Business Development Lead, Sports

About The Role

We are searching for a Business Development Lead to create our partnerships strategy, close deals, manage partners and eventually build a team to introduce Sports teams, leagues, and players to web3 and blockchain technologies and scale their use of the Aptos network with them. As a lead, you will be responsible for scoping potential partners in the Sports vertical, building deep relationships at the executive, agent/manager, and player level, forming and executing our partnership strategy, building internal business cases, negotiating complex deals, and working cross functionally with key internal stakeholders to further our mission. You should also expect to participate meaningfully in marketing discussions as we plan the sponsorships and other experiences we will create with sports partners to promote Aptos. As we grow our presence in this vertical, and if you perform at a high level, we would expect you to anchor and lead a partnerships team dedicated to bringing in more business and managing these partners. 

What you'll be doing:

• Research sports teams, leagues, players and other entities that are interested in bringing crypto and web3 collectibles, ticketing, gaming, and other new products and features into their matches  to choose the best partners for Aptos
• Developing and closing large, notable partner opportunities that will advance our mission
• Provide a strategic perspective to marketing, product, and engineering teams, delivering critical business insights and launching initiatives that impact the market
• Work alongside other partnerships leads to develop a comprehensive set of partners needed for our project
• Working closely with our recruiting team to hire and lead new partnerships teammates

What we’re looking for:

• 10+ years of experience working in partnerships, business development, or similar roles at a high-growth technology company, sports agency, team, or league.
• Experience working with commercial agreements, including creating and negotiating agreements outside of standard sales contracts
• Experience partnering with technical teams, lawyers, and marketers
• Experience in and strong market knowledge of the blockchain & crypto industry preferred
• Experience developing and closing partner opportunities across sports teams and leagues
• A deep and relevant network with industry leaders across sporting events, teams, and leagues
• Superb communication and presentation skills
• MBA or JD preferred