Head of Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships

Head of Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships

Location: Maidenhead, Hybrid Flexible Working
Contract: Full Time, Permanent
Salary: Up to £140,000 per annum + extensive benefits

At Life Services, our mission is to help every family in Britain navigate the hardest moments of life with simplicity, dignity, kindness and exceptional care. Our vision is to become the UK's leading end-of-life company, helping one in three people across the UK to plan for and deal with death.

As we continue to evolve and grow, we’re looking for a Head of Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships to lead the identification and delivery of the opportunities that will shape our future, a highly visible role driving inorganic and strategic growth across the Group.

This is a newly created role, giving you the chance to build and evolve our corporate development capability from the ground up. You'll report into executive leadership and work closely with them, external advisers and potential partners to provide the commercial insight, market intelligence and strategic analysis that underpins our investment decisions.

It's a role for someone commercially sharp and entrepreneurial, someone who enjoys building relationships, spotting opportunity, and turning insight into practical growth outcomes across our Cemetery & Crematoria estate, Funeral Division, and complementary services such as Simplicity, Legal Services, probate, will-writing and legacy planning.

• Build and maintain acquisition pipelines across the Cemetery & Crematoria estate, the Funeral Division, and adjacent business areas including Simplicity and Legal Services.
• Assess and prioritise acquisition targets, from independent and small-group Funeral Directors to crematoria, cemeteries and complementary service providers.
• Evaluate opportunities for new site openings and expansion into attractive geographic markets.
• Lead commercial evaluation, valuation and business case development for acquisitions, partnerships and strategic investments.
• Build and maintain financial models covering valuation, returns, synergies and scenario analysis.
• Support and lead transaction execution, due diligence, negotiation and completion, working with internal and external advisers on deal structures, SPA/APA terms, working capital mechanisms and earn-outs.
• Develop strategic partnerships and commercial agreements with corporates, local authorities, councils, healthcare providers and charities.
• Monitor market, competitor and sector trends to identify emerging opportunities and risks.
• Present investment cases and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

A commercially minded corporate development professional with a background in M&A, Corporate Development, Strategy, Investment Banking, Private Equity or a comparable growth environment. You'll have a track record of identifying, evaluating and executing acquisitions from origination through to completion, with strong financial modelling skills and a solid grasp of valuation methodologies, investment appraisal and transaction structures (SPAs, APAs, earn-outs, completion accounts, working capital mechanisms).

• Thrive in an entrepreneurial environment, shaping strategy and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Combine sharp commercial and financial judgement with strong relationship-building and negotiation skills.
• Are naturally curious about markets and competitor activity, and quick to turn insight into action.
• Want the opportunity to build and own a corporate development capability over time.
• Can present complex commercial and strategic ideas…