M&A Opportunity Sourcer

About Company Limepack is a rapidly scaling European e-commerce company specializing in custom takeaway packaging, achieving 30-50% year-over-year growth. As we continue to dominate the market, we are expanding our growth strategy to include Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). We are seeking a highly analytical and sharp M&A Opportunity Sourcer to help us systematically map out, evaluate, and target acquisition opportunities across Europe and the US. Role Overview Type of contract: Freelance / B2B Contract Location: Remote (Flexible, but must be aligned with European/US business hours) Time commitment: Part-time, flexible hours (0-20 hours/week, with a 10-hour weekly average) Hourly Rate: $20 - $60 USD / hour (depending on experience) Reporting to CEO Why This Role is Unique True Work-Life Balance: M&A work is notorious for intense deadlines and burnout. We don't operate that way. We value high-quality judgment over chaotic rushing. First M&A Hire: You will lay the groundwork for our acquisition strategy, meaning massive potential for professional growth as our corporate development scales. Direct Collaboration: You will act as a strategic partner directly to the CEO, avoiding corporate bureaucracy. What You’ll Do This role is about judgment, not just list-building. Anyone (and any AI) can generate a list of a thousand companies. Your value lies in filtering that noise down to the few genuine opportunities worth the CEO's time. Initial Sourcing: Build the initial pool of EU and US manufacturers/printers using search, directories, marketplaces, LinkedIn, and AI automation tools (speed here is fine). Deep Qualitative Vetting: Move past the surface. Read target companies' websites, social media footprint, production capabilities, and ownership history to judge if they are a credible partner or acquisition target. Ruthless Filtering: Narrow the pool down to a high-conviction shortlist of 1–5 targets that actually fit. Quality of judgment matters far more than volume. Deal Briefing: Write clear, concise reasoning for each shortlisted company: what fits, what the strategic angle is, and what the potential risks are. Founder-to-Founder Outreach: Draft highly professional ini tial outreach messages for the CEO to review, and manage the reply pipeline. Future Growth: Over time, you will generate broader opportunity maps and industry overviews to identify unique scaling opportunities. Requirements Experience: Mid-level (3+ years) in a role requiring rigorous qualification and prioritization of targets, such as M&A/Deal Origination, Venture Capital/Private Equity research, Buy-Side Research, or advanced Procurement/Strategic Sourcing. Sharp Business Judgment: The ability to look at a small manufacturer and quickly sense: "this founder would want to talk to us" versus "this is a dead end." Research Mastery: Advanced online-sourcing skills (LinkedIn, web intelligence, directories, registries).