Business Development and Partnerships Director, Digital Assets

Nasdaq, Inc.; United States; Hybrid; USD 112,000 - 207,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Employee stock purchase

Health benefits

Hybrid work

Parental leave

Education assistance

Job summary

Nasdaq, Inc. in New York is seeking a business development leader to build and run a comprehensive partner program.

You will secure clients, convert pilots into scalable programs, and collaborate with Product and Engineering to move offerings from concept to production and scaled GTM. This role requires enterprise relationship management, structured execution, and strong product thinking to deliver secure, compliant solutions across traditional, centralized and decentralized financial vectors.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years in business development, partnerships, strategy, solutions, or customer success in fintech, capital markets, crypto, payments, or enterprise SaaS.
• Proven success securing and expanding strategic design partners or lighthouse customers and scaling pilots.
• Strong product orientation with ability to write crisp requirements and prioritise tradeoffs.
• Comfort with blockchain and market infrastructure concepts (tokenisation, custody, settlement, identity/controls).
• Excellent cross-functional leadership and executive communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and execution of the partner program across multiple cross‑functional teams.
• Build and manage a pipeline of issuers, broker‑dealers, custodians, fintech platforms, and infrastructure partners.
• Define mutual success criteria: use cases, milestones, KPIs, integration scope, and security/compliance requirements.
• Create repeatable design partner playbooks: intake, discovery, roadmap mapping, and launch readiness.
• Lead negotiations with external partners and drive pilots to scalable deployments.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Legal/Compliance, Risk, InfoSec, Operations, and GTM.

Skills

Digital assets space experience

Enterprise partnerships

Product thinking

Executive communication

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

What you’ll do:

We’re hiring a business development leader to build and run our partner program securing clients, converting early feedback into repeatable playbooks, and partnering with Product and Engineering to take offerings from concept to production and scaled GTM. This role blends enterprise relationship management, structured execution, and strong product thinking. Manage and lead execution of multiple major cross‑functional digital assets initiatives across Nasdaq. This role requires a professional with product, ecosystem, and technical acumen who can interact effectively with clients to both drive product and partnerships. Lead negotiations with potential external partners and ecosystem participants while engaging with various internal colleagues to ensure successful delivery of solutions in a complex, rapidly changing environment spanning traditional, centralized and decentralized financial vectors. Build a pipeline of customers and partners (issuers, broker‑dealers, custodians, fintech platforms, infrastructure providers, blockchain networks) and close agreements. Define mutual success criteria: use cases, milestones, KPIs, integration scope, security/compliance requirements, and resourcing. Create a repeatable design partner playbook: intake, discovery, feedback cadence, roadmap mapping, escalation paths, and launch readiness. Customer discovery to product requirements. Lead structured discovery (workshops, journey mapping, workflow deep dives) and convert insights into PRDs, user stories, and prioritized feature asks. Run feedback loops: steering calls, usability reviews, sandbox testing, and post‑implementation retrospectives. Establish a mechanism to separate must‑have requirements (regulatory/operational) from nice‑to‑have, and validate what generalises across customers. Pilot execution and cross‑functional leadership. Orchestrate concept‑to‑production execution with Product, Engineering, Legal/Compliance, Risk, InfoSec, Operations, and GTM. Own the program management for early deployments: timelines, dependencies, integration readiness, and issue resolution. Ensure pilots generate reusable artifacts: reference architectures, implementation guides, onboarding checklists, and security/compliance narratives. Early GTM and scaling. Build sales enablement: demo scripts, objection handling, ROI narratives, and customer case studies (where possible). Create and refine the launch plan for GA: rollout phases, partner ecosystem needs, and support model.

Required qualifications:

Must have experience in the digital assets space 8–12+ years in business development, partnerships, strategy, solutions, or customer success in fintech, capital markets, crypto, payments, or enterprise SaaS. Demonstrated success securing and expanding strategic design partners or lighthouse customers and converting pilots into scaled programs. Strong product orientation: ability to write crisp requirements, prioritise tradeoffs, and partner effectively with Engineering. Comfort with blockchain and market infrastructure concepts (tokenisation, custody models, settlement flows, identity/controls). Excellent cross‑functional leadership and executive communication skills.

Preferred qualifications:

Experience operating in regulated environments and navigating security/compliance reviews. Background in implementation, solutions engineering, or product‑led partnerships. Familiarity with institutional buyer personas and procurement cycles.

Core competencies:

Customer discovery and experimentation discipline. Program leadership and operational rigor. Product sense plus commercial instinct. Executive stakeholder management. Ability to convert learning into repeatable playbooks.

Location and work environment:

This position can be located in NewYork, and offers the opportunity for a hybrid work environment (at least 3 days a week in office, subject to change), providing flexibility and accessibility for qualified candidates.

Work authorization:

Applicants must be authorised to work in the U.S. without the need for employment‑based visa sponsorship now or in the future; Nasdaq will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H‑1B, L‑1, TN, O‑1, E‑3, H‑1B1, F‑1, J‑1, OPT, CPT or any other employment‑based visa).

Equal opportunity statement:

We positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of age, colour, disability, national origin, ancestry, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Please contact us to request an accommodation.

What We Offer

We’re proud to offer a competitive rewards package that is meaningful, recognises the unique needs of our employees and their families and incentivises employees for their contribution to Nasdaq’s overall success.

The base pay range for this role is $112,000 - $207,000. In addition to base salary, Nasdaq provides a generous annual bonus/commission (short‑term incentive), and equity (long‑term incentive), comprehensive benefits and opportunity for growth. Exact compensation may vary based on several job‑related factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to: skill set, experience, education/training, business needs and market demands.

Nasdaq’s programmes and rewards are intended to allow our employees to:

• Secure Wealth: 401(k) program with 6% employer match
• Employee Stock Purchase Program with 15% discount
• Student loan repayment programme up to $10k
• Company paid life and disability plans
• Generous paid time off
• Prioritise Health: Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage
• Health spending account with employer contribution
• Paid flex days to support mental wellbeing
• Gym membership discounts
• Care for Family: Hybrid home/office schedule (for most positions)
• Paid parental leave
• Fertility benefits
• Paid bereavement leave
• Connect with Community: Company gift matching programme
• Employee resource groups
• Paid volunteer days
• Grow Career: Education Assistance Programme
• Robust job skills training
• Professional development opportunities

For more information, visit Nasdaq Benefits & Rewards Career page.

At Nasdaq, we’re proud to be the engine behind the world’s capital markets. But we don’t stop there. We build the technology that drives transparency, trust and access—helping economies grow and people thrive. Our purpose is to advance economic progress for all. Whether you’re a client, a colleague or part of our broader community, we’re here to move markets—and possibilities—forward. Join our Talent Community to stay in the loop on upcoming roles, events and new opportunities across Nasdaq. Our hybrid work model, NasdaqBlend, gives you flexibility to do your best work—whether that’s from home, in the office or a mix of both. Check the job listing or reach out to our team for role‑specific details. We’re a global team of over8500 innovators across 38 countries, united by a shared purpose: advancing economic progress for all. It’s not just what we do—it’s how we do it, together. Want a deeper look into our culture? Explore our Culture Book. We support your success through You&Q, our total rewards programme that covers every dimension of life—from building wealth and growing your career to prioritising wellbeing and family care. Join the Team Advancing Economic Progress for All.