Sr. Director of Partnerships

We’re supercharging the clean economy. Crux is the capital platform for the clean economy, modernizing capital raising and deployment for clean energy and critical infrastructure with solutions across advisory, investments, technology, and intelligence. Our team of 120+ experts spans energy, tax, finance, government, and technology. We’ve raised $77 million from top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercarbon Capital, New System Ventures, and strategic partners like Pattern Energy, Clearway Energy, EDF Renewables, and Orsted.

Energy demand is growing for the first time in decades, driving an urgent need for affordable, reliable electricity and new clean energy infrastructure. Traditional project financing is opaque and fragmented; Crux is changing that with unmatched insights, white-glove service, and purpose-built tools to power a prosperous, clean, and secure energy future.

About the role

We're seeking an experienced Sr. Director of Partnerships to own and scale Crux's partnerships program as a partner-sourced deal-flow engine. This leader will build and manage Crux's most important institutional advisor relationships—primarily law firms and tax/accounting firms (Big 4, AmLaw, mid-market, and regional firms)—and turn them into a structured, measurable source of referred pipeline.

The partnerships function has grown from early relationship-driven motions into a program with real commercial velocity, deepening Crux’s connectivity to capital, particularly with tax investors in the Fortune 1000. This role will scale what’s working into a repeatable, tiered engine: systematized referral tracking, tiered partner activation, and intelligence- and events-led enablement that gives partners a reason to bring Crux into their client work.

This is a services-and-relationships motion, not a software sale. The offer to partners is Crux's expertise, deal flow, market intelligence, and reputation—so this leader must operate as a peer to partner-level counterparts at the most sophisticated legal and tax firms in the country. You’ll lead a team of two direct reports (with plans to grow) and orchestrate across commercial, research, content, events, legal, policy, and operations.

Responsibilities

• Partnership program architecture & scaling
  • Own and evolve Crux's partnerships program as a partner-sourced referral and lead-generation engine focused on legal and tax/accounting advisors.
  • Build tiered partner frameworks with clear activation criteria, enablement programs, and performance metrics for each tier and persona.
  • Operationalize partner management in HubSpot—tracking referrals, attribution, partner health, and ROI—to replace ad hoc tracking.
• Partner acquisition & portfolio expansion
  • Build and run a repeatable partner acquisition program to systematically expand the portfolio of law and accounting firm relationships.
  • Develop standardized outreach, qualification criteria, and onboarding motions to ramp new partners to active referral status quickly.
  • Maintain a portfolio view of all partnerships—knowing when to double down, restructure, or exit.
• Enterprise relationship management
  • Personally build and deepen relationships with institutional partners, serving as the senior point of contact and earning peer-level trust with Big 4 and AmLaw firms.
  • Develop partner enablement, co-branded campaigns, and joint GTM motions tailored to each partner persona.
  • Negotiate and manage commercial terms including referral agreements, revenue share, and co-marketing commitments.
  • Establish creative, compelling commercial structures with partners unable to accept revenue share incentives.
• Intelligence and events-led engagement
  • Own the strategic direction of the market intelligence briefing series and related thought leadership to open doors with institutional partners, with a clear path from enablement → referral → closed deal.
  • Identify new opportunities to provide partners additional value through Crux’s growing market intelligence verticals.
  • Architect and scale a robust events program—partner briefings, co-hosted receptions, conference activations, and regional roadshows—in partnership with the Events team.
  • Drive partner-facing presence at key conferences with a clear strategy for each.
• Cross-functional orchestration
  • Coordinate across research (market intelligence requests), content (co-branded materials, white papers), events (program logistics), commercial teams (deal support), legal and policy (subject-matter input), and RevOps (infrastructure and reporting).
  • Act as the strategic coordinator of partner programs at Crux, ensuring partner insights flow back into commercial strategy.
• Team leadership
  • Lead a team of two direct reports across relationship coverage, events/operations, and enablement, with plans to hire additional headcount as the program scales.
  • Develop career paths for the team and build a culture of operational rigor, commercial accountability, and creative partner engagement.
  • Partner with other Marketing Team leadership on scaling the team, improving processes, and building a top-class culture.

Requirements

• Deep experience building and managing enterprise relationships with large, complex institutional partners, with an understanding of their internal BD dynamics, compliance constraints, billing sensitivities, and client referral behavior.
• 12+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, or alliance management, with at least 6+ years leading and scaling a partnership team.
• Demonstrated experience building a partnership program from growth stage into a structured, tiered operation—not just inheriting a mature one.
• Track record of owning a revenue number tied to partner-sourced pipeline, with experience building attribution models and managing commercial terms (referral agreements, rev share, joint GTM).
• Experience running partnerships built on services and relationships rather than a software product sold into partners.
• Executive presence and seniority to be treated as a peer by partner-level counterparts.
• Strong cross-functional leadership: proven ability to orchestrate across teams you don’t directly manage (research, content, events, legal, commercial).
• Experience running content-led, events-driven, or thought leadership-driven partner engagement programs (briefing series, co-branded research, regional events).
• Demonstrated enthusiasm for using AI to accelerate and enhance a partnerships program and eager to combine deep relationship expertise with an AI- and tech-forward way of working.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience partnering with law firms and tax/accounting firms (Big 4, AmLaw), with an understanding of their internal BD dynamics, compliance constraints, billing sensitivities, and client referral behavior.
• Financial services, structured finance, tax, or capital markets adjacency, with knowledge of how law firms and accounting firms operate within deal structures.
• Clean energy finance knowledge, or demonstrated ability to learn complex technical domains quickly and translate that into partnership strategy.
• Familiarity with emerging partner personas in energy transition: commodity brokers/traders, financial intermediaries, cost segregation & appraisal providers, independent engineering firms.

What we bring

• Backing, traction & brand: $77M raised from top venture and strategic investors (Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercarbon Capital, Pattern, Clearway, EDF Renewables, Orsted, etc.). $500M debt warehouse facility from Nuveen. Profitable and growing exponentially, with 130+ transactions closed in the last 2 years, facilitating billions in capital for renewables projects.
• Culture & working dynamic:
  • Remote-first: Work from anywhere in the US or Canada, with optional offices in DC (open) and NYC (opening Q1’26). Optional co-working in Bay Area, Seattle, Denver, Boston, LA, and beyond.
  • High-growth, high-ownership culture: Rapid growth by giving talented people significant responsibility.
  • Best of financial services & technology: Expertise in clean energy finance combined with cutting-edge AI applications.
  • Regular team offsites: Company-wide gatherings 2x/year, with additional team meetups.

Benefits

• Healthcare: 100% of premiums covered for employees (Aetna nationwide, Kaiser in WA/CA); 70% subsidy for dependents.
• Dental & vision: 100% of premiums covered for employees; 50% for dependents.
• Time off: 10 company holidays + 20 days PTO per year.
• 401k: Supported, but no matching program at this time.
• Parental leave: 16 weeks for birthing parents; 12 weeks for non-birthing parents.
• AI learning stipend: $5,000 for AI learning and development.

Pay

• Total Cash Compensation: $250,000 - $350,000+, depending on experience.
• Performance bonus: Discretionary annual bonus.
• Equity: Meaningful stock options.

Note: We are flexible on leveling and compensation for the right candidate.