Director, M&A Origination

CSC Generation is the AI-native holding company re-engineering omnichannel retail. We acquire iconic brands and transform them with Genesis, our operating platform combining a Data Fabric, Automation Engine, proprietary tools, and shared services to modernize operations, elevate customer experience, and expand margins. With $1B+ in revenue across 13 brands, our portfolio includes Sur La Table, Backcountry, One Kings Lane, and others that serve as real-world innovation labs.

Reports to: Executive Leadership 

Location: Los Angeles, California; Austin, Texas, or Salt Lake City, UT - Hybrid Required

About the Role

Acquisitions are how CSC Generation grows, making the front end of the deal pipeline one of the most consequential functions in the company. As Director, M&A Origination, you will build and own the acquisition funnel—sourcing proprietary opportunities, cultivating intermediary relationships, and putting actionable deals in front of the investment team that we would never have seen otherwise.

In your first 6–12 months, success means a living, data-driven pipeline with measurable coverage across our target markets, a growing network of bankers and advisors who call you first, and at least one proprietary opportunity advancing toward close. You will work in partnership with our existing Director of Origination, dividing coverage across channels and categories while reporting directly into senior leadership.

This is a lean team. You will own a lot, move fast, and make decisions with full end-to-end responsibility.

What You'll Do

Pipeline Development & Market Coverage
• Build and maintain the acquisition funnel end to end—map the universe of target companies across our focus markets, keep coverage current, and ensure no relevant business transacts without CSC knowing about it.
• Segment the target universe, run structured outreach cadences, and sustain relationships across multi-year cultivation cycles.
• Maintain pipeline discipline and reporting—coverage, conversion, activity, and relationship status—so the entire team can see the state of the market without asking.
Proprietary Deal Sourcing
• Originate proprietary opportunities by engaging directly with owners, founders, and management teams before a formal process exists.
• Own and expand the intermediary network across investment banks, brokers, lenders, specialty-finance firms, and restructuring advisors so CSC is the first call when an asset comes to market.
• Leverage modern sourcing platforms (DealCloud, Grata, Sourcescrub, Affinity, Apollo, or equivalents) and AI tooling to extend coverage beyond what manual effort alone can reach.
Deal Qualification & Execution Support
• Screen opportunities against investment criteria, build the initial commercial case, and make a clear recommendation on whether to pursue or pass.
• Remain the relationship owner through close on deals you originate—step into the deal process wherever you add leverage while keeping origination as your primary focus.
Market Representation & Network Growth
• Represent CSC credibly with owners, boards, and advisors—articulate what we do with acquired businesses, how we treat teams, and why our offers hold.
• Manage referral and external advisor networks so sourcing capacity scales faster than headcount.

Required Qualifications

• 6–10 years in private equity, investment banking, or a comparable principal-investing environment with business development or deal origination as a major component of the role.
• Demonstrable track record of sourcing transactions that closed—proprietary or limited-process deals you personally found, cultivated, and advanced.
• Established relationships across bankers, brokers, lenders, and advisors in the middle market, with the standing to open doors on your own name.
• Investing acumen sufficient to size a business, read a capital structure, and form a view on whether an opportunity is worth pursuing.
• Proven ability to build a funnel from scratch—constructing the target universe, segmenting it, running outreach, and sustaining relationships across long cultivation cycles.
• Fluency with sourcing and CRM platforms (DealCloud, Grata, Sourcescrub, Affinity, Apollo, or equivalents) and genuine comfort using AI tooling to extend coverage.
• Comfort managing a pipeline quantitatively—coverage, conversion, and activity metrics—rather than from memory.
• High ownership mindset with willingness to travel regularly to targets, lenders, advisors, and key industry events.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in consumer, retail, ecommerce, or multi-unit businesses.
• Exposure to carve-outs, distressed, or special-situation investing.

Why Join

The people who do best here are builders. They take ownership, move fast, and want to see the direct impact of their work.

• Executive Access: Work directly with C-suite leadership and brand CEOs—you will be in the room when acquisition decisions are made and your sourcing work will have visible impact on what CSC buys next.
• Portfolio-Wide Leadership: Shape the origination strategy for a growing holding company with 13+ brands rather than operating within a single business unit—high performers are entrusted with greater responsibility and leadership opportunities across the portfolio.
• Build the Function: Define how CSC Generation finds and wins its next acquisitions. You are not inheriting a playbook; you are writing it, with AI-first tooling and the autonomy to design processes from the ground up.
• Competitive Benefits: Paid time off policies, 401(k) match, medical/dental/vision and a variety of supplemental policies, and employee discounts across our portfolio of brands.

Interview Process

1. Recruiter Screen - A 30-minute conversation with our recruiting team to align on the role, your background, and what you are looking for.
2. Hiring Manager Interview - Conversation with Corporate Development leadership focused on your sourcing track record, network depth, and how you approach building a pipeline.
3. Sourcing Challenge - A short take-home exercise so we can understand how you build a funnel and approach execution.
4. Executive Interview - Deep-dive session with CSC senior leadership covering deal origination history, relationship network, and strategic fit.
5. In-Person Interview - We'd like to meet you at our nearest office (Los Angeles, Austin, or Salt Lake City). Details and logistics will be arranged with your recruiter.
6. Reference Checks - Conducted in parallel with the final stages where possible.
7. Offer - We move quickly for the right candidate.

Interview process is subject to change. Any updates will be communicated promptly and clearly.