Sr Director, Corporate Development Palo Alto, California Remote

Responsibilities:

• Lead End-to-End M&A and Investments Execution:
  Support Upwork’s growth strategy through identification, assessment and execution of potential mergers, acquisitions, investments, and joint ventures including sourcing, valuation, due diligence, commercial and legal document negotiations, and post-merger integration.
• Financial Modeling & Business Case Development:
  Build and oversee detailed evaluation exercises (Build/Buy/Partner), valuation models, ROI frameworks, and scenario analyses to evaluate deal economics and to prepare acquisition and investment business cases.
• Executive & Board Engagement:
  Translate complex market insights into actionable recommendations and prepare investment / M&A memos and presentations for leadership and the Board of Directors to secure buy-in on major initiatives.
• Integration Leadership:
  Drive post-deal integration in partnership with cross-functional leaders to maximize value capture and ensure acquired capabilities are successfully scaled within Upwork’s platform by setting KPIs and milestones to measure integration success and drive value realization.
• Competitive & Market Intelligence:
  Partner with Corporate Strategy team to build and advance a disciplined approach to market, competitive, and ecosystem intelligence to identify white spaces, disruptive trends, emerging opportunities and prospective companies to partner with, invest in or acquire.
• Team Leadership & Development:
  Provide strategic direction and mentorship to a high-performing Corporate Development team, driving a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning. Oversee workload prioritization, professional growth, and performance management to ensure the team consistently delivers at the highest standard across all phases of M&A and investment execution.
• Ecosystem Relationships:
  Cultivate relationships with bankers, VCs, advisors, and entrepreneurs to ensure strong deal and information flow.

• 12+ years in corporate development, investment banking, management consulting, or private equity with a consistent track record of leading and evaluating end-to-end transactions and deep exposure to technology and innovation ecosystems.
• Strong strategic vision and business acumen with an understanding of key business drivers and the ability to connect M&A and investment opportunities to product and long-term market trends, translating insights into actionable strategies.
• Significant experience in managing people and leading cross-functional teams to execute all aspects of a deal, from idea generation to due diligence and negotiations, with strong negotiation experience and a reputation for closing complex, high-value deals.
• Exceptional analytical, financial modeling, valuation and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate analysis into clear recommendations.
• Executive presence and communication skills with experience influencing and presenting to GMs, product leaders, C-suite and Board level executives on product strategy, go-to-market decisions, and long-range planning in addition to M&A execution.
• Familiarity with marketplaces, AI or HR/labor tech strongly preferred.
• Excellent judgement with the ability to think creatively and conceptually, while thriving in a highly dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and executive communication skills, with the ability to influence across all levels of an organization
• A bias for action, growth mindset, and ability to navigate ambiguity and complexity with clarity and purpose

At Upwork, you’ll shape the future of work for a global, remote-first workforce, creating economic opportunities for professionals worldwide. While we have a physical office in Palo Alto, we currently hire full-time employees in 34 U.S. states, making it easier than ever to join our mission from wherever you call home.

Our culture is built on trust, risk-taking, customer focus, and excellence, all in service of our core mission: to create economic opportunities so people have better lives. We embrace authenticity and inclusion, encouraging everyone to bring their whole selves to…