Business Development Manager, Trading-as-a-Service (TaaS), Payward Services

Building the Future of Open Finance

Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.

Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our culture page to understand what drives us and how we work.

The team

Payward Services is an enterprise infrastructure platform that enables companies to seamlessly integrate trading, payments, funding, and digital asset services through a single unified system. It provides coordinated liquidity, custody, compliance, risk management, and settlement capabilities, reducing operational complexity for fintechs, banks, brokerages, and payment providers.

Payward — the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, and xStocks — has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry. Through Payward Services, we provide partners with a single integration point for crypto trading, custody, tokenized equities, derivatives, payments, yield products, and embedded multi-asset brokerage infrastructure.

We are seeking a high-calibre Business Development Manager to drive new business development for our Trading-as-a-Service platform across financial institutions, broker-dealers, fintechs, payments companies, wealth platforms, and consumer technology firms. This is a senior individual contributor and true hunter role, requiring end-to-end ownership of the sales lifecycle from outbound origination through contract execution and early-stage partner onboarding.

The ideal candidate brings an established institutional network and a strong understanding of capital markets, embedded finance, and digital assets, with the ability to structure and close strategic partnerships around crypto trading, tokenized equities, derivatives/futures, and API-first brokerage infrastructure. They will work closely with Product, Engineering, Liquidity, Compliance, and Legal teams to translate partner requirements into scalable commercial solutions and help clients launch institutional-grade trading experiences directly within their own products and ecosystems.

The opportunity

• Build and manage a high-quality pipeline across financial institutions, broker-dealers, fintechs, consumer platforms, exchanges, and trading applications.

• Drive new partnerships focused on crypto trading, tokenized equities, derivatives/futures, embedded brokerage, and multi-asset trading infrastructure.

• Own the full sales cycle from outbound origination and discovery through commercial negotiation, signed agreement, and launch.

• Lead commercial discussions with C-level, product, engineering, and business stakeholders across prospective partner organizations.

• Position Payward Services as the partner of choice for companies seeking to launch or scale modern trading and investing experiences.

• Help partners bring investing and trading capabilities directly into their products through Payward Services’ API-first infrastructure stack.

• Partner closely with Product, Compliance, Legal, Engineering, and Client Success teams to structure and launch scalable commercial partnerships.

• Identify new market opportunities across digital assets, tokenized finance, embedded investing, and next-generation trading applications.

• Represent Payward Services at key industry conferences, client meetings, and ecosystem events globally.

• Provide ongoing market feedback and competitive intelligence to help shape product roadmap, positioning, and go-to-market strategy.

• Maintain accurate pipeline forecasting, stakeholder mapping, and CRM hygiene across all commercial activities.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of sales or business development experience within financial services, fintech, embedded finance, capital markets infrastructure, or digital assets, with demonstrable success in a hunter/new business role.

• Deep and active network of relationships across financial institutions, broker-dealers, fintechs, exchanges, payments companies, wealth platforms, and consumer technology companies at a decision-maker level.

• Proven track record of originating and closing complex, multi-stakeholder B2B partnerships with 6-7 figure ACV/TCV structures.

• Strong understanding of modern trading infrastructure including API-first trading platforms, embedded investing experiences, crypto spot and derivatives trading, tokenized equities, and multi-asset brokerage solutions.

• Experience selling Trading-as-a-Service, embedded finance, API-based trading infrastructure, white-label brokerage, or multi-asset trading platforms.

• Working knowledge of crypto markets, blockchain technology, tokenized assets, stablecoins, derivatives/futures, and emerging digital asset trading trends.

• Ability to communicate complex technical, operational, and regulatory concepts in a clear and commercially compelling way to executive, product, and engineering stakeholders.

• Comfortable operating across multiple time zones and managing a global client base from a European base.

• Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience in Finance, Economics, Business, Capital Markets, or a related field.

Nice to haves

• Prior experience at a crypto exchange, fintech infrastructure provider, embedded finance platform, or trading technology company.

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Our commitment

Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

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