Director, M&A Strategy The opportunity Adobe's Creativity & Productivity (C&P) business is the creative platform for the world - Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Acrobat, and the products that professionals and creators depend on every day. It's one of the most strategically consequential businesses in enterprise software, and it's growing.
This is a newly created role at the center of how that business grows inorganically. You will shape C&P's M&A agenda - building the strategic pipeline, developing deal theses, and ensuring that every acquisition is positioned to deliver real business impact. You will work directly with C&P's senior leadership and in close partnership with Adobe's Corporate Development and Corporate Strategy functions.
What you'll own M&A strategy & pipeline - Define C&P's perspective on inorganic growth - a prioritized view of where acquisitions can accelerate the business strategy, developed in full collaboration with Corporate Development
- Work with C&P's business and product leaders to surface capability gaps, market adjacencies, and strategic vectors that M&A could address - and bring that context into the pipeline process
- Develop and maintain a sharp point of view on competitive dynamics and consolidation trends in the industry
- Partner with Corporate Development to build and prioritize a target list grounded in C&P's strategic priorities
Deal thesis & evaluation - Develop clear, compelling deal theses rooted in C&P's product strategy, competitive dynamics, and go-to-market priorities - giving Corporate Development the business context needed to evaluate targets effectively
- Serve as the business voice throughout evaluation - translating product roadmap, customer impact, and market realities into inputs that sharpen the process
- Synthesize complex inputs from across the business into crisp, senior-ready recommendations that enable fast, confident decisions
Integration readiness & performance - Develop success metrics, integration KPIs, and post-deal scorecards in advance of close - as part of the deal thesis, not an afterthought
- Work alongside the product, GTM, and finance teams within C&P to ensure integration planning is underway well before a deal closes
- Monitor performance against the original deal thesis post-close; surface risks and escalate as needed
- Provide clear, executive-level reporting on pipeline status, deal progress, and post-close outcomes to C&P leadership
Leadership & influence - Build trusted, ongoing relationships with Corporate Development and Corporate Strategy - serving as C&P's credible strategic counterpart
- Drive alignment across C&P's matrixed organization to keep deal momentum moving
- Ensure C&P senior leadership are informed, aligned, and positioned to move quickly when opportunities emerge
What we're looking for - 10+ years in corporate strategy, corporate development, strategic finance, or management consulting - with meaningful in-house experience at a technology company
- Track record of shaping M&A strategy: building pipelines, developing deal theses, influencing decisions, and following through on integration outcomes
- Deep familiarity with how M&A processes work - and how to operate alongside a Corporate Development function as a strategic business partner
- Strong business instincts: you think in markets, products, and customers; you know when and how to engage the deal machinery
- A builder mindset - comfortable creating structure in ambiguity, and energized by the chance to establish something new
- Executive presence and credibility with senior stakeholders in complex, matrixed environments
- Fluency in software, SaaS, or technology - prior experience in the creative or productivity software space is a plus
- Bachelor's in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or a quantitative field; MBA or
Expected Pay Range:Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets. The U.S. pay range for this position is $175,600 -- $334,500 annually. Pay within this range varies by work location and may also depend on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the job location during the hiring process.
In California, the pay range for this position is $231,000 - $334,500
At Adobe, for sales roles starting salaries are expressed as total target compensation (TTC = base + commission), and short-term incentives are in the form of sales commission plans. Non-sales roles starting salaries are expressed as base salary and short-term incentives are in the form of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP).
In addition, certain roles may be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of a new hire equity award.
