Practice Lead, M&A
Location: New York, NY / Remote
Reports to: CEO
The Mission
Metafora is on a mission to modernize the Transportation & Logistics (T&L) industry. We have proven the market for our M&A services—primarily in high-stakes operational and technical due diligence and post-close Integration / Ad-On work — and have successfully delivered high-impact work for private equity and strategic buyers.
Now, we are ready to move from success to market leadership. As the M&A Practice Lead, you will lead the M&A Advisory Capability by designing the growth strategy and scaling the practice. You will bridge the gap between commercial origination and elite delivery, building a predictable pipeline while partnering with our established delivery leaders to ensure every deal we touch creates lasting value.
The Role
This is a high-visibility, hybrid role that combines commercial leadership with delivery oversight. You are coming in to professionalize and scale an existing, winning offering leveraging our current success and relationships along with your expertise and network.
1. Commercial & Channel Growth (70%)
• Origination & Network Management: Actively manage and grow relationships with mid-market Investment Bankers, Law Firms, PE Firms, and Corporate Development teams at major Strategics. This combines managing introductions from our team, network relationships you already have, and developing new relationships as necessary to meet our goals.
• Market Positioning: Transform Metafora’s M&A capabilities from an internal secret into a marketed industry offering.
• Quota Accountability: Carry a sales quota specifically for M&A advisory services, fueled by Metafora’s existing relationships and M&A pipeline, accelerated by your network and efforts to ensure Metafora is "in the room" for T&L transactions.
2. Practice Development & Delivery Strategy (10%)
• M&A Practice Development: you’ll ultimately own defining, marketing and selling Metafora’s M&A Capabilities.
• The M&A Playbook: Formalize our "Diligence & Integration Playbook." You will partner with Delivery leadership to document and enhance our methodology to ensure consistency, speed, and high-quality outcomes.
• Collaborative Delivery: Support project scoping and high-level strategy for M&A engagements. You will partner closely with our Delivery Leaders—who lead scoping and execution—ensuring a "no-ego" environment where sales and delivery are perfectly aligned.
3. Subject Matter Expertise (20%)
• Support Diligence Efforts: Serve as the Executive "face" of our diligence engagements, providing senior-level oversight leveraging your experience and executive-ready insights to our clients.
• Industry Thought Leadership: Stay at the forefront of T&L trends (e.g., industry consolidation, nearshoring, AI) to advise clients on the long-term viability of their targets.
• M&A Training: Serve as the internal subject matter expert on M&A, cross-training our existing consulting and tech teams on the nuances of the M&A lifecycle.
Who You Are
• The T&L Expert: You have spent significant time within the Transportation & Logistics ecosystem. You don't just know the players; you understand the "pipes"—the operational and technical complexities that make or break a logistics business.
• The M&A Professional: You have you have direct experience in a merger or acquisition with M&A - whether having participated in transactions or supported Integration in a Strategy or Operations role.
• The Connector: You have an existing "Rolodex" of decision makers in the T&L industry who trust your industry perspective. You’re willing to build a rolodex of M&A influencers (Investment Bankers, Attorneys, Accountants, PE firms, Operators) in this role
• The Diplomat: You thrive in a collaborative environment. You understand that in a consultancy, "selling" is only half the battle—earning the respect of the customers receiving your recommendations and the delivery teams who execute the work is equally vital.
How you’ll do it
P&L Owner Mentality - in addition to your sales quota, as the practice grows you will have accountability for the P&L of the M&A practice. This includes allocations from the Delivery organization.
Required Qualifications
• Education: Undergraduate degree is required, an MBA from a top-tier program is preferred.
• Professional Background: Experience at an Investment Bank (focused on T&L) OR a Corporate Development/Strategy/Operations role at a major logistics firm with experience with M&A transactions or Integrations.
• Experience at a management consultancy is highly preferred.
• Network: Demonstrable relationships within the M&A community (PE, Banking) specifically related to the logistics space.
• Experience: 10+ years of professional experience, with at least 4+ years focused specifically on transaction advisory, due diligence, or corporate M&A.
• Travel: Ability to travel frequently as business need arises, up to 70%
Why Metafora?
Metafora is a place of "authenticity and grit." We are small enough for you to have an outsized impact on our P&L, but established enough to have a proven track record with some of the biggest names in the industry. You will have the autonomy to build this practice as you see fit, backed by a world-class team of technologists and logistics veterans.