Head of Corporate Development

Mesh is hiring its first dedicated Corporate Development lead, a foundational role with a direct impact on the company’s trajectory. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, finance, and technology, you'll need to be as comfortable in a data room as you are interrogating an API integration or stress-testing a settlement architecture with an engineering team.

This is an opportunity to build and own our M&A and strategic partnerships function from the ground up. You’ll define how we identify, evaluate, and execute high-impact opportunities, working closely with leadership to shape where Mesh goes next.

From setting strategy to building a pipeline to closing deals, you’ll operate across the full lifecycle, expanding our capabilities, licensing footprint, and distribution through thoughtful, well-executed partnerships and acquisitions.

We're looking for someone who thrives in early, unstructured environments, takes initiative, and is excited to turn ambition into action. This role is hybrid, based in either San Francisco, CA or New York City, NY, with three days per week in-office.

What You'll Do

• Build and own a high-quality pipeline of M&A opportunities and strategic partnerships across the crypto payments ecosystem
• Lead deals end-to-end: from first outreach through diligence, negotiation, and close
• Run rigorous diligence across financials, product architecture, API integrations, and commercial viability, you'll go deep enough on the technical stack to assess build-vs-buy tradeoffs, evaluate integration complexity, and identify engineering risk before it becomes a deal problem
• Develop investment theses, deal frameworks, and scoring models; present insights directly to the CEO, SVP, and board
• Partner closely with Legal and Finance to structure and negotiate deals that actually get done
• Stay on top of the competitive landscape, tracking key players, emerging trends, and whitespace opportunities
• Build and manage relationships with investment banks, advisors, and potential targets, becoming a go-to player in the ecosystem

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Finance or related field
• 5+ years of experience in investment banking, growth, venture capital, product, or strategy roles, or in-house corporate development at a fintech or crypto company
• You actually run deals, leading M&A or strategic partnerships from first conversation through close
• Strong grasp of crypto payments infrastructure (stablecoins, on/off-ramps, exchange integrations, custody, compliance),  you know how the pieces fit together in the real world
• You've evaluated or worked closely with crypto infrastructure at the API layer — whether that's exchange integrations, wallet SDKs, stablecoin settlement rails, or on/off-ramp architecture, and you understand how these systems connect in a real production environment
• Clear, concise communicator who can turn complexity into compelling, board-ready narratives
• Comfortable getting into the weeds with crypto APIs and exchange integrations (or quick to ramp if you haven’t yet)
• Sharp financial instincts with the ability to build models from scratch and pressure-test assumptions like a skeptic
• Technically fluent enough to evaluate a target's API architecture, assess integration complexity into Mesh's stack, and hold a credible diligence conversation with an engineering team, you don't write code, but you know what questions to ask and what the answers mean
• Working knowledge of EMI / MSB / money transmitter licensing (or genuine interest in learning the regulatory side of the stack)

The annual base salary range for this role is $200,000-$225,000 in San Francisco and New York. The compensation range provided may span multiple career levels and will be narrowed during the interview process based on factors including a candidate’s experience, skills, qualifications, and geographic location. For candidates outside of San Francisco and New York, compensation will be adjusted to reflect the applicable market and location-based pay band. The base salary range listed excludes commission (if applicable), equity, and benefits. The pay range represents the minimum and maximum target for new-hire compensation. Actual compensation may vary and may be higher or lower depending on individual circumstances.