OP Labs - Institutional Sales Lead

deCircle•New York, NY

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

OP Labs builds Optimism, an open-source blockchain network that powers the next generation of financial infrastructure. Hundreds of companies, from the world's largest enterprises like Sony, Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap, OKX, and Bitpanda to the most ambitious early-stage builders, use the OP stack to launch their own blockchains and bring their users onchain. Today, over 65% of Layer 2 activity on Ethereum runs through the OP stack. We are a small team building at the speed of the ecosystem we support. We’re remote-friendly but the NYC office is our center of gravity. We've raised $178M from a16z, Paradigm, and others. We have our work cut out for us and are looking for exceptional people to join us. About the Role We're looking for a Sales Lead to drive Optimism's adoption among the world's largest financial institutions. You'll identify, secure, and expand the high-impact partnerships central to our growth strategy. The role is both strategic and executional. You'll work directly with Optimism leadership, product, marketing, and partnerships to shape new financial primitives that are only possible onchain, and bring them to market with the most ambitious builders in traditional finance.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in enterprise sales
Proven track record of closing and scaling complex deals with institutional clients
Deep understanding of fintech infrastructure: wallets, custody, card issuing, stablecoins, compliance tooling, and developer platforms
Familiarity with crypto infrastructure with a focus on Ethereum, Layer 2s, and wallet abstraction concepts
Sharp strategic thinker who can map fragmented fintech value chains and craft compelling BD theses
Independent deal-closer who’s comfortable interfacing with C-level stakeholders and navigating multi-party partnerships
High agency operator who can build 0→1 partnerships, GTM strategies, and partner programs with minimal oversight
Strong communicator who can translate between business, technical, and ecosystem stakeholders across varying levels of crypto fluency
Comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-moving, frontier market and iterating quickly based on learnings
Motivated to rebuild the global financial stack on open, composable rails
You value results over recognition
Thrive in collaborative, cross-functional teams but can also move quickly on your own
Always looking to create scalable impact via product, partnerships, or ecosystems

Responsibilities

Own and execute strategy: Define and lead Optimism’s strategy for institutions end-to-end. Act like a GM
Identify high-leverage market entry points (e.g., stablecoin corridors, embedded finance use cases, B2B/B2C rails)
Translate protocol advantages into compelling narratives tailored to institutional decision-makers
Originate and close deals: Source, structure, and close high-impact partnerships with institutions
Drive product alignment: Collaborate closely with product, engineering, and partner teams to ensure successful integration and onboarding
Channel market feedback to influence roadmap decisions (e.g., compliance features, wallet UX, account abstraction)
Shape internal Optimism offerings (e.g., SDKs, liquidity support, ecosystem programs) to better meet institution partner needs
Lead externally: Represent Optimism at industry events, institutions conferences, and global policy forums
Publish thought leadership on programmable money, composable compliance, and the future of payments infrastructure
Build and maintain strong relationships with ecosystem players (wallets, stablecoin issuers, banking-as-a-service providers, L2s)