Business Development Lead

Valora Inc’s mission is to unlock access to financial opportunity so everyone can create and share value without barriers. We believe every person should have access to the information, education, and tools needed to build wealth. When everyone has the potential to prosper, our world will be a more supportive and interconnected place.

The Business Development Lead is a new role on the Valora Strategy & Operations team. This role will be responsible for identifying opportunities to collaborate with strategic partners to improve the user experience, add to Valora’s value propositions as a product, bring in new users, and more. These partnerships may take the form of product integrations to enable better experiences for Valora users, channel partners to increase distribution of Valora globally and more.

This role has exposure beyond Valora, to Celo ecosystem players, payments and crypto in general.

We are looking for a business development professional with a passion for driving the adoption of crypto and DeFi among consumer audiences globally. The successful candidate will have a good understanding of blockchain technology and the ability to clearly convey technical concepts to non-crypto stakeholders and partners.

You Will:

• Identify opportunities and develop partnerships by tracking relevant projects and industry developments in crypto, Celo and beyond
• Build, manage and prioritize a pipeline of commercial development opportunities for Valora
• Manage deal flow, and structure/negotiate agreements with prospective partners
• Work closely with our product leadership to identify partnerships that will help accelerate our product adoption, add-to or enhance our product features, and expand Valora’s user base into new global markets
• Collaborate with functional groups across the organization, including but not limited to Product, Engineering, Marketing, Communications, Compliance and Legal
• Coordinate and drive project execution across a cross-functional team, by building strong relationships internally, and through excellent communication and project management

You Have:

• 7+ years in new business development or strategic partnerships; experience selling to large technology companies, PSPs or medium sized fintech companies. * Global sales experience is strongly preferred
• Good knowledge of the global payments system, including the infrastructure supporting domestic and cross-border payments
• Experience in the crypto is a must
• A strong interest in and understanding of the ability of blockchain technology to open access to financial opportunities, including financial inclusion
• Ability to develop the trust of potential partners’ executives and influencers
• Strong oral and written communication with the ability to explain complex technical features in a language that can be understood by cross-functional counterparts and the general public
• Strong organization skills and attention to detail
• Proficiency in English
• Comfortable navigating uncertainty and ambiguity among the complexity of the crypto/payments space
• Startup experience and/or enthusiasm about working in a startup environment
• Hands-on approach to working with internal and external stakeholders

Bonus

• Experience working in emerging markets
• Proficiency in additional languages