Associate, Corporate Development [Remote]

Building the Future of Open Finance

Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.

Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our [culture page]( to understand what drives us and how we work.

The team

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.

As a market leader in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, Kraken is expanding across multiple dimensions — including through M&A and strategic investments globally. The Corporate Development team is central to that growth, helping Kraken stay nimble and opportunistic as we pursue leap-frog deals and new sources of competitive advantage.

As an Associate on our Corporate Development team, you’ll play a significant role in our M&A, and growth activities globally.

The opportunity

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

What you bring

• Bachelor's degree (BA or BS) from a university 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 (financials, mechanics, 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 and experience with data analysis tools.
• Ability to work self-directed and fluidly across multiple live, high-priority transactions in parallel.

Nice to Haves

• Proficiency with SQL.
• Strong network in crypto and/or traditional financial markets is a plus.
• Technical background or strong knowledge of industry software products and services.

Our commitment

Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

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