Recruiters and corporate development executives will tell you that the most desirable skills for corporate dealmakers are in strategic consulting, finance and operations. And most will agree that a candidate with two out of three is a find.

Jeff Desroches, business development manager at semiconductor materials supplier ATMI Inc., is one of those rare finds. Before joining ATMI, Desroches worked as a process engineer for chipmaker Intel Corp. He also did a stint as a strategic consultant for a startup firm run by former Deloitte Consulting and McKinsey & Co. employees.

Desroches has held several positions at ATMI. He's worked in program and product management, and started a project management office that allowed him to build relationships with business managers throughout the company. That internal network helped him hit the ground running when ATMI formalized its M&A function about 18 months ago.

"In business development, you have to be able to work cross functionally across lots of businesses. I had had exposure to different parts of the organization and it has really helped to have those relationships." - Suzanne Stevens

• Making a career of corporate development at J&J
• Moving to a line business at Pitney Bowes
• Colonel Tapp and Northrop Grumman's new flight path
• From Shearman & Sterling to the middle of the Bristol-Myers makeover
• PepsiCo to Lehman to Campbell Soup
• On the inside at Brocade, but with roots in consulting
• Finding a faster ship at Glam Media
  

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