Partnerships Lead, Blockchain Infrastructure

OP Labs builds Optimism, an open-source blockchain network that powers the next generation of financial infrastructure. Hundreds of companies, from the world's largest enterprises like Sony, Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap, OKX, and Bitpanda to the most ambitious early-stage builders, use the OP stack to launch their own blockchains and bring their users onchain. Today, over 65% of Layer 2 activity on Ethereum runs through the OP stack. We are a small team building at the speed of the ecosystem we support. We’re remote-friendly but the NYC office is our center of gravity. We've raised $178M from a16z, Paradigm, and others. We have our work cut out for us and are looking for exceptional people to join us. Role and Responsibilities Infrastructure partnership development is vital for the OP Stack. This role, the Partnerships Lead, Blockchain Infrastructure is about owning the entire lifecycle of critical partnerships for the OP Stack ecosystem. You will find opportunities, close deals, and manage relationships with key blockchain infrastructure providers. This requires a unique mix of commercial, strategic, and technical expertise to navigate the complex crypto landscape. What are the role responsibilities? - Own the end-to-end lifecycle (sourcing, deal negotiation, integration, and partner management) for critical ecosystem infrastructure partnerships, including: - On/off ramps and payments. - Compliance, insurance, and risk infrastructure. - Market makers, liquidity infrastructure, and selected CEX relationships. - Stablecoin and fiat-rail related partnerships. - Collaborate with the Product team to define and launch new products that leverage third-party capabilities/technology, specifically in areas like Privacy and CGT. - Create and own the strategic roadmap for this section of the infrastructure partner ecosystem. - Proactively communicate key ecosystem developments, potential partnership blockers, and strategic updates to executive leadership. What skills do you bring? - Partnership & Business Acumen: - Deep experience managing and scaling strategic partnerships in the crypto infrastructure space, with a track record of owning complex categories end-to-end. - Strong commercial skills in deal structuring and negotiation for multi-party or multi-chain deals, balancing partner economics with ecosystem objectives. - Systems-level reasoning, including an understanding of network effects, liquidity loops, and value exchange within the ecosystem. - Product & Technical Fluency: - Domain technical fluency (infra or DeFi), comfortable engaging with protocol and infra engineers. - Strategic product thinking (build-partner-buy decisions) and the ability to run product discovery with partners. - Execution & Communication: - High-agency cross-functional operator, proficient at driving work across internal teams and external partners to ship integrations and create measurable impact. - Clear written and verbal communicator, able to write concise strategy documents and integration plans to keep all stakeholders aligned. - Proven ability to manage multi-quarter partnership roadmaps and drive clarity in ambiguous environments. - A genuine passion for blockchain technology, decentralization, and the future of open systems. What will you like about us? - We take care of our employees. Competitive compensation, fully paid medical, dental, and vision, and a 4% 401K match. - We take pride in the accomplishments of our teammates and support each other in doing the best work of our careers. - Our team is a diverse group of people from varied backgrounds. We cherish our eclecticism and consider it a great strength. - We're remote-friendly with an NYC office where we like to collaborate in person. - We think long-term. Our founders have been scaling Ethereum since 2015. - Learn more about our interviewing here! https://oplabs.notion.site/Interviewing-at-OP-26cf153ee1628080ab4fd1ddca5b5998 We are aware of fraudulent individuals falsely claiming to represen