Senior Partnerships Representative

The Partnerships Team 

The Partnerships team at OpenZeppelin drives strategic relationships with the financial institutions, enterprise technology vendors, fintechs, professional services firms, and standards bodies that are shaping how blockchain security is adopted at scale. We build and activate the partner ecosystem through which OZ's security audits, advisory services, open-source smart contract libraries, and security operations tooling reach the institutions and developers who need them most. We operate cross-functionally with Sales, Solutions Development, Legal, Engineering, and Marketing to ensure partnerships are structured well, activated quickly, and deliver measurable commercial impact.

What you'll be doing

OpenZeppelin is expanding its partnerships function and looking for a commercially driven Senior Partnerships Representative to help source, develop, and close strategic partnerships across our target verticals. You will work directly alongside the Head of Partnerships, owning a pipeline of partner opportunities end-to-end - from first conversation through to signed agreement and initial activation. This is a role for someone with good commercial instincts and strong execution discipline who is ready to grow into a larger partnerships remit.

• Source and develop new partnership opportunities across crypto-native projects, fintechs, and institutions.
• Own and progress a pipeline of partner deals across all stages, from prospecting and qualification through to commercial negotiation and close.
• Build and maintain working relationships with business development, product, and technical counterparts at partner organisations.
• Develop a strong understanding of each partner's business model, strategic priorities, and how OZ's offering creates value for them and their clients.
• Help structure partnership frameworks - referral, co-sell, integration, and joint go-to-market - that align incentives and drive measurable commercial outcomes for both sides.
• Collaborate closely with internal teams - Sales, Solution Development, Legal, Engineering, Services, and Finance - to coordinate input, manage dependencies, and keep stakeholders aligned throughout the deal lifecycle.
• Work with Solution Development and Engineering to shape integration and technical partnership proposals.
• Support the Head of Partnerships on pipeline reporting, forecasting, and contributing to how the function evolves.
• Represent OpenZeppelin at industry events, working groups, and partner meetings.

You have

• 3+ years in partnerships, business development, or sales at a technology company, with experience contributing to multi-stakeholder commercial deals.
• Sound commercial judgement: you can qualify opportunities, identify where value sits, and prioritize your pipeline accordingly.
• Comfortable engaging a range of stakeholders at partner organizations - commercial, product, and technical - and adapting your approach to each.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate technical complexity into commercial narrative and vice versa.
• Self-directed and comfortable with ambiguity - this function is still being built and you will be expected to contribute to how it takes shape.
• Experience in blockchain, fintech, financial institutions, digital assets, or enterprise technology is a strong plus.

Nice to have

• Exposure to common partnership structures - referral, reseller, co-sell, integration - and a working understanding of how they are negotiated.
• Commercially aware. You understand what a good deal looks like from both sides of the table, and you think beyond the signature to the relationship that comes after.
• Relationship-first. You invest in the people behind the partnership, not just the process. Deals progress because people trust you.
• Curious across disciplines. You enjoy getting up to speed on security, infrastructure, and institutional workflows, and you hold your own with technical and commercial counterparts.
• Autonomous but collaborative. You drive your own pipeline without needing to be managed, but you operate as part of a team and bring others in at the right moments.
• Builder mentality. You are joining an early-stage function. You are energised by that, not unsettled by it.

Logistics:

Our interview process takes place on Zoom and tends to consist of the following stages:

• Recruiter Call (30 mins)
• Hiring Manager Call (60 mins)
• Team Interview (30 mins)
• Leadership Interview (30 mins)
• Paid work test (up to 20 hours of paid work)
• Reference checks