Director, Business Development and Partnerships - Digital Assets

Title: Director, Business Development & Partnerships - Digital Assets

Department: Product Management

Location: New York, NY

About the Role

VanEck is one of the few traditional asset managers with a live and growing suite of tokenized securities. With that infrastructure in place, we are hiring someone to build the partnerships that turn it into sustained AUM growth.

This is a business development and partnerships role, not a traditional sales role. The primary channels are US-based centralized exchanges, fintech platforms, and DeFi protocols. The person in this seat will own those relationships end-to-end, from initial outreach through integration, commercial structuring, and long-term partnership management. They will also act as the internal voice of the market, translating what distribution partners need into product and roadmap input for the broader team.

Core Responsibilities

Exchange & CeFi Distribution

● Own relationships with US-based centralized exchanges and retail fintech platforms, with the goal of securing product listings, featured placement, and structured distribution agreements for tokenized securities.
● Develop and execute partnership proposals that go beyond simple listings: revenue share arrangements, co-branded product features, and embedded placements that give platforms an economic incentive to grow AUM rather than just provide access.
● Work with internal compliance and BD teams to structure agreements that are executable within our broker-dealer framework.
● Track and report AUM attributable to each channel partner, with clear accountability for growth targets.

DeFi Protocol & Ecosystem Integration

● Identify and pursue integration opportunities with DeFi protocols where tokenized securities can function as yield-bearing collateral, reserve assets, or base-layer liquidity.
● Build and maintain relationships with ecosystem leads, BD teams, and governance participants at major DeFi protocols and Layer 1 / Layer 2 networks with active real-world asset programs.
● Coordinate with internal product and technology teams to ensure our tokenized products meet the technical standards and liquidity requirements of target DeFi integrations.
● Track onchain AUM and TVL attributable to DeFi integrations and identify follow-on distribution opportunities as protocols evolve.

Fintech & Emerging Platform Partnerships

● Source and develop distribution relationships with fintech platforms pursuing tokenized asset offerings, including neo-brokerages, digital wealth managers, stablecoin issuers, and emerging onchain financial applications.
● Identify early-stage distribution partners with real end-user reach and structure pilot programs that can scale into sustained AUM channels.
● Work with marketing and product to develop materials, onboarding flows, and co-marketing programs tailored to each partner's user base and commercial objectives.

Market Intelligence & Product Feedback

● Serve as the primary internal voice on what distribution partners need (preferred product structures, yield requirements, collateral standards, compliance constraints) and translate that into input for product and roadmap decisions.
● Track competitive activity across the tokenized securities landscape and identify gaps that represent partnership or product opportunities.
● Represent VanEck at industry events, protocol governance forums, and ecosystem conferences relevant to real-world asset distribution.

Required Qualifications

● 5+ years in a business development, partnerships, or distribution role at a crypto-native firm, tokenization platform, blockchain foundation, or digital asset-focused financial institution.
● Demonstrated track record of closing distribution agreements, exchange listings, or protocol integrations. We want specific outcomes, not a general claim of market familiarity.
● Existing relationships with centralized exchanges, DeFi protocol BD teams, and fintech platforms pursuing tokenized or real-world asset strategies.
● Functional understanding of tokenized securities infrastructure, including how transfer agents, custodians, and onchain distribution systems interact, sufficient to represent products credibly in technical partnership conversations.
● Familiarity with AML/KYC constraints on CeFi and DeFi distribution, and the ability to navigate compliance requirements without losing deal momentum.
● Comfortable operating in a build environment: this person needs to create process, not follow it.

Preferred Qualifications

● Prior experience at a tokenization platform in a role responsible for selling to or partnering with institutional asset managers or exchanges.
● Business development or ecosystem role at a major Layer 1 or Layer 2 blockchain foundation with a real-world asset or institutional focus.
● Experience at a crypto exchange in a listings, partnerships, or institutional sales capacity.
● Existing onchain presence: active DeFi participation, governance involvement, or demonstrated familiarity with the protocol communities relevant to real-world asset distribution.
● Prior exposure to traditional asset management distribution, fund sales, or structured product business development. Understanding the asset manager side of the partnership equation is a real advantage.

Licenses & Certifications

Must Have (or obtain within 90 days of start)
● Series 7 Series 7 (General Securities Representative) - Required to sell tokenized securities through a registered broker-dealer. Non-negotiable for the channel economics model to work.
● Series 63 Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent) - Required for state-level securities sales activity across US distribution channels.

Compensation:

If this position will be performed in whole or in part in New York City, the base salary range is $175,000 – 200,000. Individual salaries may vary based on different factors including but not limited to, skills, experience, job-related knowledge, and location. Base salary does not include other forms of compensation or benefits offered in connection with this position.

VanEck is committed to treating all applicants and employees fairly and to providing equal opportunity in compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws. VanEck does not and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, color, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, age, physical or mental disability, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, covered-veteran or military status, genetic information, and/or any other factor protected by law. #LI-MS1