M&A Advisor (New York Office)

Location: New York, NY (in-office)

About Forge

Forge Origination is a buyside M&A advisory firm that works with world-class private equity funds and strategic acquirers to find and evaluate acquisition opportunities. We focus on the front end of deals – mapping industries and acquisition targets, leading outreach to these businesses, and introducing our clients to business owners to facilitate transactions. We operate in a fast-paced environment and hold ourselves to the highest standard of professionalism and accountability.

The Role

We are currently hiring for our M&A deal origination team in our New York office. The role will require you to understand the M&A process and educate business owners on it. Moreover, you will be staffed on engagements across many industries requiring you to learn the industries deeply, source and evaluate acquisition opportunities in these industries, and present these opportunities to our clients.

Many of the businesses you will reach out to are privately owned, not for sale, and have never spoken to an acquirer or an M&A Advisor. They are at different phases in their journey – some will sell today, six months from now, or five years from now. This is a relationship building role. We build meaningful relationships, provide advice and value, so that when owners decide to sell, they call us. If they don’t call, we are diligent in our outreach and communication, so we are there when the time is right.

This role is a combination of finance and sales requiring you to understand M&A and source deals. The day to day is like a sales role – prospecting, cold outreach, relationship building, in-person meetings, conferences, and follow-up. You will also manage clients and reporting – pipeline updates, assisting in deal progression, and negotiating offers.

What You’ll Do

• Cold and warm outreach to business owners across calling, email, and LinkedIn. This is most of the role.
• Research industries and compile acquisition target lists based on buyer mandates – industry, geography, size, ownership, etc.
• Effectively pitch business owners and executives about M&A and our clients
• Qualify acquisition opportunities through conversation with business owners and analysis of data including financial statements
• Manage engagements with our private equity and strategic acquirer clients – presenting acquisition opportunities, creating and presenting external reports, and facilitating introductory calls between acquirers and business owners
• Develop relationships with private equity funds, strategic acquirers, and business owners
• Manage your CRM (HubSpot)

Who We’re Looking For

• 1–5 years in sales of any kind (real estate, software, etc.), investment banking, private equity, corporate development, transaction advisory, or business brokerage
• High IQ and EQ. This role requires effective communication with a variety of people – managing directors at private equity funds, C-level executives, and business owners of all kinds. It is paramount to have situational awareness, communicate clearly and effectively, and to build rapport.
• Understanding of financial statements and M&A fundamentals
• Patience to build long-lasting relationships – M&A is one of the longest sales cycles in business
• Exceptional communication – confident in any setting including on the phone, concise writing, and the ability to simplify complex ideas
• Humility, accountability, and autonomy – no task is below you, you are hungry to learn and improve quickly, and you don’t need baby-sitting
• Insatiable hunger to compete and win

What You Get

• Opportunity to join a fast-scaling professional services firm
• Access and direct exposure to the world’s leading investors and companies
• A deep understanding of investing, M&A, private equity, and investment banking
• Opportunity to build relationships with private funds, business owners, and many other professionals across the M&A and private equity ecosystems
• A clear upward path to scale as the firm scales

Pay & Benefits

• Base salary: $80,000–$100,000
• Uncapped deal commission on top of base, with expected on-target earnings of $220,000+
• Full benefits