As Director, Corporate Development, you will be responsible for shaping, developing, and executing Dematic’s global inorganic growth agenda, with a primary focus on strategic partnerships, alliances, joint ventures, and selective acquisitions.
This role serves as a liaison role between Dematic and KION on inorganic initiatives and acts as the "face of Dematic" for external partnerships.
The role emphasizes strategy formulation, stakeholder alignment, partnership evaluation, and business model expansion from a technical and commercial lens. Financial modeling and valuation are performed in close collaboration with Finance Partners; this role owns the strategic rationale, structure, and narrative that enables executive decision-making at Dematic.
Inorganic Strategy & Portfolio Development
Own and evolve Dematic’s inorganic strategy in alignment with enterprise priorities, technology roadmap, geographic expansion, and vertical growth objectives.
Define what “inorganic growth” means for Dematic, including partnerships, ecosystems, joint ventures, minority investments, and acquisitions.
Identify gaps and opportunities in geographic and vertical expansion, balancing Dematic’s strong technical focus with broader commercial and market considerations.
Connect external market, customer, and technology trends to actionable inorganic opportunities.
Partnership & M&A Leadership
Lead inorganic opportunity evaluations, including strategic fit, business model implications, and operating model design.
Structure and lead partnership discussions, including scope definition, value creation logic, governance models, and negotiation strategy.
Support M&A processes by owning strategic positioning, business model logic, and executive-level storytelling; partner with Finance on valuation and financial modeling.
Stakeholder Management & Alignment
Conduct deep dives with regional and functional leaders to identify priorities, surface opportunities, and align on inorganic growth paths.
Manage a complex set of internal and external stakeholders, influencing without authority and "pushing the envelope" where needed to advance strategic outcomes.
Build internal consensus across Strategy, Technology, Regions, Legal, Finance, and Executive Leadership.
Clearly articulate the commercial value of inorganic initiatives to enable buy-in and approval at the Dematic and KION levels.
Governance, Execution & Enablement
Coordinate inorganic workstreams through executive review and approval, ensuring clarity of roles, decision rights, and milestones.
Partner with cross-functional teams from term sheet through closing and early integration, with a focus on value realization.
Establish repeatable processes, frameworks, and capabilities that mature Dematic’s inorganic strategy and partnership function.
Lead and develop team members, building strategic, commercial, and partnership-oriented skill sets.
Qualifications & Experience:
Strong strategic mindset with the ability to synthesize technical, commercial, and market inputs.
Proven ability to lead partnership evaluations, deal structuring, and negotiations.
Technical reasoning background with the ability to translate technical value into business outcomes.
Executive-level communication and influence skills, particularly in matrixed global organizations.
Ability to manage ambiguity, challenge assumptions, and drive alignment across diverse stakeholders.
Comfort operating at both strategic (portfolio-level) and practical (deal-level) depths.
7+ years of experience across technical evaluation, corporate strategy, partnerships, management consulting, or related fields.
Demonstrated experience leading strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or M&A initiatives in complex organizations.
Prior people leadership experience with a focus on capability building and talent development.
Experience working with global stakeholders and senior executives.
Bachelor’s degree (Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, or other relevant majors) or relevant experience with proven work history required
Must have an up-to-date passport and be willing to travel up to 35% throughout the year
Will be responsible for direct reports and their professional development
Dematic is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. Dematic prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, religion or belief, age, sex, national or ethnic origin, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.
