Ascend Learning
Director Finance M&A
🇺🇸 Hybrid - Leawood, KS
🕑 Full-Time
💰 TBD
💻 Finance
🗓️ July 30th, 2025
Edtech.com's Summary
Ascend Learning is hiring a Director Finance M&A. The role involves leading financial analysis, planning, and execution of mergers and acquisitions and business development transactions, while collaborating closely with senior leaders and key shareholders. The position requires building financial models, conducting due diligence, and supporting strategic decision-making in a private equity environment.
Highlights
- Lead financial analysis, planning, and execution of M&A and business development transactions
- Develop financial models, assess risks, and identify synergies for transactions
- Perform quantitative analyses such as LBO, discounted cash flow, and accretion/dilution studies
- Collaborate with corporate development, legal teams, and senior executives throughout deal execution
- Lead due diligence efforts in partnership with finance colleagues
- Develop executive-level presentations for CFO, Corporate Development, and senior leadership
- 10+ years of relevant experience in accounting, corporate finance, or corporate development
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance required; Master’s degree preferred
- Advanced skills in Excel and PowerPoint with strong financial modeling and quantitative abilities
- Work closely with senior leadership and external private equity stakeholders, including Blackstone and CPP Investments
Director Finance M&A Full Description
Director Finance M&A
Job Category: Finance
Requisition Number: DIREC005990
Full-Time
Hybrid
Leawood, KS 66211, USA
Job Details
Description
We Impact Lives Through Purpose-Driven Work in A People First Culture
Ascend Learning is the connection between a powerful portfolio of brands serving students, educators, and employers with outcomes-based, data driven solutions across the lifecycle of learning.
Our values-driven culture unifies our teams and inspires a mindset of action, innovation, and collaboration, with a relentless focus on customers.
We're always looking for talented, passionate professionals to join us in our mission to help change lives. If this sounds like an environment where you'd thrive, read on to learn more.
Ascend Learning leads the way in innovation and solution creation to improve outcomes and deliver results for students, educators, and healthcare workers in the ever-changing field of healthcare. We offer advanced resources that drive nursing success, empower front-line certified allied health workers, help physicians pass boards and stay current, and provide education management tools for medical education programs.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
As a Director Finance M&A, you will lead the financial analysis, planning, and execution of M&A and business development transactions and participate in key strategic planning activities. You will develop strong partnerships with the CFO, M&A Leader, CEO and other key SLT members in addition to integrating with the Controller and Corporate FP&A leader to support the acquisitions process. You will also have significant exposure to business leaders across Ascend. This role offers a unique opportunity to work in a private equity setting and have significant interaction with key shareholders at Blackstone and The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board. The ideal candidate will have significant M&A transaction analysis and integration experience and be interested in transactions as well as key strategic projects.
WHERE YOU’LL WORK
This position will work a hybrid schedule from our Burlington, Massachusetts or Leawood, Kansas office location.
HOW YOU’LL SPEND YOUR TIME
- Evaluate, assess and quantify the value of M&A, investment and business development opportunities
- Work cross-functionally to create financial models and identify key risks and opportunities including any relevant synergies
- Perform scenario and sensitivity analysis to evaluate various outcomes of a transaction based on identified risks and opportunities
- Identify and evaluate the key drivers of transaction/partnership success – assess risk, advise structure, present alternatives across financial and non-financial parameters
- Provide robust quantitative analysis in support of negotiations and deal execution – LBO returns, discounted cash flow, accretion/dilution analysis, comparable company, and precedent acquisition analyses
- Work closely with corporate development and legal during deal execution including negotiations and document review
- Lead financial due diligence efforts in partnership with Controller, FP&A leader and other key finance team members.
- Develop executive-level materials for CFO, Corporate Development and other senior executives
- Lead quantitative analysis to provide proactive insight into business drivers and financial forecasts and results
- Build strong knowledge of Ascend’s business through constant communication with partners across finance and corporate strategy
- Support internal cross-functional deals team towards successful evaluation, analysis, execution, and integration of targets and partners
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- 10+ years of previous public accounting, corporate finance, corporate development, or other relevant business experience
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance required, Masters preferred
- Strong quantitative skills, financial acumen, financial modeling, and accounting comprehension
- Demonstrated ability to participate in and lead partner and M&A due diligence activities
- Demonstrated ability to interface with multi-disciplinary teams and senior leadership - this position will have regular interaction with senior executives and functional leaders
- Outstanding ability to analyze and articulate complex sets of metrics into a clear written analysis
- Advanced expertise with Excel and PowerPoint
BENEFITS
- Flexible and generous paid time off
- Competitive medical, dental, vision and life insurance
- 401(k) employer matching program
- Parental leave
- Wellness resources
- Charitable matching program
- Hybrid work
- On-site workout facilities (Leawood, Gilbert, Burlington)
- Community outreach groups
- Tuition reimbursement
Fostering A Sense of Belonging
We seek out and celebrate all people and perspectives and cultivate an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued and be their authentic selves. Our culture is firmly rooted in the belief that by embracing our differences and drawing on diverse perspectives, we are a stronger, more innovative, and more successful organization where employees experience a sense of belonging.
About Ascend Learning
As a tech-enabled services company, Ascend Learning is a national leader in developing and delivering data-driven online educational content, software, assessments, analytics, and simulations serving institutions, students and employers across healthcare, fitness and wellness, public and workplace safety, skilled trades, insurance, financial services, cybersecurity, and higher education. We're committed to accelerating the learning pathways that can move people into careers where they have the knowledge and skills to have an impact and help change lives in the communities they serve. Headquartered in Burlington, MA with additional office locations and hybrid and remote workers in cities across the U.S., Ascend Learning was recognized by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group as one of America's 2023 Greatest Workplaces for Diversity.
Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S. based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.
#LI-NK1
Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
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