Institutional BD – DeFi Lending; App

Referment is partnering with a fast-growing, institutional lending platform operating at the intersection of traditional finance and digital assets. This is a standout opportunity for a senior business development professional to play a pivotal role in scaling an institutional platform during a key phase of growth.

This is a high-impact, senior individual contributor role for someone who is deeply embedded in the New York institutional finance ecosystem and thrives on relationship‑led origination.

This is not a retail, high‑volume, or inbound sales role. It is not a strategy, operations, or advisory position, this is a pure new business origination role.

• You will act as the primary external face of the platform in New York, embedded in the institutional community, attending industry events, meeting senior decision‑makers, and originating new borrower relationships.
• You'll own the full lifecycle of business development, working on fewer, larger, more complex transactions with typical deal sizes of $25m–$100m+.

• Originating new institutional borrower relationships across hedge funds, trading firms, prime brokerage, asset managers, banks, credit funds, and family offices.
• Owning the end‑to‑end BD process: sourcing, progressing, structuring conversations, and closing.
• Acting as a senior relationship manager to borrowers post‑close.
• Representing the platform at industry events, conferences, and in‑market meetings.
• Collaborating closely with credit, capital markets, and leadership teams.
• Feeding real‑time market insight back into product and growth strategy.

• 5+ years' experience in institutional business development, relationship management, or capital markets, specifically in a hands‑on origination or sales role (not management, strategy, or operations).
• Direct experience in institutional lending, credit, or structured finance (e.g., securitization, corporate lending, warehouse facilities) is essential.
• General capital raising or fund AuM growth is not sufficient.
• Experience working in or with digital assets, blockchain finance, DeFi, or crypto‑native institutions. This is essential, candidates must bridge Trad Fi and crypto.
• Well‑networked in the NYC institutional finance community.
• Proven track record of personally originating and closing large‑ticket, low‑volume transactions.
• Comfortable engaging senior stakeholders, ICs, and C‑suite counterparts.
• Based in or very close to New York City, you need to be out in the community, attending events and meeting prospective clients in person.

• Currently working at a crypto‑native firm (e.g., exchange, lending platform, DeFi protocol) in an institutional sales or BD capacity, with a prior background in traditional finance lending or structured products. Someone who can speak fluently to both Trad Fi and crypto counter parties.

• Your experience is primarily in SaaS or technology platform sales.
• Your background is in operations, strategy, or advisory rather than direct origination.
• You are a senior sales leader looking to manage teams rather than personally originate deals.

• Remote‑first culture with optional access to a shared New York office space.
• No mandated in‑office days, autonomy and trust are core to the culture.
• Competitive base salary plus meaningful performance upside (OTE typically in the 50–100% range, depending on performance).

This is a great opportunity to join a high growth company at a really exciting stage of their growth. Apply now to ensure that you are considered for the role.