VP, Corporate Development

Pearl; United States; On-site; USD 250,000 - 500,000; Full time

Job summary

Pearl is seeking a world-class, market-facing corporate development leader to serve as VP, Corporate Development, driving M&A, strategic partnerships, and other high-value opportunities at global scale.

Reporting directly to the CEO, you will be a dealmaker, relationship builder, and strategic partner shaping Pearl's inorganic growth and enterprise value. You will lead complex transactions from thesis to close across the full lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of identifying, developing, negotiating, and closing meaningful transactions.
• Experience across the full transaction lifecycle, including sourcing, diligence, negotiation, and close.
• Experience with AI-enabled marketplaces or platform business models is a plus.
• Ability to partner with founders, CEOs, boards, and senior leadership with autonomy.

Responsibilities

• Create strategic opportunities and build relationships to drive M&A and partnerships.
• Lead transactions through diligence, valuation, negotiation, structuring, and close.
• Shape and pressure-test strategic opportunities for differentiated value.
• Translate market insights into actionable recommendations on strategy and portfolio.
• Build strategic relationships with investors, industry leaders, and partners.
• Shape inorganic growth strategy in concert with the CEO and executive team.
• Create strategic partnerships to expand capabilities and market access.
• Strengthen Pearl's market positioning and credible external storytelling.
• Translate strategy into value creation with cross-functional execution.
• Lead transaction readiness and manage cross-functional diligence.

Skills

Deal sourcing

M&A leadership

Relationship building

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Tools

Financial modeling

Valuation techniques

Job description

Pearl is AI for professional services at global scale, combining advanced AI with verified human expertise to deliver help that is accurate, accountable, and fast. Since 2003, our network has connected millions of customers with licensed professionals across 196 countries, making real expertise available anytime, anywhere.

Our Values

• Data driven: Start with truth, measure what matters.
• Courageous: Bias to action; run toward hard problems.
• Lean: Do more with less. Build, ship, learn fast.
• Humble: Strong opinions, lightly held.

About the Role

Pearl is seeking a world-class, market-facing corporate development leader to serve as VP, Corporate Development, with a demonstrated track record of identifying, developing, and closing meaningful transactions to accelerate our next stage of growth through M&A, strategic partnerships, and other high-value opportunities.

Reporting directly to our CEO, you'll be a dealmaker, relationship builder, and strategic partner, helping shape Pearl's corporate development and partnership strategy and leading complex transactions from initial relationship through diligence, negotiation, and close.

We’re building a global AI platform designed to empower independent professionals to grow, scale, and succeed. As Pearl enters its next chapter, we’re looking for someone who can take that story to the market - building relationships with potential strategic partners, investors, and other industry leaders while identifying opportunities that complement our organic growth strategy and accelerate enterprise value.

We're looking for someone who can combine strategic perspective with hands-on execution. You'll combine the instincts of a dealmaker with the judgment of an operator: understanding what drives strategic interest and enterprise value, identifying what Pearl can do to strengthen its positioning, and working across the company to translate those insights into action.

Success in this role requires more than evaluating opportunities that come through the door. You'll proactively build relationships, create access, expand Pearl's strategic reach, and have the transaction experience to carry opportunities through to close.

