strategic initiatives.  

Core responsibilities include: 

• Regularly building detailed business cases using traditional M&A valuation methodologies and software metrics and leading meetings with functional leaders to finalize metrically driven operating assumptions. 

• Overseeing a robust acquisition pipeline including identification of new M&A targets aligned to strategy and maintaining regular update deck and target profiles for executive level communications and status updates. 

• Designing and overseeing the preparation of materials to facilitate meetings with target company bankers, management, and advisors. 

• Owning the information flow during the deal process including maintaining information requests lists, responses from investment bankers / management and summarizing key highlights for the broader corporate development team. 

• Managing the development of power point decks, excel graphs and charts and memos which concisely convey business case rationale, key due diligence findings, and integration plans for executive and board level presentations. 

• Leading the creation and distribution of excel workbooks used by cross-functional teams for building operating assumptions and ensuring that the inputs are vetted, and applicable assumptions are included in the business case. 

• Owning the presentation for the final Business Case used for underwriting and presenting the Business Case to key stakeholders including the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer and Blackstone, our private equity investor. 

• Partnering with the Corporate Development Operations Manager in the strategy and development of the day 1 and day 100 plan and ensuring flawless execution on day 1 communications. 

• Post deal integration support.  

We are looking for people with the following characteristics:  

• 3- 5 years of relevant experience in Investment Banking, Transaction Services, FP&A or related preferred.  

• Extensive experience and continued interest in building detailed financial models required. The candidate should expect that financial modeling will make up at least 50% of their daily activities. 

• Experience with M&A preferred but not required.  

• Undergraduate degree, preferably with experience in finance, accounting, business or economics. 

• Extremely detail oriented and organized. Must be comfortable working on projects that require an extremely high level of organization, accuracy, and attention to detail. Exemplary time management skills are critical for this role. 

• Team oriented / strong interpersonal skills. Must be comfortable working in dynamic and diverse teams, able to handle personalities and situations with a positive attitude. 

• Maintain a high standard of professionalism, ethics, and confidentiality throughout all aspects of the deal cycle. 

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. 

• Ability to balance multiple projects, be results oriented, and drive projects to completion according to deal timelines in a team environment.  

• Advanced competency within Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook required 

Pay:

Commensurate with relevant qualifications and experience

Benefits:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

• Health Savings Account

• Flexible Spending Account

• 401(k) Retirement Plan with Company Match

• Life and Disability Insurance

• Critical Illness Insurance

• Accident Insurance

• Hospital Indemnity Insurance

• Paid Time Off and Holidays

• Flexible Working Schedule

Sphera is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all colleagues. We provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected status.

If you require a reasonable accommodation for a disability during the application or recruiting process, please email us at [email protected] to make your request. To help us best respond, please include your name and the position you are applying for in your message.

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the job and the general nature and level of work performed by job holders within this job. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of qualifications, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.