HR (People) M&A Lead
At a glance
Senior Investment & Corporate Development role at Kraken. Remote, United States · full-time · $110,400–$220,800 base.
financeroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Run the people workstream from initial M&A review through closing and post-deal integration
- Build target-company questionnaires, request records, and lead follow-ups and deeper-dive sessions
- Use AI and automation to review people data, then rank key risks and recommend actions
- Model compensation, equity, retention and earn-out terms to support deal negotiations
- Coordinate integration work on org design, pay alignment, retention and Day 1 readiness
What you bring
- At least eight years across people diligence, HR integration, total rewards or corporate development
- Hands-on responsibility for the people workstream on completed deals
- Direct experience modelling compensation, equity, dilution, retention costs and integration spend
- Experience with cross-border deals and employment issues tied to multiple jurisdictions or regulatory change of control
Who this fits
This senior role suits an in-house operator who can make clear risk calls with incomplete information and defend recommendations to executives. You’ll manage concurrent deals on tight timelines, handle confidential live transactions and negotiate with founders. The role is remote in the United States.
From the employer
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.
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.
Payward is hiring a HR (People) M&A Lead to own the people side of our M&A activity end to end — from first-pass diligence through close and integration. Reporting directly to our CPO, this is a high-pace, high-volume seat that needs someone who thrives on fast turnarounds and incomplete information. We're looking for an in-house operator with an analyst's mindset who can use AI to move fast through messy data rooms, but whose real edge is judgment — knowing what risks matter and when to deviate.
The opportunity
Own the people's workstream of Payward's M&A activity end to end — from first-pass diligence through close and integration.
Build and own People due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) including data requests and questions to the target, follow-ups and deeper-dive workshops.
Crunch high-volume, low-structure data rooms — employment contracts, org data, comp and equity files, policies, claims history — using AI and automation to compress review cycles.
Filter signal from noise: translate hundreds of findings into a short list of flags scored against Payward's risk tolerance, with a clear recommendation attached to each.
Lead the drafting of the people-side deal mechanics: comp modelling, equity treatment, retention and earn-out structures, and deal-specific considerations that hold up in negotiation with founders.
Sit in the room with corp dev, legal, finance and People leadership — leverage SMEs and push recommendations upward, defending them with data.
Act as People M&A program manager during integration after signing: support org design, levelling and comp harmonization, retention execution, and Day 1 people readiness.
Turn each deal into reusable infrastructure and learnings — playbooks, DDQ templates, risk scoring, and automation that make the next deal faster.
What you bring
8+ years across M&A people/HR diligence, integration, total rewards, or corp dev — with hands-on ownership of the people workstream on completed deals.
A track record of running multi-diligence processes in tandem, to a hard timeline: knowing what to prioritize or defer.
Strong analytical depth — comfortable modelling comp, equity, dilution, retention cost and integration spend directly, not briefing someone else to do it.
Global/cross-border deal experience with multi-jurisdiction and/or regulatory change of control employment considerations.
Demonstrated use of AI and automation to review large document volumes, with judgement about where the model's output can and cannot be trusted.
Ability to make and communicate risk calls on incomplete information, and to state a position clearly to executive stakeholders.
Credibility in founder-facing negotiation conversations on comp, equity and retention structures.
Rigorous confidentiality instincts and comfort operating on live, undisclosed transactions.
High agency in ambiguity — deals move, scope shifts, and no one hands over a finished process.
Nice to haves
Crypto, fintech or regulated financial services acquisition experience.
Experience integrating founder-led or early-stage teams into a larger platform.
Prior work building a diligence or integration playbook from scratch.
Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.
We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
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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