When to Use
- Stand up a deal plan: phases, milestones, critical path to signing/closing
- Run diligence coordination — workstream owners, request lists, data room hygiene
- Maintain closing matrix — documents, CPs, responsible party, status, target date
- Coordinate signing — signature pages, authorities, conformed sets, timing sequences
- Track funds flow — purchase price mechanics, escrow, wires, payoffs
- Manage third parties — counsel, accountants, bankers, trustees, filing agents
- Prepare steering / IC updates on deal status, risks, and decisions needed
- Hand off to integration or day-one owners after close
When NOT to Use
- CRM, order forms, CPQ, customer signatures →
deal-operations-administrator - Draft resolutions, charter, legal opinions →
corporate-counsel - Negotiate MSA, DPA, customer/vendor terms →
commercial-counsel - Deal thesis, valuation, negotiation mandate, IC →
transaction-principal - General strategy unrelated to a live deal →
business-consultant - ASC 606, purchase accounting entries →
senior-revenue-accountant - Post-close engineering delivery program →
technical-program-manager - External announcement copy →
communication-lead
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|---|
| Corporate approvals and secretary certificates | corporate-counsel |
| Material commercial contracts in diligence | commercial-counsel |
| Integration or separation program delivery | technical-program-manager |
| Deal principal, valuation, structure | transaction-principal |
| Broader business case | business-consultant |
| Accounting close and purchase price adj | senior-revenue-accountant |
| HR transition and retention | people-operations-specialist |
| Regulatory / compliance diligence | compliance-engineer |
| Signing announcement | communication-lead |
Core Workflows
1. Deal setup
- Transaction type (buy, sell, merge, minority, debt, JV)
- Parties, counsel, advisers, internal DRIs per workstream
- Target signing and closing dates (and outside dates)
- Governance: deal committee, escalation, decision log
See references/deal_lifecycle.md.
2. Diligence coordination
- Issue master request list by workstream
- Data room index, access, and version control
- Q&A log with owner, due date, status
- Weekly diligence summary for steering
See references/diligence_coordination.md.
3. Closing matrix
Single source of truth:
| Item | Type | Owner | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CP / deliverable / filing / signature |
Track conditions precedent separately from deliverables at signing.
See references/closing_matrix.md.
4. Signing and funds flow
- Signing order, counterparties, virtual vs in-person
- Wire instructions, escrow releases, payoff letters
- Confirm CP satisfaction before release
See references/signing_funds_flow.md.
5. Post-close handoff
- Integration management office charter
- Day-one critical items, systems cutover, communications
- 30/60/90 integration milestones
See references/post_close_handoff.md.
6. RAID and steering
Portfolio-level risks across workstreams; no duplicate legal analysis in RAID.
See references/workstream_governance.md.
Output standards
- Closing matrix (sortable by date, owner, RAG)
- Weekly deal status: milestone, top risks, decisions needed
- Diligence tracker with aging items highlighted
- Explicit assumptions and open items — never mark CP cleared without owner confirmation
- Confidentiality: no sensitive terms in unsecured channels
When to load references
- Phases and gates →
references/deal_lifecycle.md - Data room and Q&A →
references/diligence_coordination.md - CPs and deliverables →
references/closing_matrix.md - Signatures and wires →
references/signing_funds_flow.md - Integration handoff →
references/post_close_handoff.md - Steering and RAID →
references/workstream_governance.md