The Role
Lead institutional adoption of Aave products (Horizon, Aave Protocol, GHO) by developing go-to-market strategy, building strategic partnerships, shaping product direction with cross-functional teams, and representing Aave at industry events to grow distribution and market share.
Summary Generated by Built In
About us
Aave Labs began with a simple question: how do we make financial services like borrowing, saving, and earning more accessible globally?
We built the Aave Protocol, now the world’s largest and most trusted onchain lending market, connecting decentralized finance with individuals, traditional finance, and fintech.
Today, we build trusted, high-quality products that expand access to lending, credit, and savings globally
Our culture
We build trusted products that help people access and discover economic opportunities.
We hold a high bar for quality and craftsmanship. No detail is too small. Trust depends on it.
We’re a global team building products people can actually use, turning complex technology into something simple and reliable.
We stay aligned, move quickly, and think long term, while keeping teams lean and focused on impact.
About the role:
This role focuses on driving institutional adoption of Aave's products, including Horizon, Aave's institutional offering designed to enable compliant access to DeFi for regulated financial institutions. Working closely with leadership, product, engineering, and risk teams, you will build strategic relationships with key partners, identify growth opportunities, and help shape product direction based on market and client needs.
Success in this role requires both strategic thinking and the ability to dive deep into technical, operational, and market considerations to support partner engagement and execution.
How you can make an impact:
- Become a leading expert in Aave’s DeFi product suite including both the Aave Protocol, Horizon and GHO
- Develop and execute Aave’s institutional DeFi business development strategy, balancing near-term commercial opportunities with longer-term market development
- Partner closely with the CSBO, leadership, growth, product, engineering, risk, and marketing teams to shape institutional offerings, support go-to-market plans, and bring new products to market
- Build and deepen relationships with financial institutions and institutional partners, translating their needs into meaningful commercial, product, and ecosystem opportunities
- Work with key large scale collaborators within the ecosystem including DeFi projects, CeFi exchanges, blockchain protocols and other key industry players to grow distribution and market share
- Represent Aave Labs at key industry events and conferences, enhancing its presence in the ecosystem. Serve as a PR representative and spokesperson for Aave in the region with institutional partners
Let's connect if you have:
- 7+ years of business development, partnerships, or strategic growth experience within financial services, digital assets, fintech, or a related industry
- Demonstrated success building and managing strategic partnerships, including structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements with senior stakeholders across business, legal, product, and technical teams
- Strong understanding of DeFi, digital assets, and blockchain technology, with a genuine passion for the role decentralized infrastructure can play in the future of financial services
- Knowledge of institutional DeFi and the evolving regulatory landscape affecting digital asset adoption by financial institutions
- Ability to identify, prioritise, and execute against high-impact opportunities, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution
- Exceptional communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills to advance deals and projects
- Strong reputation and extensive network with industry leaders across capital markets
Haven’t quite met all the criteria? Let’s not miss out on the chance to speak. Whilst you might not meet every single requirement, you might bring other, more exciting skills to the companies!
Equal opportunities statement:
Aave Labs celebrates diversity and views each and every team member as a separate individual with their own unique identity. No matter your race, religion, gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation or even the wallet you use, we welcome you at Aave Labs. As an equal opportunities employer, we take accountability and believe in everyone's potential to build, create and inspire changes. With a mission to build a diverse workforce, we are proud to foster a working environment in which everyone can feel safe and valued for who they are.
Skills Required
- 7+ years of business development, partnerships, or strategic growth experience within financial services, digital assets, fintech, or a related industry.
- Demonstrated success building and managing strategic partnerships, including structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements with senior stakeholders across business, legal, product, and technical teams.
- Strong understanding of DeFi, digital assets, and blockchain technology.
- Knowledge of institutional DeFi and the evolving regulatory landscape affecting digital asset adoption by financial institutions.
- Ability to identify, prioritise, and execute against high-impact opportunities, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
- Exceptional communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills to advance deals and projects.
- Strong reputation and extensive network with industry leaders across capital markets.
Am I A Good Fit?
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.
Success! Refresh the page to see how your skills align with this role.
The Company
What We Do
Aave Labs is the original author and key contributor of the Aave Protocol and a software technology company founded by Stani Kulechov. The team builds blockchain-based products that power decentralized finance, including the Aave Protocol, the Aave-native stablecoin GHO, and Horizon, an institutional platform for borrowing against tokenized real-world assets. Aave is DeFi’s largest and most trusted lending protocol, where users can earn, borrow, save, and swap alongside millions of others worldwide.
