Associate, Corporate Development

As an Associate in Corporate Development at Kraken (Payward), you'll play a significant role in the company's M&A and growth activities globally. Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions, and is expanding across multiple dimensions through M&A and strategic investments. The Corporate Development team is central to that growth, helping Kraken stay nimble and opportunistic as it pursues leap-frog deals and new sources of competitive advantage.

What you'll do

• Lead due diligence across live transactions with cross-functional teams, organize and maintain data rooms, schedule diligence and debrief sessions, and draft consolidated diligence reports
• Build initial operating models, trading comparables, precedent transactions, DCF and returns analyses, and accretion/dilution support
• Produce first-pass screening memos and company teardowns on inbound opportunities
• Support ownership of the venture investment portfolio: maintain the deal-terms inventory (ownership, instrument, pro-rata, information rights, board and observer seats), collect quarterly portfolio-company KPI updates, and track valuation marks with IRR and MOIC per position
• Support the M&A cash obligations backbone with rolling forecasts of deal-related cash outflows (consideration, holdbacks, earnouts) for FP&A and Treasury
• Prepare executive deal materials, Board pages, and supporting data analysis

What you bring

• A Bachelor's degree (BA or BS) in Business, Commerce, Finance, Actuarial Science, or a related field
• 4+ years of experience at a leading investment bank, venture capital firm, private equity firm, management consultancy, or startup
• Excellence in understanding and scrutinizing business models, including financials, mechanics, and quality within a financial institution
• Excellent financial modeling and valuation skills
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills, writing experience (deal memos), and storytelling skills on industry trends, implications, and pain points
• Advanced Excel proficiency and experience with data analysis tools
• Ability to work self-directed and fluidly across multiple live, high-priority transactions in parallel

Nice to have

• Proficiency with SQL
• A strong network in crypto and/or traditional financial markets
• A technical background or strong knowledge of industry software products and services

About Kraken (Payward)

Payward is the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, and CF Benchmarks. Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, offering spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services for both individual investors and institutional clients.