Head of M&A Recruitment

Head of M&A Recruitment

Exec Capital provides senior Head of Mergers & Acquisitions recruitment for UK firms across listed, private, PE-backed and family-controlled businesses with substantial M&A activity. The Head of M&A role typically reports to the CFO, Chief Strategy Officer or directly to the CEO depending on firm structure, and carries substantive accountability for M&A pipeline development, target identification, transaction execution and (often) post-merger integration leadership. UK Head of M&A senior hiring is shaped by the substantial UK transactions market, the increasingly active PE-backed buy-and-build segment, the Takeover Panel framework for public-market M&A, and a candidate market with deep specialisation by transaction type and sector.

Our practice covers UK senior Head of M&A appointments across in-house corporate development teams at listed and private firms, PE-backed platforms with substantial buy-and-build agendas, and firms with active divestiture programmes. Every mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA. For pre-exit and M&A senior hiring specifically, see our Pre-Exit and M&A Hiring Guide.

What the Head of M&A role covers

The substantive Head of M&A role typically covers four dimensions, with weighting varying by firm.

Pipeline origination and target identification. Sector mapping, target identification, relationship development with potential targets and intermediaries. The most relationship-intensive dimension.

Transaction execution. Diligence coordination, valuation analysis, negotiation support, deal structuring and the substantive process management from term sheet to close.

Post-merger integration leadership. Where the firm pursues active acquisitive growth, integration leadership becomes a substantial dimension of the role — often the difference between deals that deliver expected synergies and deals that don’t.

Capital allocation analytics. Working with the CFO on the firm’s overall capital allocation framework — M&A versus organic versus return of capital trade-offs.

The candidate pool

Five pools recur. Sitting Heads of M&A at peer firms. Most direct pool. Step-up candidates from senior corporate development roles at larger firms. Natural growth pool. Senior investment bankers transitioning to in-house corporate development. Common pool, with substantive transaction execution credentials. PE professionals transitioning to in-house roles. Particularly relevant for PE-backed buy-and-build platforms. Big Four transaction services partners transitioning. Common pool for diligence-and-execution-led versions of the role.

Further reading

For pre-exit and M&A senior hiring including Head of M&A appointments, see our Pre-Exit and M&A Hiring Guide. For PE-backed senior hiring including buy-and-build platforms, see our PE Executive Hiring Guide and private equity recruitment service.

For Head of Strategy recruitment where corporate development is one of several role dimensions, see our Head of Strategy recruitment service. For senior CFO appointments at acquisitive firms specifically, see our sister firm FD Capital. For role-specific senior hiring guides, see our Knowledge Centre.

For UK transactional frameworks underpinning Head of M&A appointments, see the Takeover Panel for public-market M&A, the BVCA for PE M&A guidance, and (for listed-firm M&A activity) the UK Corporate Governance Code.