Corporate Development Manager - M&A Origination
Harris Computer · Toronto · CA$100,000–CA$110,000 (stated in the posting)
Harris' Public Safety portfolio is looking for a Manager, Business Development responsible for building and leading our M&A origination capability while remaining personally accountable for sourcing, engaging and developing potential acquisition targets. This is a player-coach role: the successful candidate will help develop a high-performing origination team, build the systems and operating cadence that support it, and personally create acquisition opportunities for our high-velocity M&A organization. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to join a prolific acquirer and learn from the highly successful acquisition culture of Constellation Software.
We don't believe there is a 'one size fits all' profile for this position, but are particularly excited to speak with candidates who have progressive experience in one or a combination of the following functions:
- M&A sourcing/origination or corporate development
- Public safety background/SME
- Private equity, growth equity or other investing roles
- Outbound SaaS / enterprise software sales
- Investment banking or transaction advisory
- Growth/GTM, strategy or entrepreneurial roles (early/growth stage or sponsor-backed)
Key Responsibilities
Build and lead the origination team
- Develop, coach and mentor business development team members across founder outreach, market research, relationship development and opportunity qualification.
- Establish clear expectations for performance and progression; create a culture of curiosity, persistence, accountability and continuous improvement.
- Allocate markets and verticals across the team, run regular pipeline and relationship reviews, and help team members prioritize the highest-value opportunities.
Market mapping and acquisition strategy
- Conduct detailed research on competitors, potential add-on offerings, new geographies and adjacent markets; translate market intelligence into actionable sourcing priorities for the team.
- Segment assigned markets and continuously refresh target lists using public and proprietary sources.
- Research industry dynamics to identify acquisition/investment news, competitive tenders, leadership changes, ownership transitions and other signals that can create acquisition opportunities.
Originate & qualify opportunities
- Remain personally involved in origination and set the standard for the team by executing thoughtful multi-channel outreach (cold calling, email, LinkedIn, trade shows and in-person meetings) with founders and executives.
- Attend conferences and regional events to build relationships, develop market intelligence and expand the acquisition pipeline.
- Create proprietary opportunities rather than waiting for companies to formally come to market.
Relationship management
- Build trust with CEOs, entrepreneurs, advisors and intermediaries; act as a long-term relationship manager for acquisition prospects in the public safety market.
- Maintain thoughtful communication over months and years, understand owner objectives and coach the team on when to advance a conversation, provide value or simply stay in touch.
Qualification and pipeline management
- Evaluate opportunities against strategic and financial criteria, including market position, revenue quality, growth, profitability, product fit, ownership dynamics and long-term attractiveness as a vertical software business.
- Own both your personal acquisition pipeline and the overall health of the team's pipeline; use data to improve prioritization, coaching, market coverage and conversion.
- Maintain disciplined Salesforce/CRM processes, including relationship history, next steps, deal stages, pipeline reporting and KPIs for senior management.
Transaction support
- Organize management meetings, site visits and prospecting trips; coordinate initial information flow and provide market and relationship context as opportunities progress.
- Work closely with the M&A team throughout the process to ensure a smooth hand-off from origination to diligence while maintaining continuity with the founder or management team.
Qualifications and Skills
- Experience: progressive experience in M&A origination, business development, corporate development, investing, enterprise software sales or another relationship-intensive role; experience coaching or managing others is strongly preferred.
- Player-coach leadership: demonstrated ability to raise the performance of people around you while remaining willing to originate opportunities personally. Enjoys developing talent, giving direct feedback and building repeatable team processes.
- Commercial "hunter" mentality: demonstrable success in cold outreach, opportunity creation and relationship management. Comfortable navigating conversations and building rapport at the C-suite/founder level.
- Communication and interpersonal skills: articulate communicator with excellent writing and presentation skills, capable of clearly conveying our investment philosophy and value proposition.
- Financial literacy and analytical ability: ability to interpret financial statements, understand recurring-revenue software economics and discuss fundamental valuation drivers.
- Organizational discipline and judgment: strong planning and prioritization; rigorous CRM hygiene; proactive, resourceful and comfortable operating with significant autonomy. High E.Q., low ego and strong judgment.
- Tools and travel: comfortable using CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce), LinkedIn, email sequencing tools, Excel/PowerPoint and research platforms; willing to travel domestically/internationally (~10-20%) for founder meetings and industry events.
Measures of Success (Illustrative)
- Build, coach and develop a high-performing origination team with clear market ownership, performance expectations and professional progression.
- Steady cadence of high-quality founder/CEO conversations and new qualified acquisition targets generated personally and across the team.
- Conversion from outreach → meetings → qualified opportunities → letters of intent, with increasing contribution from proprietary sourcing.
- Quality and depth of long-term relationships, supported by strong market coverage, pipeline visibility, CRM discipline and adherence to agreed sourcing KPIs.
What We Offer
- Competitive base salary plus performance-based bonus.
- Comprehensive medical, dental and vision benefits.
- Opportunity to build and lead a growing M&A origination function with exposure to the full deal lifecycle.
Salary range: $100,000 - $110,000 CAD per year.