Corporate Development Analyst

Sphera has a proven track record of growth through acquisitions and M&A is an integral part of the go-forward strategy. The Corporate Development Analyst will be a key member of the team that is responsible for executing these transactions on a global basis. Based in downtown Chicago as a hybrid in-person / remote role, this highly visible position will report to the Director of Corporate Development and interact daily with the SVP / Head of Corporate Development This individual must be a highly motivated self-starter who possess very strong analytical, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.

M&A responsibilities will include participating in all phases of the acquisition process and at times support various strategic initiatives.

Core responsibilities include:

• Identifying M&A targets aligned to defined acquisition criteria to help maintain a robust acquisition target pipeline.
• Maintain regular update deck and target profiles for executive level communications and status updates.
• Manage competitive intelligence to inform senior leadership on key news, financings and transactions with other market participants.
• Assist in managing information flow during the deal process including maintaining information requests lists, responses from investment bankers / management and summarizing key highlights for the broader corporate development team.
• Assist in building metrically driven financial models including leading meetings with functional leaders to derive the key metrically driven operating assumptions.
• Create power point decks, excel graphs and charts, and memos which concisely convey business case rationale, key due diligence findings, and integration plans for executive and board level presentations.
• Assist with development of integration plans and help track and manage progress against integration objectives and milestones.
• Assist with preparation of materials to facilitate meetings with target company bankers, management, and advisors.
• Post deal integration support.

We are looking for people with the following characteristics:

• 1- 2 years of experience in FP&A, finance rotational program or related preferred.
• Experience building analyses in Excel required. Experience with M&A preferred but not required.
• Undergraduate degree, preferably with experience in finance, accounting, business or economics.
• Extremely detail oriented and organized. Must be comfortable working on projects that require an extremely high level of organization, accuracy, and attention to detail. Exemplary time management skills are critical for this role.
• Team oriented / strong interpersonal skills. Must be comfortable working in dynamic and diverse teams, able to handle personalities and situations with a positive attitude.
• Maintain a high standard of professionalism, ethics, and confidentiality throughout all aspects of the deal cycle.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to balance multiple projects, be results oriented, and drive projects to completion according to deal timelines in a team environment.
• Advanced competency within Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook required

About Sphera

Sphera is a leading global provider of enterprise software and services that enables companies to manage and optimize their environmental, health, safety and sustainability. Our mission is to create a safer, more sustainable and productive world.

Sphera is a portfolio company of Blackstone, a U.S.-based alternative asset investment company that focuses on private equity, technology and innovation, and more. Blackstone businesses succeed through strong partnerships, a personalized approach and a commitment to exceptional performance with uncompromising integrity. Sphera and Blackstone are leaders in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space.

We are guided by our core values of Customer Centricity, Accountability, Bias to Action, Innovation, and Collaboration. These values help us recruit the right talent to join our rapidly expanding team of around 1000 Spherions around the globe. It is important to us that each and every Spherion is not only eager to challenge themselves and knows how to get work done but is an awesome addition to our company culture.