Corporate Development Manager - M&A Origination

Job description

Harris' Public Safety portfolio is looking for a Manager, Business Development responsible for building and leading our M&A origination capability while remaining personally accountable for sourcing, engaging and developing potential acquisition targets. This is a player-coach role: the successful candidate will help develop a high-performing origination team, build the systems and operating cadence that support it, and personally create acquisition opportunities for our high-velocity M&A organization. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to join a prolific acquirer and learn from the highly successful acquisition culture of Constellation Software. We don't believe there is a 'one size fits all' profile for this position, but are particularly excited to speak with candidates who have progressive experience in one or a combination of the following functions: M&A sourcing/origination or corporate development Public safety background/SME Private equity, growth equity or other investing roles Outbound SaaS / enterprise software sales Investment banking or transaction advisory Growth/GTM, strategy or entrepreneurial roles (early/growth stage or sponsor-backed) Key Responsibilities Build and lead the origination team Develop, coach and mentor business development team members across founder outreach, market research, relationship development and opportunity qualification. Establish clear expectations for performance and progression; create a culture of curiosity, persistence, accountability and continuous improvement. Allocate markets and verticals across the team, run regular pipeline and relationship reviews, and help team members prioritize the highest-value opportunities. Market mapping and acquisition strategy Conduct detailed research on competitors, potential add-on offerings, new geographies and adjacent markets; translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing priorities for the team. Segment assigned markets and continuously refresh target lists using public and proprietary sources. Research industry dynamics to identify acquisition/investment news, competitive tenders, leadership changes, ownership transitions and other signals that can create acquisition opportunities. Originate & qualify opportunities Remain personally involved in origination and set the standard for the team by executing thoughtful multi-channel outreach (cold calling, email, LinkedIn, trade shows and in-person meetings) with founders and executives. Attend conferences and regional events to build relationships, develop market intelligence and expand the acquisition pipeline. Create proprietary opportunities rather than waiting for companies to formally come to market. Relationship management Build trust with CEOs, entrepreneurs, advisors and intermediaries; act as a long-term relationship manager for acquisition prospects in the public safety market. Maintain thoughtful communication over months and years, understand owner objectives and coach the team on when to advance a conversation, provide value or simply stay in touch. Qualification and pipeline management Evaluate opportunities against strategic and financial criteria, including market position, revenue quality, growth, profitability, product fit, ownership dynamics and long-term attractiveness as a vertical software business. Own both your personal acquisition pipeline and the overall health of the team's pipeline; use data to improve prioritization, coaching, market coverage and conversion. Maintain disciplined Salesforce/CRM processes, including relationship history, next steps, deal stages, pipeline reporting and KPIs for senior management. Transaction support Organize management meetings, site visits and prospecting trips; coordinate initial information flow and provide market and relationship context as opportunities progress. Work closely with the M&A team throughout the process to ensure a smooth hand-off from origination to diligence while maintaining continuity with the founder or management team. Qualifications and Skills Experience: progressive experience in M&A origination, business development, corporate development, investing, enterprise software sales or another relationship-intensive role; experience coaching or managing others is strongly preferred. Player-coach leadership: demonstrated ability to raise the performance of people around you while remaining willing to originate opportunities personally. Enjoys developing talent, giving direct feedback and building repeatable team processes. Commercial "hunter" mentality: demonstrable success in cold outreach, opportunity creation and relationship management. Comfortable navigating conversations and building rapport at the C-suite/founder level. Communication and interpersonal skills: articulate communicator with excellent writing and presentation skills, capable of clearly conveying our investment philosophy and value proposition. Financial literacy and analytical ability: ability to interpret financial statements, understand recurring-revenue software economics and discuss fundamental valuation drivers. Organizational discipline and judgment: strong planning and prioritization; rigorous CRM hygiene; proactive, resourceful and comfortable operating with significant autonomy. High E.Q., low ego and strong judgment. Tools and travel: comfortable using CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce), LinkedIn, email sequencing tools, Excel/PowerPoint and research platforms; willing to travel domestically/internationally (~10-20%) for founder meetings and industry events. Measures of Success (Illustrative) Build, coach and develop a high-performing origination team with clear market ownership, performance expectations and professional progression. Steady cadence of high-quality founder/CEO conversations and new qualified acquisition targets generated personally and across the team. Conversion from outreach → meetings → qualified opportunities → letters of intent, with increasing contribution from proprietary sourcing. Quality and depth of long-term relationships, supported by strong market coverage, pipeline visibility, CRM discipline and adherence to agreed sourcing KPIs. What We Offer Competitive base salary plus performance-based bonus. Comprehensive medical, dental and vision benefits. Opportunity to build and lead a growing M&A origination function with exposure to the full deal lifecycle. Salary range: $100,000 - $110,000 CAD per year.