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HR (People) M&A Lead

Kraken· People
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Remote$110.4k - $220.8kFull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Lead the people side of Payward's M&A activity end to end, from due diligence to integration, leveraging AI and data-driven judgment to move fast in high-volume, high-stakes deals.

Responsibilities

  • Own the people's workstream of Payward's M&A activity end to end — from first-pass diligence through close and integration.
  • Build and own People due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) including data requests and questions to the target, follow-ups and deeper-dive workshops.
  • Crunch high-volume, low-structure data rooms — employment contracts, org data, comp and equity files, policies, claims history — using AI and automation to compress review cycles.
  • Filter signal from noise: translate hundreds of findings into a short list of flags scored against Payward's risk tolerance, with a clear recommendation attached to each.
  • Lead the drafting of the people-side deal mechanics: comp modelling, equity treatment, retention and earn-out structures, and deal-specific considerations that hold up in negotiation with founders.
  • Sit in the room with corp dev, legal, finance and People leadership — leverage SMEs and push recommendations upward, defending them with data.
  • Act as People M&A program manager during integration after signing: support org design, levelling and comp harmonization, retention execution, and Day 1 people readiness.
  • Turn each deal into reusable infrastructure and learnings — playbooks, DDQ templates, risk scoring, and automation that make the next deal faster.

Qualifications

  • 8+ years across M&A people/HR diligence, integration, total rewards, or corp dev — with hands-on ownership of the people workstream on completed deals.
  • A track record of running multi-diligence processes in tandem, to a hard timeline: knowing what to prioritize or defer.
  • Strong analytical depth — comfortable modelling comp, equity, dilution, retention cost and integration spend directly, not briefing someone else to do it.
  • Global/cross-border deal experience with multi-jurisdiction and/or regulatory change of control employment considerations.
  • Demonstrated use of AI and automation to review large document volumes, with judgement about where the model's output can and cannot be trusted.
  • Ability to make and communicate risk calls on incomplete information, and to state a position clearly to executive stakeholders.
  • Credibility in founder-facing negotiation conversations on comp, equity and retention structures.
  • Rigorous confidentiality instincts and comfort operating on live, undisclosed transactions.
  • High agency in ambiguity — deals move, scope shifts, and no one hands over a finished process.

Skills

Required:M&A diligenceData room analysis with AI/automationCompensation modellingNegotiation with founders

Benefits

  • Benefits not explicitly listed in the description.
Last updated Sep 9, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Kraken

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