Head of Corporate Development

About Mesh

At Mesh, our mission is to enable consumers to pay and be paid with any asset. Today, trillions of dollars in tokenized assets exist but remain largely unusable for everyday commerce. Mesh is bridging this gap by making crypto payments reliable, useful, and ubiquitous. We combine a powerful orchestration engine with a seamless consumer app to unlock liquidity for the world. Backed by leading investors like PayPal Ventures, Paradigm, and Galaxy Ventures, we are building the infrastructure for the next era of the global economy. Join us!

Mesh is hiring its first dedicated Corporate Development lead, a foundational role with a direct impact on the company’s trajectory. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, finance, and technology, you'll need to be as comfortable in a data room as you are interrogating an API integration or stress-testing a settlement architecture with an engineering team.

This is an opportunity to build and own our M&A and strategic partnerships function from the ground up. You’ll define how we identify, evaluate, and execute high-impact opportunities, working closely with leadership to shape where Mesh goes next.

From setting strategy to building a pipeline to closing deals, you’ll operate across the full lifecycle, expanding our capabilities, licensing footprint, and distribution through thoughtful, well-executed partnerships and acquisitions.

We're looking for someone who thrives in early, unstructured environments, takes initiative, and is excited to turn ambition into action. This role is hybrid, based in either San Francisco, CA or New York City, NY, with three days per week in-office.

What You'll Do

• Build and own a high-quality pipeline of M&A opportunities and strategic partnerships across the crypto payments ecosystem
• Lead deals end-to-end: from first outreach through diligence, negotiation, and close
• Run rigorous diligence across financials, product architecture, API integrations, and commercial viability, you'll go deep enough on the technical stack to assess build-vs-buy tradeoffs, evaluate integration complexity, and identify engineering risk before it becomes a deal problem
• Develop investment theses, deal frameworks, and scoring models; present insights directly to the CEO, SVP, and board
• Partner closely with Legal and Finance to structure and negotiate deals that actually get done
• Stay on top of the competitive landscape, tracking key players, emerging trends, and whitespace opportunities
• Build and manage relationships with investment banks, advisors, and potential targets, becoming a go-to player in the ecosystem

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Finance or related field
• 5+ years of experience in investment banking, growth, venture capital, product, or strategy roles, or in-house corporate development at a fintech or crypto company
• You actually run deals, leading M&A or strategic partnerships from first conversation through close
• Strong grasp of crypto payments infrastructure (stablecoins, on/off-ramps, exchange integrations, custody, compliance), you know how the pieces fit together in the real world
• You've evaluated or worked closely with crypto infrastructure at the API layer — whether that's exchange integrations, wallet SDKs, stablecoin settlement rails, or on/off-ramp architecture, and you understand how these systems connect in a real production environment
• Clear, concise communicator who can turn complexity into compelling, board-ready narratives
• Comfortable getting into the weeds with crypto APIs and exchange integrations (or quick to ramp if you haven’t yet)
• Sharp financial instincts with the ability to build models from scratch and pressure-test assumptions like a skeptic
• Technically fluent enough to evaluate a target's API architecture, assess integration complexity into Mesh's stack, and hold a credible diligence conversation with an engineering team, you don't write code, but you know what questions to ask and what the answers mean
• Working knowledge of EMI / MSB / money transmitter licensing (or genuine interest in learning the regulatory side of the stack)

The annual base salary range for this role is $200,000-$225,000 in San Francisco and New York. The compensation range provided may span multiple career levels and will be narrowed during the interview process based on factors including a candidate’s experience, skills, qualifications, and geographic location. For candidates outside of San Francisco and New York, compensation will be adjusted to reflect the applicable market and location-based pay band. The base salary range listed excludes commission (if applicable), equity, and benefits. The pay range represents the minimum and maximum target for new-hire compensation. Actual compensation may vary and may be higher or lower depending on individual circumstances.

Why You’ll Love It Here

At Mesh, you're not stepping into a typical role—you're joining a rocket ship in mid-liftoff. You'll tackle complex, meaningful problems that actually move an industry forward, working alongside a sharp, motivated team that moves quickly, collaborates deeply, and expects everyone to operate with ownership. This is the kind of place where you'll see your work ship fast, make real impact, and be able to point to something and say, "I built that." You'll grow fast, level up your skills, and get a front-row seat to how a high-growth company scales from the inside, with competitive comp, solid benefits, and room to stretch your craft all coming standard. If you're energized by building, learning, and shaping something big—this is where you'll want to be.

In-Office Expectations

Employees based in our San Francisco, New York, and Bangalore hubs are expected to work from the office at least 40% of the time (approximately two days per week). This expectation may vary slightly depending on role, team, and business needs. Certain roles that require closer cross-functional collaboration or operational support may have additional in-office requirements, which will be discussed during the interview process. Our hybrid approach is designed to balance meaningful in-person collaboration, team building, and real-time decision-making with the flexibility to work remotely. We believe this structure supports strong execution while preserving autonomy and focus time.

How We Care For Our Team

We believe great work happens when people feel valued and supported. That starts with competitive salary and equity that grows as you and the company grow, plus comprehensive health coverage for you and your family. We offer unlimited PTO—and we mean it. Take the time you need to recharge and show up at your best.

We're invested in your growth with a dedicated budget for courses, conferences, and certifications. Work from wherever you're most productive with our remote-friendly approach, and count on having the top-tier tools and equipment you need to do exceptional work.

Mesh Pay is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, genetic information, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, lawful alien status, national origin, age, marital status, and non-job related physical or mental disability, or protected veteran status. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.