Senior Associate, M&A Advisory
Candor Advisors | Remote (Southern California based) | Full time
Growth path to Vice President
Candor Advisors is a boutique M&A advisory firm that works on one side of the table only: we represent founders and owners who are selling. We do not represent buyers, we do not raise funds for private equity, and we do not carry the conflicts that come with doing both. Our mission is simple: guiding founders to better outcomes.
"Better outcome" does not always mean an auction to the highest strategic or private equity bidder. For a founder, the right answer might be a sale to a strategic acquirer, a majority or minority recapitalization with a financial sponsor, a management buyout, a sale to a family member or key employees, an ESOP, or in some cases the decision not to sell yet. We put every credible path on the table, run the numbers on each, and let the founder choose with clear eyes. That is unusual in our industry, and it is the core of how we work.
The firm was founded in 2020 by a Managing Partner with more than 30 years in investment banking and over $1 billion in completed transactions. We are small, distributed, and deliberately nimble: a U.S. deal team, a dedicated research and modeling team, and a marketing partner, all working remotely with a home base in Southern California.
The roleWe are adding a Senior Associate to the deal team. This is a second-chair role on live sell-side engagements and an ownership role over the machinery that makes those engagements run. You will work directly with the Managing Partner on every mandate, sit in on founder and buyer conversations, and be accountable for the quality of the analysis and materials that reach clients and buyers.
Day to day, you will work alongside an experienced associate and coordinate a dedicated offshore research and modeling team. Together, the three of you support the Managing Partner across several client engagements running at the same time, each at a different stage: one in exit-readiness planning, another in market with buyers, another in diligence toward closing. Keeping that portfolio moving, with nothing dropped and quality held constant, is the heart of the job.
The firm generates more qualified deal flow than it can currently execute. This role exists so we can take on more of it without diluting the quality of the work. For the right person, the role scales into a Vice President seat with broader client responsibility as the firm grows.
What you will do• Deal analysis. Build and own financial analysis on live deals: normalized and adjusted EBITDA, quality of earnings style reviews, working capital analysis, three-statement models, valuation and returns analysis, and transaction scenario modeling across sale, recapitalization, and internal transfer structures.
• Materials. Draft and quality-control confidential information memorandums, management presentations, buyer lists, teasers, and process letters.
• Offshore team coordination. Scope, assign, and review the work of our offshore research and modeling team: research briefs, buyer universe builds, first-draft models and CIM sections. Set standards, give clear feedback, and manage time-zone handoffs so work moves overnight and is ready for review each morning.
• Team collaboration. Work with an experienced associate to divide and cover engagements, back each other up on client requests, and give the Managing Partner a single, current view of where every deal stands.
• Portfolio management. Balance three to five active client engagements at once. Maintain engagement trackers, anticipate what each client and buyer will need next, and flag issues early enough to solve them.
• Diligence and execution. Prepare founders for diligence, manage data rooms, coordinate requests across buyers, accountants, and counsel, and keep the process moving from LOI to close.
• Client and buyer interaction. Participate in founder meetings and buyer calls. Over time, lead workstreams and select client conversations on your own.
• Firm operations. Own the internal process: engagement checklists, model templates, CIM and outreach standards, pipeline and referral tracking, and after-action reviews. Improve how the firm works, not just what it produces on a given deal.
• Exit readiness. Lead exit-readiness assessments for founders who are one to three years from a transaction, translating financial and operational findings into a plan that improves the eventual outcome.
The background we think fits best is 2-4 years in Transaction Advisory Services, Financial Due Diligence, or Quality of Earnings work at a CPA firm, or comparable experience in investment banking, corporate development, or valuation. If you have spent your early career taking apart the financials of privately held businesses and want to move to the advisory side of the table, this is the role that makes that transition.
• Strong accounting foundation and hands-on financial modeling experience. You are comfortable rebuilding a founder-run company's financials from the general ledger up, and you can defend every adjustment. CPA or CPA track is a plus.
• Familiarity with lower middle market M&A: how deals are structured, how buyers think about value, and what goes wrong in diligence.
• Clear, direct written and verbal communication. Our materials are read by founders, private equity investors, and strategic acquirers; they need to be precise and free of filler.
• Judgment and discretion. You will hold confidential information about family businesses and their owners.
• Self-direction and organization. We are a remote team with no layers. You will get real responsibility early, carry several engagements at once, and be expected to manage your own workload and the offshore team's.
• Experience directing or reviewing the work of others, including remote or offshore teams, is a plus.
• Based in Southern California, or willing to relocate. We work remotely but meet in person and travel to clients as needed.
• FINRA Series 79 and SIE, or the ability to obtain them within a defined period after joining. We will sponsor registration through BA Securities, LLC.
• Direct exposure to every phase of a sell-side transaction, from first founder conversation to closing, at a pace and level of responsibility that larger firms do not provide at this stage of a career.
• A firm that works only for founders, so you will never be asked to compromise a client's outcome for a relationship on the other side.
• Competitive base salary and full healthcare coverage. Discretionary bonus funded by the firm's consulting and success fees, so the upside is tied to the outcomes we produce for clients and the broader success of our firm.
• Sponsorship of FINRA registration and continuing education.
• A distributed, small-team culture with a Southern California home base. Real flexibility, real accountability.
• A defined path to Vice President as the firm grows.
Send a resume and a short note on a transaction or diligence engagement you worked on and what you learned from it to kmichie@candor-advisors.com or use the LinkedIn portal provided on that platform. We read every application and respond to all well-qualified candidates.
Candor Advisors | Carlsbad, CA | candor-advisors.com | Securities offered through BA Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Candor Advisors is an equal opportunity employer.
