Corporate Development Associate

A high-growth, private-equity-backed Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance (TICC) group is hiring a Corporate Development Associate to support a very active, global buy-and-build strategy. The role suits a technically strong financial due diligence/transaction services professional who wants genuine end-to-end deal exposure in a lean, high-velocity in-house M&A team.

About the group: Dynamic, fast-growing international TICC platform, providing specialist testing, inspection, certification and compliance services across multiple end markets. c.£800m revenues across operations across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, UK & Ireland and EMEA. One of the most active acquirers in the sector, completing 25+ deals in 2025 with further acceleration expected, giving Associates unusually rich deal exposure.

Role overview:

• Location: Central London (Kings Cross area), hybrid, minimum three days a week in the office (realistically c.4 days initially for onboarding and integration).
• Reporting: Directly to a Corporate Development Manager, with close collaboration with the Group Head of Corporate Development & M&A and the wider corporate development and origination teams.
• Start date: As soon as possible, subject to notice period.

The Associate will “own the numbers” on potential acquisitions, consolidating, interrogating, and presenting financial data across multiple simultaneous deals in the UK, Europe, the US and other target geographies.

Responsibilities:

• Take ownership of financial analysis on potential and live deals, consolidating initial information, historical financials and KPIs into clear, decision-ready analysis packs for senior stakeholders.
• Build robust Excel databooks, sensitivities and valuation inputs, ensuring all analysis reconciles and clearly sets out normalised EBITDA, working capital, key value drivers and EV/equity bridge components.
• Support end-to-end M&A execution across multiple concurrent deals, from origination handover and LOIs through due diligence coordination, transaction execution and selected post-deal activities.
• Work closely with origination, divisional leadership, finance and legal to interrogate performance, challenge assumptions and surface risks, anomalies, and insights in the numbers early.
• Contribute to market and sector analysis to support pipeline shaping and prioritisation.
• Help maintain and manage a robust M&A pipeline and build long-term relationships with advisers, brokers, and other external stakeholders.

Your experience:

• c.4–5 years’ total experience, including at least 1–2 years in financial due diligence/transaction services (Big 4 or Top 10 strongly preferred).
• Candidates from M&A/Corporate Finance with robust accounting fundamentals/financial acumen will also be considered.
• Recognised accounting qualification (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CA or equivalent) and a strong, hands-on accounting foundation.
• Excellent financial acumen: confident with normalised EBITDA, cash-flow and margin analysis, EV/equity bridges, and core M&A financial concepts, with strong Excel/databook skills.
• Proven track record of working across multiple projects or deals simultaneously in a fast-paced, transaction-driven environment, with very close attention to detail and pride in “rock solid” outputs.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, manage competing deadlines and proactively communicate issues and insights rather than simply following a process.
• Exposure to TICC, business services, industrial services or other relevant sectors; generalist FDD backgrounds are very much of interest.
• Strong interpersonal skills and enough personality to integrate into a lean, collaborative team, while being primarily driven by conscientiousness and work quality.
• Additional European or US language skills, given the international deal focus.

Rewards and development:

• Competitive salary depending on experience, plus bonus.
• Standard large-group benefits package (pension, healthcare and related benefits), aligned with comparable group-level roles.
• Exceptional deal flow, with significantly higher annual transaction exposure than a typical FTSE or corporate development role, and meaningful end-to-end involvement rather than a narrow workstream.
• Strong visibility with senior leadership (Group Head of Corporate Development & M&A, CEO, CFO and divisional leaders) and a clear progression path within corporate development for high performers.

Who this will suit?

• Big 4 / Top 10 FDD or transaction services professionals looking to move in-house into a genuinely active, buy-side corporate development seat.
• Candidates already in corporate development or similar roles who were trained in top-tier FDD and now want higher deal volume, broader scope and more responsibility for the numbers.
• Individuals with strong technical accounting and analytical skills, a proactive, low-ego “grafter” mindset and the desire to be part of a tight-knit London team with a strong in-office culture.