Senior M&A Manager Interim NEW

Cedar is currently partnered with a PE backed infrastructure business to secure a Senior M&A Consultant for an initial 6 month assignment, based in London. The role is offered on a day rate of £600-£1,000, outside IR35.

The Company
This organisation is pursuing an accelerated buy-and-build strategy and is actively executing acquisitions of smaller complementary operators across the UK and Europe. With a strong acquisitive agenda and board-level visibility, the business is growing at pace and requires senior M&A expertise to drive end-to-end deal execution within a lean, hands-on environment.

The Role
As Senior M&A Consultant, you will take a front-foot position in live deal activity and work shoulder-to-shoulder with the CFO. The remit extends beyond diligence oversight into shaping deal strategy, testing assumptions and driving transaction sequencing. Responsibilities include:

• Leading the full lifecycle of buyside transactions, from pipeline screening and early-stage appraisal through to completion.
• Building and refining financial models assessing valuation, synergy opportunities and accretion impact.
• Preparing business cases and investment materials for internal stakeholders, translating deal logic into board-ready narratives.
• Running multi-party workstreams across finance, legal, tax, operations and external advisers to maintain discipline, pace and deal hygiene.
• Challenging assumptions during diligence and commercial appraisal to ensure fit with the long-term buy-and-build thesis.
• Supporting SPA negotiations, structuring and risk allocation in conjunction with legal advisers.
• Sequencing onboarding and integration planning so acquisitions are operationally ready for handover into the business.
• Acting as the senior point of contact within the M&A function for key decision-makers and helping build internal capability as deal volume increases.

This is not a passive oversight role – it is embedded execution within a lean deal team, with genuine control of process and the ability to influence outcomes as transactions move through the funnel.

Your Profile
You will ideally have:

• A strong track record of buyside M&A delivery in corporate development, PE or investment banking
• Sector experience in Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities or other capital-intensive markets
• Advanced financial modelling capability and deal execution literacy
• The ability to lead workstreams independently and challenge advisers where needed
• Experience operating with CFO and board-level stakeholders
• Immediate or short-notice availability

Compensation & Benefits
This is a senior outside IR35 mandate paying £600-£1,000 per day, depending on depth of experience and deal leadership exposure. The engagement is hybrid with 2-3 days per week in the London office, ensuring proximity to the CFO and early involvement in deal strategy, not just execution mechanics. Candidates will gain access to a live pipeline rather than a theoretical one, with continuity of work rather than episodic transactions.

The environment suits an interim who enjoys owning the process rather than observing it; someone who values autonomy, pace and the freedom to move quickly without the drag of a large plc governance cycle. The assignment is initially 6 months, but given the deal cadence and ongoing buy-and-build thesis, extension is highly likely. There is also scope to help shape internal M&A capability as the function matures.