Director, Business Development and Partnerships - Digital Assets

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.

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.

Requirements

• 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.
• Licenses & Certifications: Must Have (or obtain within 90 days of start) 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 (Uniform Securities Agent) - Required for state-level securities sales activity across US distribution channels.

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