Corporate Development Manager, M&a

Okta Okta · Enterprise · United States · Partnerships & Corp Dev-220

This role is for a Corporate Development Manager focused on identifying and executing acquisitions to drive Okta's inorganic growth, particularly in emerging areas like AI-driven security and decentralized identity. The manager will develop investment theses, source startups, manage the M&A lifecycle, and partner with Product and Engineering to evaluate strategic opportunities. Familiarity with generative AI models and prompt development is a plus.

What you'd actually do

  1. Develop data-driven market research and investment theses on new growth areas, presenting your recommendations to product and executive leadership to influence Okta’s long-term strategy.
  2. Source high-potential startups for acquisition, investment, or partnership, and build a strong presence across the founder and VC ecosystem.
  3. Drive the entire M&A lifecycle for strategic acquisitions, from sourcing and initial evaluation to valuation, due diligence, and deal execution, in partnership with senior team members.
  4. Drive work streams across diligence, valuation, financial modeling, strategic assessment, and internal recommendations
  5. Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to evaluate build/buy/partner opportunities aligned with Okta and Auth0 roadmaps

Skills

Required

  • 5+ years of experience in corporate development, investment banking (TMT focus), strategy consulting, or other relevant roles with a strong track record of deal execution.
  • A strong foundation in financial analysis, valuation, and modeling, with a deep, intuitive understanding of SaaS business models and metrics.
  • Proven experience working on complex M&A or strategic investment projects, ideally within the enterprise software, cloud, or security sectors.
  • Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with a natural ability to distill complex topics and build consensus among executives and cross-functional teams.
  • Intellectual curiosity and a passion for technology, with the ability to think strategically about product-market fit, technical challenges, and competitive moats.
  • Comfort navigating ambiguity with a bias toward building structured execution and always seeking opportunities for continuous improvement.

Nice to have

  • Familiarity with generative AI models (ChatGPT, Anthropic, Gemini, etc.) and prompt development
  • Experience/familiarity with Slack, Apple MacOS and GSuite.

What the JD emphasized

  • M&A lifecycle
  • build/buy/partner opportunities
  • generative AI models