What You'll Do

• Create Strategic Opportunities: Proactively identify and create M&A, strategic partnership, and other inorganic growth opportunities. Build and leverage relationships to get Pearl into the right conversations.
• Lead M&A and Strategic Transactions: Drive opportunities from initial thesis and relationship development through valuation, diligence, negotiation, structuring, and close, partnering closely with the CEO and executive team.
• Shape and Pressure-Test Strategic Opportunities: Evaluate market dynamics, strategic fit, value-creation potential, and risk to determine where Pearl can create differentiated value.
• Bring the Outside Market In: Translate insights from strategic partners, investors, and the broader market into actionable recommendations about Pearl's strategy, positioning, portfolio, and value-creation priorities.
• Build Strategic Relationships: Develop and leverage relationships with strategic partners, investors, and industry leaders, and turn those relationships into meaningful business opportunities.
• Shape Inorganic Growth Strategy: Partner with the CEO and executive team to determine where acquisitions, partnerships, divestitures, or other strategic transactions can complement Pearl's organic growth strategy and accelerate enterprise value.
• Create Strategic Partnerships: Identify, develop, and execute high-value partnerships that could expand Pearl's capabilities, distribution, market access, product offering, or long-term strategic options.
• Strengthen Pearl's Market Positioning: Help articulate Pearl's strategy, differentiation, operating performance, and future potential in a way that creates credibility and excitement with sophisticated external audiences.
• Translate Strategy Into Value Creation: Identify the operating metrics, capabilities, portfolio decisions, and strategic initiatives that strengthen Pearl's competitive position and long-term value, then work cross-functionally to advance them.
• Lead Transaction Readiness and Diligence: Ensure Pearl can move quickly and confidently when opportunities emerge, coordinating the financial, operational, and strategic work required for sophisticated diligence and transaction processes.

You Are

• A proven dealmaker who has personally identified, developed, negotiated, and closed meaningful transactions.
• A proactive relationship builder who knows how to identify the right people, create access, build credibility, and turn relationships into strategic opportunities.
• Someone who understands both sides of the table and can anticipate how sophisticated external stakeholders will evaluate a business, pressure-test its story, and identify risk.
• A strategic storyteller who can develop a compelling strategic thesis, determine what needs to be true for that thesis to hold, and translate it into concrete action.
• A hands-on leader who is comfortable moving from external relationship building and strategy into the details of diligence, negotiation, and execution.
• A compelling and concise executive communicator who can simplify complexity, read the room, listen actively, and adapt your message to CEOs, Boards, strategic partners, and investors.
• Commercially minded and able to connect product strategy, operating performance, market dynamics, and financial outcomes to enterprise value.
• Energized by fast-moving, founder-led environments where priorities evolve quickly and opportunities need to be created rather than waiting for them to arrive.
• Comfortable operating lean. You don’t need a large team or infrastructure around you to create impact.

What We're Looking For

• A demonstrated track record of personally identifying, developing, negotiating, and closing significant M&A transactions and strategic partnerships, with clear evidence of your individual contribution to those outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to operate across the full transaction lifecycle, including sourcing, valuation, diligence, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, and close.
• Experience developing and pressure-testing strategic transaction theses, including assessing strategic fit, market dynamics, value-creation potential, and risk.
• Demonstrated success building and leveraging relationships with strategic partners, investors, and industry leaders to identify and pursue potential transactions and partnerships.
• Experience partnering directly with founders, CEOs, Board members, and senior leadership teams, including influencing decisions and operating effectively with autonomy.
• Experience with digital, marketplace, subscription, B2C, B2B, or multi-channel business models strongly preferred.
• Experience with AI and the ability to understand how emerging technology can influence business models, competitive positioning, strategic value, and market positioning.

Why Pearl

Pearl is building the super agent that will shape the future of how independent professionals work and grow by combining AI with trusted human expertise.

This is an opportunity to work directly with our founder and executive team at a pivotal stage in Pearl’s evolution. You’ll have the mandate to identify opportunities, build strategic relationships, shape our corporate development and inorganic growth strategy, and execute transactions that could meaningfully influence the company’s next chapter.

For the right corporate development leader, this is not a role focused on maintaining what already exists. It’s an opportunity to help create what comes next.

Pay Transparency

Pearl will provide pay transparency information upon application to those in qualifying jurisdictions. (Employment is with JustAnswer LLC, a Pearl company.)

Our Commitment to an Inclusive Workplace

We welcome people from all backgrounds who seek the opportunity to help build a future where professional services are readily available to all. If you have curiosity, passion, and a collaborative spirit, come work with us. Pearl is committed to an inclusive workplace. Pearl is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or other legally protected status.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may be used during the hiring process to record, transcribe, analyze, and rank interview responses. By submitting your application and participating in the interview process, you acknowledge and consent to the use of AI technology in the hiring process. For more information see our AI Disclosure and Consent Policy.