DeFi Strategy & Growth Associate

ZZZ-WLSN-PROBE; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Aave Labs is seeking a highly driven Strategy & BD Associate to work with its leadership on high-impact strategic initiatives across ecosystem growth, product expansion, and institutional adoption. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, business development, and execution within one of the most influential organizations in decentralized finance.

You will support cross-functional initiatives, collaborate with product, engineering, marketing, and ecosystem teams, and help shape the

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in strategy, business development or partnerships, and digital assets.
• Strong understanding of crypto, DeFi, and the evolving digital asset ecosystem.
• Intellectual curiosity and a genuine passion for decentralized finance and emerging financial infrastructure.
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and project management skills.
• Ability to operate autonomously and manage multiple workstreams in fast-moving environments.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking capabilities with high attention to detail.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• High-agency mindset with a willingness to take ownership and drive initiatives forward.
• Strong team player who thrives in collaborative and globally distributed environments.

Responsibilities

• Support the development and execution of strategic growth initiatives across Aave Labs’ ecosystem and products
• Work closely with leadership to help identify and evaluate new market opportunities and expansion strategies
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives across product, engineering, legal, marketing, and ecosystem teams to drive execution and alignment
• Assist in developing and managing strategic partnerships across DeFi, fintech, infrastructure, and institutional ecosystems
• Conduct market research, competitive analysis, and ecosystem mapping to support business and strategic decision-making
• Help prepare strategic materials including partnership proposals, market overviews, presentations, and ecosystem analyses
• Support business development efforts including outreach coordination, pipeline management, partner tracking, and stakeholder communication
• Monitor trends across DeFi, stablecoins, tokenization, institutional adoption, and digital asset infrastructure to identify emerging opportunities
• Contribute to internal strategic planning and operational initiatives as Aave Labs continues to scale globally

Skills

Strategy

Business development

Digital assets

Crypto/DeFi understanding

Project management

Job description

Aave Labs is seeking a highly driven Strategy & BD Associate to work with its leadership on high-impact strategic initiatives across ecosystem growth, product expansion, and institutional adoption. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, business development, and execution within one of the most influential organizations in decentralized finance.

You will support cross-functional initiatives, collaborate with product, engineering, marketing, and ecosystem teams, and help shape the