Business Development, APAC

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Asia.

📋 Description

• Take charge of SDF's business development initiatives in the APAC region by defining priorities and allocating resources across five key markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, and Australia, while tailoring strategies to meet market demands and regulatory requirements.

• Oversee the execution of in-market strategies across all regions, including structured annual visits to each hub that encompass a comprehensive engagement program: presence at conferences, ecosystem meetups, strategic institutional meetings, organized roundtables, thought leadership initiatives, and introductions to policy and regulatory stakeholders.

• Collaborate closely with SDF's APAC Market Development Director to jointly establish SDF's regional presence — ensuring alignment of business development goals with the broader market development strategy, sharing key stakeholder relationships where beneficial, and guaranteeing that in-market execution and regional strategies are synchronized rather than operating independently.

• Forge and finalize high-value partnerships with fintech firms, payment platforms, wallets, exchanges, and developer teams leveraging Stellar, actively guiding pipeline companies towards successful integration with Stellar and sustained network activity.

• Function effectively as a remote in-market leader while coordinating seamlessly with SDF's centralized teams — including marketing, legal, integrations, and product — to maintain deal momentum, address obstacles promptly, and guarantee a smooth transition from signed partnership to live, fully supported integration.

• Cultivate and manage SDF's institutional relationships throughout the region — encompassing tier-1 banks (DBS, OCBC, HSBC Asia, MUFG, Commonwealth Bank of Australia), licensed digital asset platforms, and major payment entities — to identify and advance partnership opportunities that enhance volume at an infrastructure scale.

• Act as an internal advocate and representative for the APAC market within SDF — converting on-the-ground insights into strategic recommendations, influencing product priorities, and ensuring the broader organization comprehends the region's regulatory complexities, opportunities, and limitations.

• Establish and uphold stringent pipeline discipline using HubSpot and Airtable, ensuring that integration status, relationship health, and strategic context are accurately recorded and accessible to the wider team.

• Represent SDF at prominent regional conferences and events (e.g., Token2049, Money20/20 Asia), and oversee the planning and execution of SDF's proprietary events in the region, such as builder roundtables and ecosystem meetups in each hub city.

• Collaborate with the marketing team to produce ongoing content and communications that enhance SDF's visibility and narrative across APAC markets — including press releases, videos, blog articles, and social media content derived from market activities, partnerships, and ecosystem interactions.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree (mandatory), with a Master's Degree or MBA preferred.

• Over 7 years of experience in business development, partnerships, or ecosystem engagement, with significant time spent working at senior levels within or closely associated with APAC markets.

• Established, senior-level connections throughout the APAC fintech, payments, blockchain, and institutional sectors — including builders, accelerators, banks, exchanges, and regulatory bodies.

• Background in blockchain, digital assets, stablecoins, or tokenization.

• Knowledge of cross-border payments, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), and financial inclusion.

• Proven track record in leading intricate, multi-stakeholder partnership negotiations and successfully closing deals that necessitate both internal alignment and external relationship management.

• Experience navigating regulatory frameworks in APAC markets (e.g., MAS in Singapore, SFC/HKMA in Hong Kong, FSA in Japan, etc.).

• Outstanding communication skills across varied audiences — capable of distilling complex technical value propositions into engaging narratives.

• Proficiency in English; knowledge of Mandarin or Japanese is advantageous.

• Residing in APAC, with the ability and willingness to travel extensively within the region and occasionally internationally.

🏝️ Benefits

• Health insurance

• Flexible working hours

• Paid time off

• Professional development opportunities