M&A Associate

Who you are

You are driven, curious, and want to do meaningful work as part of a great team. You take pride in doing things well, enjoy solving problems, and are excited to be part of building the next generation of technology companies from Japan.

Traits we look for:

At WAY, our values guide who we hire, how we operate, and what we invest in. Here’s how we expect them to show up in this role:

• Customers are our obsession
  Your "customers" are both the operators we acquire from and the operating teams we partner with. You seek to understand what matters to them and craft win-win outcomes rooted in trust.

• Everything is possible
  You’re creative in deal sourcing, open-minded in evaluating opportunities, and resilient when things don’t go as planned. You’re willing to rethink what makes a good business — and how we can transform it.

• Strength in diversity
  You listen closely to operators, advisors, and team members with different perspectives. You believe the best deals are shaped through collaborative thinking and honest debate.

• Grit
  M&A is often a grind — sourcing cold leads, chasing diligence, and navigating uncertainty. You stay steady, push through ambiguity, and don’t let setbacks slow your momentum.

• Energy and execution
  You’re not just smart — you’re fast. You bring structure to chaos, keep things moving, and close loops. You manage multiple priorities without dropping the ball.

• Curiosity enables potential
  You dig into sectors you’ve never explored, ask questions others don’t, and go beyond the P&L to understand a business's true levers and risks. You care about why things work.

• Pragmatic about purpose
  You balance optimism with scepticism. You know when to push forward — and when to walk away. You make decisions grounded in facts, not ego.

About the role

WAY is building a roll-up strategy across fragmented, under-digitised industries in Japan. As an M&A Associate, you’ll be on the frontlines of identifying and acquiring the companies that will form the foundation of scalable, tech-enabled ventures.

This role is both strategic and hands-on. You’ll build and manage deal pipelines, lead financial and commercial diligence, and work closely with WAY partners and future operators to evaluate and execute deals. You’ll be part of a small, fast-moving team where your judgment and contributions directly shape our investment decisions.

What you will do

• Source and qualify acquisition targets through outreach, market research, and network-building

• Lead financial modelling, valuation, and scenario analysis to assess potential deals

• Conduct commercial, operational, and organisational due diligence

• Support deal structuring and negotiations with sellers and legal counsel

• Develop investment memos and make recommendations to the WAY investment committee

• Collaborate with operating teams to plan post-acquisition integration and strategy

• Continuously improve sourcing, diligence, and decision frameworks as we scale

How we work with AI

At WAY, we believe AI is not just a tool — it's a competitive edge. Everyone on the team, regardless of role, is expected to:

• Identify and automate parts of your job that can be made more efficient using AI.

• Experiment with AI tools to increase productivity, improve quality, and unlock new ideas.

• Share what you learn with your teammates so we all get better, faster.

Who we are looking for

• 2–4 years of experience in investment banking, M&A, private equity, or a similarly rigorous analytical environment
  (We also welcome candidates from management consulting or startup backgrounds with a strong financial and commercial focus)

• Strong financial modelling and valuation skills; comfortable in Excel and PowerPoint

• Ability to communicate clearly with both internal and external stakeholders, including company founders, lawyers, and senior executives

• Fluent in Japanese and business-level English

• Hunger to learn, high integrity, and a genuine interest in building enduring companies