SVP – Corporate Development — Payments Portfolio

The mandate

A multinational-owned payments group has board approval to pursue acquisitions in merchant capability, fraud technology and adjacent services. The agenda is strategically coherent but the capital reset changes its burden of proof. Previous opportunities arrived through advisers, synergy cases were built late and integration leadership was identified after exclusivity. The board wants proprietary choices whose operating logic is credible before price momentum takes over.

The newly created SVP – Corporate Development will influence approximately A$3,600 million in assets and investment and lead about 275 employees and material partners. The perimeter includes strategy translation, target origination, valuation, diligence, deal execution, partnership alternatives, integration design and value realisation. This is not a transaction office that hands responsibility away at completion.

Every deal thesis must identify the customer problem, capability acquired, route to distribution and reason ownership beats partnership or internal build. Economics should include retention, network cost, fraud, compliance, technology migration and management capacity. The SVP will insist on evidence ranges and a price at which the board should walk away.

Integration logic begins before diligence. Product, platform, brand, talent and control decisions need named owners, Day One protection and explicit conditions for convergence. Capital should not be committed if the organisation lacks the capacity to absorb the target without damaging the core portfolio.

The existing portfolio also needs a candid post-investment review. Earn-outs, stranded systems and retained minority interests can keep capital tied to theses that have already changed. The SVP will compare original approval assumptions with realised customer, product and cash outcomes, then recommend further investment, restructuring or exit. Lessons should alter future diligence rather than remain in a retrospective paper.

Deal incentives require deliberate design. Origination credit should not reward volume at the expense of quality, and integration leaders need authority before they inherit targets negotiated without them. The corporate-development scorecard should recognise disciplined rejection, clean handover and value achieved after completion as strongly as transactions announced.

Why this seat is open

This planned new role was approved for the next operating model, not as a replacement. A four-to-six-month search enables arrival before the next capital and talent cycle. Confidentiality protects target interest and organisation design while existing executives retain their accountabilities.

What you will own

• Translate strategy into proprietary target themes and disqualifying criteria.
• Compare acquisition with build, partner, minority investment and no-action alternatives.
• Steward A$3,600 million of assets, investments, risk acceptance and forecasts.
• Lead commercial, financial, technology, people and regulatory diligence.
• Establish valuation ranges, walk-away prices and explicit capital gates.
• Design integration leadership, Day One controls and value milestones before signing.
• Track value beyond completion and intervene when thesis assumptions fail.
• Lead 275 employees and partners with clear transaction and portfolio accountability.

The first 12 months

The opening 90 days should review the approved inorganic thesis, historic pipeline and integration capacity. Meet the 30 stakeholders central to execution, including product, engineering, risk, finance, customers and capital sponsors. Reassess live targets against common criteria, identify unresolved legacy value cases and agree board gates for diligence, exclusivity and signing. Assess leadership and stop work that lacks strategic fit.

Months four to nine should build direct market access, advance only qualified opportunities and complete integration blueprints alongside diligence. Fill critical leadership gaps and release cash or capacity from abandoned pursuits and unresolved legacy initiatives. If a transaction proceeds, its leaders, controls, customer protections and synergy owners must be named before completion.

By month twelve, the board should see a proprietary pipeline, credible integration logic and observable value realisation. The annual case must be within 10% of baseline; forecasts should reconcile capital, customer, operating and people assumptions for three quarters. Priority risks must close by agreed dates with independent evidence, and no severe escalation may remain unresolved beyond 30 days.

What the board will measure

• Proportion of qualified opportunities sourced directly and rejected before costly diligence.
• Investment returns under realistic integration, retention and downside scenarios.
• Speed and quality of board decisions at each capital gate.
• Value realised from completed deals against signed thesis assumptions.
• Preservation of at least 90% of pivotal talent and ready-now cover for 70% of direct reports.
• Quantified improvement in capital allocation, supported by traceable data ownership.

The person

You are an SVP Corporate Development, M&A Director or Strategy Executive with 22–28 years in financial services or an adjacent transaction-intensive industry. You have owned a material platform or value stream end to end, including budget, talent and measurable results after completion.

Your accountable P&L, budget, book or portfolio has been at least A$2,100 million, and you have led 200 or more people. You can cite a deal you stopped, an ownership alternative you selected and a completed integration whose outcomes survived at least two reporting periods.

The strongest candidates are comfortable disappointing sponsors early. They can distinguish strategic excitement from proprietary advantage and remain accountable after advisers and deal teams depart.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is A$380,000–500,000 plus annual incentive. The permanent role is onsite in Sydney, supports international relocation and can accommodate up to six months’ notice. Final structure reflects confirmed deal and portfolio scope.

Confidentiality

The client and potential targets remain confidential until mutual relevance and formal undertakings are established. Published ranges and circumstances are deliberately non-identifying.