Strategy & M&A Lead

CloudFlare; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 177,000 - 243,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) Retirement Savings

Stock Participation

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Cloudflare is seeking a Strategy & M&A Lead to drive sourcing, evaluation, and execution of strategic transactions across a fast-growing tech landscape. You will operate at the intersection of business, technology, and go-to-market execution.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area or other major markets, you will partner with M&A, R&D, and GTM leaders to close deals and integrate acquisitions, while building scalable strategies that accelerate Cloudflare’s growth.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in investment banking or corporate development at high-growth B2B technology companies.
• Strong technical aptitude and product fluency in Internet infrastructure and AI/cybersecurity markets.
• Experience leading M&A processes end-to-end from sourcing to closing.
• Analytical mindset with ability to distill complex problems into actionable plans.

Responsibilities

• Play a key role on all phases of M&A from ideation through execution.
• Partner with M&A team and with R&D/Go-To-Market leaders to evaluate opportunities and execute deals.
• Drive deal execution end-to-end including financial/strategic analysis and negotiation support.
• Lead or support new partnership efforts and other strategy projects as needed.

Skills

Investment banking

Corporate development

M&A sourcing

Technical aptitude

Product fluency

Strategic analysis

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

Austin, TX, United States

Position Title: Strategy & M&A Lead

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the worlds largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazines Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the Worlds Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.

At Cloudflare, were not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; were looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If youre the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, youll fit right in.

Available Locations

• Austin, TX
• San Francisco, CA
• New York, NY

Application Deadline: December 8, 2026

About the Team

The Strategy organization operates as a high-velocity engine at the intersection of business, technology, and go-to-market execution, driving enterprise growth, global expansion, market innovation, and strategic execution. Our multi-disciplinary team spans seven core strategic pillars: Network & Infrastructure Strategy, Industry Solutions, Strategic Partnerships, International Expansion, Executive Customer Engagements, Corporate Development & M&A, and the new business model of the Internet. As primary connective tissue across the enterprise, we collaborate closely with Sales, Product & Engineering, Finance, Legal, and Policy to translate corporate vision into measurable, real-world execution.

About the Role

We are looking for a talented individual who thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments to join the Strategy team, focused primarily on M&A with additional exposure to partnership efforts when needed. We are a small, high-agency team responsible for sourcing and executing on acquisitions and partnerships that help accelerate Cloudflares growth.

In order to succeed in this role, candidates should demonstrate strong M&A sourcing/evaluation/execution experience, ability to understand technical concepts and businesses, and ability to proactively drive cross-functional initiatives end-to-end with limited oversight.

Responsibilities

• Play a key role on all phases of M&A from ideation through execution.
• Partner with M&A team and with R&D / GTM leaders to evaluate M&A opportunities, with cross-functional teams to execute deals, and with the M&A integration team to ensure post-close success.
• Drive deal execution process end-to-end, including financial / strategic analysis of potential transactions, supporting negotiation processes, and leading internal deal teams.
• Lead or support new partnership efforts and other strategy projects as needed.

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional or military experience that includes investment banking/investing and corporate development at high-growth B2B technology companies.
• Technical aptitude & product fluency: Deep familiarity with and excitement about the Internet infrastructure landscape, such as the AI, cybersecurity, infrastructure, developer tools, and other B2B SaaS markets.
• Ownership & ability to execute: Experience leading or playing key role in M&A processes end-to-end, from sourcing and strategic evaluation through closing.
• Intellectual curiosity & analytical mindset: Naturally curious problem-solver who thrives on unraveling ambiguous technical and business challenges, distilling them into clear choices and actionable plans, and ensuring smooth execution on those plans.

Compensation

Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location.

• For San Francisco Bay Area based hires: Estimated annual salary of $177,000 - $243,000.

• For New York City based hires: Estimated annual salary of $169,000 - $232,000.

Equity

This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflares equity plan.

Benefits

Cloudflare offers a complete package of benefits and programs to support you and your family. Our benefits programs can help you pay health care expenses, support caregiving, build capital for the future and make life a little easier and fun! The below is a description of our benefits for employees in the United States, and benefits may vary for employees based outside the U.S.

Health & Welfare Benefits

• Medical/Rx Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Commuter Spending Accounts
• Fertility & Family Forming Benefits
• On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program
• Global Travel Medical Insurance

Financial Benefits

• Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Life & Accident Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Employee Stock Participation Plan

Time Off

• Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
• Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

Were not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. Were a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo: Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflares enterprise customers--at no cost.

Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Heres the deal - we dont store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Sound like something you'd like to be a part of? Wed love to hear from you!

Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs. More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at [e-mail] or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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