Head of Corporate Development and IR

New York, NY • Los Angeles, CA

Finance & Accounting

In office

Full-time

About Nominal

Engineers today are building some of the most ambitious machines humanity has ever seen. They should have AI that’s purpose-built for them.

Nominal is building the Hardware Intelligence Platform that gives engineers increased visibility into complex physical systems, helps them make better decisions, and ultimately gets their products into the real world faster. It brings together the systems, data, intelligence, and applications hardware engineering requires to meet the AI moment. Hardware engineering teams use Nominal to simulate, test, manufacture, and operate the physical systems that keep the world moving, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation energy systems and robotics.

Our customers span aerospace, defense, manufacturing, transportation, energy, and robotics. They include Anduril, Shield AI, Wisk Aero, Pratt Miller Motorsports, Antares, and Shinkei Systems, amongst others, alongside programs within the U.S. Air Force and Navy. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Tesla, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.

Some of the world’s leading technology investors, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Insight Partners, are backing Nominal’s ambition to change how machines are built and operated. We’re looking for engineers who want to take on hard problems and help make a new generation of world-changing hardware possible.

About the role

Every physical system being built today generates enormous amounts of data, and AI is changing what engineers can do with it. Nominal is becoming the intelligence layer for that data, and how we raise, partner, and acquire will directly impact the pace and quality of what we build.

We're looking for a Head of Corporate Development & Investor Relations to own Nominal's relationships with the capital markets and lead our inorganic growth strategy. You'll be the operating owner of our investor relationships, the architect of future capital raises, and the person who turns our product roadmap into a disciplined M&A and strategic investment pipeline. You'll work directly with our CEO and leadership team, and you'll be in the room for the decisions that set Nominal's trajectory.

This is a builder's role. You'll be the first dedicated hire in the function, with the mandate to define how Nominal does corporate development and IR, and the judgment to do it without a playbook to follow.

What you'll do

• Own investor relations: Be the primary operating point of contact for Nominal's investors. Own the quarterly investor update, board materials, and the KPI narrative that explains how the business is performing and where it's going. Keep investors informed before they have to ask.
• Lead future capital raises: Own fundraising readiness end to end: the model, the narrative, the data room, investor targeting, and diligence. Build relationships with growth, crossover, and strategic investors well ahead of when we need them.
• Build the M&A engine: Define an acquisition thesis tied to our product roadmap across data infrastructure, command & control, engineering applications, and artificial intelligence for hardware engineering. Maintain a live pipeline of targets and run processes from origination through close, including valuation, structuring, diligence coordination, and negotiation.
• Make integrations work: Partner across Engineering, Product, Legal, People, Talent, and Finance to plan and run post-close integration so acquired teams and technology create value quickly.
• Evaluate strategic partnerships and investments: Assess joint ventures and strategic partnerships with primes & OEMs, systems integrators, and cloud and AI platforms. Bring a clear recommendation and the tradeoffs behind it.
• Prepare Nominal for the long game: Own cap table strategy, investor allocation strategy, and benchmarking against public and private comparables. Build the reporting discipline a company needs years before it's public.
• Be a strategic partner to leadership: Produce the market maps, competitive analysis, and board-level memos that shape company strategy. Your analysis should change decisions, not just inform them.
• Build leverage with AI: Use AI tools and automation to run a lean, high-output function: diligence workflows, comps tracking, investor CRM, and reporting.

We're looking for someone with

• 8+ years of experience across investment banking, private equity or growth equity, and corporate development or investor relations at a high-growth technology company.
• A track record of closing deals: You've led M&A or strategic investment processes end to end, not only supported them, and you can walk through what you'd do differently.
• Real fluency with investors: You've been core to a capital raise or IR program and understand how growth and crossover investors underwrite software businesses.
• Strong financial and valuation skills: You build models that hold up in diligence and you're fluent in both financial and SaaS metrics.
• Executive-grade communication: You can write the board memo, present to a skeptical investor, and negotiate with a founder across the table, each in the right register.
• Judgment and discretion: You handle confidential information carefully and make sound calls with incomplete information.
• A builder's instinct: You're energized by standing up a function from zero and comfortable moving between strategy and execution.
• Genuine interest in hardware, defense, and AI: You want to understand how our customers build, test, and fly what they make.
• Skills that supercharge us
• Experience with pre-IPO readiness, tender offers, or secondary transactions
• Existing relationships with growth and crossover investors and technology bankers
• Transactions in data infrastructure, developer tools, or AI software
• Deal experience in defense, aerospace, or dual-use technology, including familiarity with CFIUS, ITAR, or FOCI considerations
• Cross-border transaction experience

Benefits/perks

• 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Unlimited PTO and sick leave
• Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
• Professional Development Stipend
• In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
• Annual company retreat
• 12 weeks parental leave
• Fertility and family planning ($15,000 lifetime)
• Wellness stipend ($100/month)
• $500/year hardware sensor stipend
• 401(k)
• Employee-friendly equity terms
• In-office 5 days per week

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $200,000 – $275,000 per year.