M&A Associate at Cortex

As an M&A Associate at Cortex, you will lead the end-to-end acquisition process for engineering services firms. You will source deals, manage diligence, and negotiate transactions with SMB founders. Working directly with the founders, your judgment will drive the firm’s growth from its first acquisition to a portfolio of one hundred.

• Own the full acquisition lifecycle, from cold-sourcing relationships with SMB owners to structuring, negotiating, and closing complex transactions.
• Collaborate with the technical team to conduct operational due diligence and identify specific areas where proprietary AI can automate workflows and improve margins.
• Analyze messy SMB financials and manage the legal and administrative hurdles required to keep momentum high during the closing process.

• Proven track record in small-cap M&A, having personally sourced and closed multiple deals in the $5M–$20M revenue range.
• Deep experience in search funds, entrepreneurial private equity, or programmatic M&A where managing founder relationships and “messy” data is the norm.
• Exceptional financial judgment and negotiation skills, with the ability to earn the trust of long-term business owners while navigating difficult deal points.

• Build a massive holding company from the ground up, moving from the first acquisition toward a mandate of 100 successful deals.
• Join a well-capitalized venture with $11.5M in funding and five active pilots already proving the AI-driven transformation model.
• Receive meaningful equity in the entire holding company, ensuring your financial upside is tied directly to the value created across the whole portfolio.