M&A– Due Diligence & Integration SME

Roles &Responsibilities

1. Serve as the HR M&A Subject Matter Expert (SME), providing specialist guidance and recommendations to HR, business leaders, and deal teams throughout the M&A lifecycle.
2. Lead HR due diligence for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other transactions, identifying key people-related risks, liabilities, costs, and opportunities.
3. Develop and execute HR integration and separation plans, covering pre-close activities, Day 1 readiness, employee transition, and post-close integration.
4. Assess HR-related deal implications across compensation and benefits, employment terms, talent, organization structure, payroll, HR operations, policies, employee relations, and HR systems.
5. Drive Day 1 HR readiness, ensuring critical employee processes, communications, organizational changes, systems, payroll, and HR operational requirements are effectively coordinated.
6. Partner with cross-functional stakeholders, including Corporate Development/M&A, Legal, Finance, Tax, HR leadership, Payroll, Benefits, Talent, HRIS, and business teams to ensure successful transaction execution.
7. Identify critical talent and people risks and develop appropriate retention, workforce transition, organizational alignment, and risk mitigation strategies.
8. Lead employee and change management activities, including employee communications, stakeholder engagement, cultural integration, and organizational change associated with transactions.
9. Manage HR M&A workstreams, governance, milestones, dependencies, and risks, providing clear progress updates, escalations, and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
10. Build and continuously improve HR M&A capabilities, including playbooks, frameworks, templates, checklists, governance processes, and lessons learned to strengthen future transaction execution.

Must-Have Skills & Experience

1. Minimum 12+ years of strong HR experience, including demonstrated hands-on exposure to M&A activities.
2. 5+ years of proven experience supporting key stages of the M&A lifecycle, including HR due diligence, pre-close planning, Day 1 readiness, integration, and/or separation.
3. Strong understanding of people-related M&A risks and considerations across areas such as: Compensation and benefits, Employment terms and policies and Talent and retention
4. Strong expertise in HR compliance, regulatory requirements, corporate governance, and risk management related to mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and employee transfers.·
5. Experience ensuring compliance with employment legislation, data privacy regulations (PDPA, GDPR, etc.), immigration requirements, works councils, union consultations, and government-mandated employee transition processes.
6. Experience developing and executing HR integration or separation plans.
7. Strong project/program management skills with the ability to manage multiple HR workstreams, milestones, dependencies, and risks.
8. Strong stakeholder management skills with experience working across HR, business leadership, Legal, Finance, Corporate Development/M&A, and other functions

Good-to-Have Skills & Experience

1. Experience supporting cross-border or multi-country M&A transactions.
2. Experience with divestitures, carve-outs, joint ventures, or complex business separations in addition to acquisitions.
3. Experience working within a dedicated M&A, Corporate Development, HR Transformation, or Integration Management Office environment.
4. Knowledge of employment law, employee consultation, works councils, or employee transfer requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
5. Experience with HR technology and data migration activities associated with M&A transactions.
6. Experience with synergy assessment, workforce cost analysis, organizational design, or operating model transformation.
7. Experience developing HR M&A playbooks, governance frameworks, tools, and standardized methodologies.
8. Exposure to cultural integration, change management, and organizational effectiveness programs.
9. Relevant professional qualifications or certifications in HR, M&A, Project Management, or Change Management would be advantageous.