Vice President, M&A Origination

Socket.dev; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Medical/Dental/Vision

Paid time off

Employee discounts

Job summary

CSC Generation seeks a VP, M&A Origination to set strategy for deal sourcing, build a proprietary pipeline, and lead the outreach network across the company’s portfolio. You will work on a lean, senior team with end-to-end responsibility for origination and deal progression.

The role requires managing a large network, defending investment theses, and traveling to targets and industry events. Hybrid work in Los Angeles, Austin, or Salt Lake City is expected.

Qualifications

• 10–15 years in private equity, investment banking, or similar principal-investing environment.
• Track record of sourcing transactions closed at volume; you personally found and advanced them.
• Deep network across bankers, brokers, and lenders in the middle market.
• Investing judgment to evaluate opportunities and defend views to the investment committee.
• Ability to build a funnel from scratch with a multi-year cultivation cycle.
• Fluency with sourcing CRM platforms and using AI tooling to extend coverage.
• Willingness to travel to targets, lenders, and events.

Responsibilities

• Own origination strategy end to end, size markets, map target universe, and set bolt-on strategy.
• Develop and defend a view on sectors, trends, and buyer landscape.
• Scale the funnel with a current market picture to surface opportunities.
• Structure coverage and resources for future growth of the function.
• Source proprietary opportunities from owners and managers before formal processes.
• Maintain pipeline discipline and report on coverage, conversion, and activity.

Skills

Deal sourcing

Networking

CRM tools

Investment judgment

Owner/founder outreach

Tools

DealCloud

Grata

Sourcescrub

Affinity

Apollo

AI tooling

Job description

CSC Generation is the AI-native holding company re-engineering omnichannel retail. We acquire iconic brands and transform them with Genesis, our operating platform combining a Data Fabric, Automation Engine, proprietary tools, and shared services to modernize operations, elevate customer experience, and expand margins. With $1B+ in revenue across 13 brands, our portfolio includes Sur La Table, Backcountry, One Kings Lane, and others that serve as real-world innovation labs.

Reports to: Executive Leadership

Location: Los Angeles, California; Austin, Texas, or Salt Lake City, UT - Hybrid Required

About the Role

Acquisitions are how CSC Generation grows, making the front end of the deal pipeline one of the most consequential functions in the company. As Vice President, M&A Origination, you will set the strategy for where we look and why, build the relationships that produce proprietary opportunities, and surface businesses we would never have seen through a standard process.

Within your first year, success means a fully built origination engine—defined coverage markets, a growing proprietary pipeline, a systematized intermediary network, and qualified opportunities advancing through the investment process. You will work on a small, senior team where the person who found the deal is in the room when we decide to pursue it.

This is a lean team. You will own a lot, move fast, and make decisions with full end-to-end responsibility.

What You'll Do

Origination Strategy & Market Coverage

• Own the origination strategy end to end—size each market, map the universe of companies that fit CSC's acquisition criteria, identify new categories for expansion, and set the bolt-on strategy for existing platforms.
• Develop and defend a clear point of view on your sectors, including market trends, consolidation dynamics, buyer landscape, and clearing multiples.
• Scale the acquisition funnel by maintaining a current, comprehensive picture of target markets so no relevant business transacts without CSC knowing about it.
• Shape how coverage is divided across the origination team and how the function is structured, resourced, and measured as it grows.

Deal Sourcing & Relationship Management

• Source proprietary opportunities directly from owners, founders, and management teams before a formal process exists.
• Build and systematize the intermediary network—investment banks, corporate development teams, brokers, lenders, specialty-finance firms, and restructuring advisors—so CSC is the first call when an asset comes to market.
• Represent CSC credibly in conversations with owners, boards, and advisors, articulating what we would do with the business, what happens to their team, and why our offer will hold.

Qualification, Execution & Pipeline Discipline

• Screen opportunities against investment criteria, build the initial commercial case, and present a clear recommendation to the investment team with market context, seller motivation, valuation, and risk.
• Stay with your deals through close—remain the relationship owner, step into the deal process wherever you add leverage, and contribute to deal documents as they take shape.
• Maintain pipeline discipline and reporting—coverage, conversion, activity, and relationship status—using modern sourcing, CRM, and AI tooling to extend reach.

Team & Network Building

• Design and run referral and external advisor programs so sourcing capacity scales faster than headcount.
• Develop junior origination talent and set the standard for how origination is executed across CSC.

Required Qualifications

• 10–15 years in private equity, investment banking, or a comparable principal-investing environment with business development or deal origination as a major component of the role.
• Track record of sourcing transactions that closed at volume—proprietary or limited-process deals you personally found, cultivated, and advanced.
• Deep, current network across bankers, brokers, corporate development teams, lenders, and advisors in the middle market, with the standing to open doors on your own name.
• Investing judgment sufficient to evaluate whether an opportunity is worth pursuing and to defend that view to an investment committee.
• Proven ability to build a funnel from scratch—constructing the target universe, segmenting it, running outreach cadence, and sustaining relationships across multi-year cultivation cycles.
• Fluency with sourcing and CRM platforms (DealCloud, Grata, Sourcescrub, Affinity, Apollo, or equivalents) and genuine comfort using AI tooling to extend coverage.
• Comfort managing a pipeline quantitatively—coverage, conversion, and activity—and setting the targets the team is held to.
• Willingness to travel regularly to targets, lenders, advisors, and key industry events.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in consumer, retail, ecommerce, or multi-unit businesses.
• Exposure to carve-outs, distressed, and special-situations transactions.
• Familiarity with deal financing—a working sense of how transactions get funded and structured, enough to talk credibly with owners and lenders about how a deal comes together.
• Experience building or leading a sourcing effort or origination team.

Why Join

The people who do best here are builders. They take ownership, move fast, and want to see the direct impact of their work.

• Executive Access: Work directly with C-suite leadership and brand CEOs—you will be in the room when acquisition decisions are made and your sourcing work will have visible impact on what CSC buys next.
• Portfolio-Wide Leadership: Shape the origination strategy for a growing holding company with 13+ brands rather than operating within a single business unit—high performers are entrusted with greater responsibility and leadership opportunities across the portfolio.
• Build the Function: Define how CSC Generation finds and wins its next acquisitions. You are not inheriting a playbook; you are writing it, with AI-first tooling and the autonomy to design processes from the ground up.
• Competitive Benefits: Paid time off policies, 401(k) match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts across our portfolio of brands.

Interview Process

Interview process is subject to change. Any updates will be communicated promptly and clearly.

1. Recruiter Screen - A 30-minute conversation with our recruiting team to align on the role, your background, and what you are looking for.
2. Hiring Manager Interview - Conversation with Corporate Development leadership focused on your sourcing track record, network depth, and how you approach building a pipeline.
3. Sourcing Challenge - A short take-home exercise so we can understand how you build a funnel and approach execution.
4. Executive Interview - Deep-dive session with CSC senior leadership covering deal origination history, relationship network, and strategic fit.
5. In-Person Interview - We'd like to meet you at our nearest office (Los Angeles, Austin, or Salt Lake City). Details and logistics will be arranged with your recruiter.
6. Reference Checks - Conducted in parallel with the final stages where possible.
7. Offer - We move quickly for the right candidate.

CSC Generation is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The CSC Generation family of brands is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, please contact [e-mail].

For US-based candidates, this posting is intended for candidates that reside in the following states:
AZ, DE, FL, GA, IN, LA, MI, MS, MO, NV, NC, OK, PA, TN, TX, UT, WV, WI, and WY.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie-detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.