Head of Mergers & Acquisitions

At NerdWallet, we’re on a mission to bring clarity to all of life’s financial decisions and every great mission needs a team of exceptional Nerds. We’ve built an inclusive, flexible, and candid culture where you’re empowered to grow, take smart risks, and be unapologetically yourself (cape optional). Whether remote or in-office, we support how you thrive best. We invest in your well-being, development, and ability to make an impact because when one Nerd levels up, we all do.

The Head of M&A Integration leads NerdWallet’s end-to-end acquisition integration strategy as the company increasingly deploys M&A to accelerate growth, expand capabilities, and strengthen its long-term competitive position. This role ensures that newly acquired companies are integrated swiftly, cohesively, and with minimal disruption while preserving value and unlocking synergies. Operating as a cross-functional leader and strategic partner, this individual builds scalable integration processes, drives cultural and operational alignment, and ensures that each acquisition seamlessly transitions into NerdWallet’s systems, processes, and ways of working.

This role requires a multi-faceted leader to drive the pre & post-acquisition integration strategy. The successful candidate will act as a cross-functional orchestrator, bringing clarity and structured execution to complex processes across teams like Finance, Legal, and IT. They must be a culture steward who ensures acquired teams are supported and engaged, all while serving as a trusted advisor to executives on integration progress and risks. This strategic operator must balance the fast pace of integration with thoughtful, human-centered change management.

This role reports to the VP, Finance.

• Lead end-to-end integration planning and execution

  • Design and implement comprehensive integration plans spanning Finance, People, Legal, IT/Security, Revenue Operations, Marketing, and product-adjacent workflows.

  • Build integration timelines, critical paths, and workstream governance structures to ensure clarity and accountability across the organization.

  • Ensure integration activities stay on-budget and on-schedule.

• Drive integration readiness between deal signing and deal closing

  • Partner with Corp Dev, functional leaders, and acquired company leadership during diligence to identify integration requirements, risks, systems gaps, and early synergy opportunities.

  • Translate findings into actionable integration plans and resourcing assumptions.

• Lead cross-functional program management across all integration workstreams

  • Track goals, milestones, and deliverables while coordinating across teams / functional groups; identify blockers; escalate issues; and maintain transparency through structured reporting to executive leadership.

  • Create templates, processes, and best practices that enable consistency, repeatability, risk mitigation, and scalability as NerdWallet grows its acquisition cadence.

  • Continuously refine frameworks based on retrospective learnings and outcome metrics.

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with acquired company teams post-closing

  • Serve as the primary operational point of contact for acquired leadership teams through close and the first 90–180 days post-close.

  • Facilitate alignment on operating rhythms, reporting expectations, culture onboarding, and communication channels.

• Oversee integration of G&A and corporate functions

  • Coordinate the onboarding and integration of People Ops, HR systems, IT/Security compliance, Finance and Accounting processes, payroll, benefits, legal entities, and compliance workflows.

  • Ensure seamless system migrations and process transitions with minimal business disruption in planning for “Day 1” readiness.

• Identify and manage integration risks

  • Surface and mitigate potential operational, regulatory, financial, or technical risks.

  • Coordinate with Legal, Security, and Compliance to ensure acquired teams adhere to NerdWallet’s regulatory, data, and security standards.

• Lead cultural and change-management integration

  • Drive people-centric change management that accelerates adoption of NerdWallet values, processes, and expectations.

  • Build communication plans, onboarding journeys, and team-to-team connection points.

• Define and report integration success metrics

  • Develop dashboards, KPIs, and synergy-tracking tools to quantify integration impact, value capture, and long-term business outcomes.

  • Present regular updates to the VP Finance, CFO, ELT, and relevant stakeholders.

• Support transition of acquisitions into ongoing FP&A processes

  • Partner with FP&A to align new business units with forecasting models, reporting structures, and long-term planning processes.

• 7+ years of experience in M&A integration, corporate development, management consulting, internal operations, investment banking, or similar fields with exposure to post-merger integration.

• Demonstrated success leading multiple large-scale integrations simultaneously in a fast-paced, high-growth, or tech-driven environment.

• Strong understanding of G&A functions including HR/People, Security, IT, Finance, Legal, and Revenue Operations.

• Excellent program management capabilities, with experience creating structure, defining processes, and aligning cross-functional partners.

• Outstanding communication skills with the ability to influence without authority and build strong relationships.

• High emotional intelligence and a people-centric approach to solving integration challenges.

• Strong business judgment, ability to handle sensitive information, and comfort operating with executive stakeholders.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Operations, or related field—or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in FinTech, consumer finance, or software/technology industries.

• Experience integrating teams subject to regulatory, compliance, security, or data-handling requirements.

• Exposure to IPO readiness, public company integration standards, or comparable governance frameworks.

• MBA or similar advanced education.

• This role will be remote (based in the U.S.).

• We believe great work can be done anywhere. No matter where you are based, NerdWallet offers benefits and perks to support the physical, financial, and emotional well being of you and your family.

Work Hard, Stay Balanced (Life’s a series of balancing acts, eh?)

• Industry-leading medical, dental, and vision health care plans for employees and their dependents

• Rejuvenation Policy – Flexible Vacation Time Off + 11 holidays + holiday company shutdown

• New Parent Leave for employees with a newborn child or a child placed with them for adoption or foster care

• Mental health support

• Paid sabbatical after 5 years for Nerds to recharge, gain knowledge, and pursue their interests

• Health and Dependent Care FSA and HSA Plan with monthly NerdWallet contribution

• Monthly Wellness Stipend, Cell Phone Stipend, and Wifi Stipend (Only remote Nerds are eligible for the Wifi Stipend)

• Work from home equipment stipend and co-working space subsidy (Only remote Nerds are eligible for these stipends)

Have Some Fun! (Nerds are fun, too)

• Nerd-led group initiatives – Employee Resource Groups for Parents, Diversity, and Inclusion, Women, LGBTQIA, and other communities

• Hackathons and team events across all teams and departments

• Company-wide events like NerdLove (employee appreciation) and our annual Charity Auction 

• Our Nerds love to make an impact by paying it forward – Take 8 hours of volunteer time off per quarter and donate to your favorite causes with a company match

Plan for your future (And when you retire on your island, remember the little people)

• 401K with 4% company match

• Be the first to test and benefit from our new financial products and tools

• Financial wellness, guidance, and unlimited access to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) through Northstar

• Disability and Life Insurance with employer-paid premiums

If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents linked here.

NerdWallet is committed to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, so all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.  

NerdWallet will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act and the San Francisco Fair Chance Act, which requires this notice, as well as the Los Angeles Fair Chance Act, which requires this notice.

NerdWallet participates in the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-Verify program for all US locations. For more information, please see:

• E-Verify Participation Poster (English+Spanish/Español)

• Right to Work Poster (English) / (Spanish/Español) 

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