Location Designation: Hybrid - 3 days per week
Role OverviewThe Director, Business Development is a member of NYLV's Strategic Startup Partnerships team, responsible for identifying, developing, and scaling high-impact partnerships between New York Life and the startup ecosystem. This role serves as a trusted advisor to business leaders, helping them embrace cutting edge technologies, validate new business opportunities, and drive innovation through startup engagement.
Working at the intersection of strategy, venture capital, and business transformation, the Director partners closely with internal stakeholders, startup founders, and the NYL Ventures investment team to identify high-impact companies and opportunities that strengthen New York Life's innovation capabilities. This role requires problem discovery, solution design, partnership scoping and negotiations, and is best-fit for someone equally comfortable engaging world-class startup founders and senior company executives while also navigating a complex, matrixed organization.
While this is a non-technical role, the ideal candidate has outstanding technical literacy and a deep and proven interest in emerging technologies like AI, digital assets/blockchain, data, infrastructure or quantum computing. They may have a background in solutions engineering, product management, technical sales, corporate innovation, or technology consulting. They possess strong business acumen and are highly collaborative, thoughtful, and comfortable operating in ambiguous environments.
This role is well-suited for someone who wants to develop deep pattern recognition across technologies, business models, and partnerships at the frontier of innovation - a launchpad for those who see themselves as future operators or founders.
What You'll Do- Build trusted relationships with senior business leaders across New York Life to understand strategic priorities, identify innovation opportunities, and introduce emerging technologies.
- Source, evaluate, and conduct diligence on startups aligned to enterprise priorities, leading screening and evaluation discussions and facilitating introductions between founders and business stakeholders.
- Identify, prioritize, and manage a portfolio of Proof of Concept (PoC) engagements and pilot programs, ensuring initiatives align with strategic objectives and demonstrate measurable business value.
- Lead cross-functional execution of startup engagements by partnering with Legal, Risk, Procurement, Information Security, Compliance, and other stakeholders.
- Develop and maintain project plans, success metrics, and executive reporting that communicate progress, business outcomes, and ROI.
- Conduct ongoing market and competitive research on emerging technologies and innovation themes, synthesizing findings into strategic recommendations that inform business decisions and future partnership opportunities.
- Partner closely with the NYL Ventures investment team by providing insights that strengthen investment sourcing, diligence, and portfolio value creation.
- Represent NYL Ventures internally and externally through innovation events, startup meetings, industry conferences, hackathons, and thought leadership activities that strengthen the firm's presence within the innovation ecosystem.
- Support the NYLV Senior Leadership Team on strategic initiatives, enterprise presentations, thematic research, executive briefings, and special projects that advance the organization's long-term objectives.
What We're Looking For- 6+ years of professional experience, with a meaningful portion in a technical role - solutions engineering, technical product management, presales, or technology consulting - ideally at or with enterprise software, SaaS, or technology services companies.
- Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value for executive, non-technical audiences - you've done this in client-facing, stakeholder, or advisory contexts, not just internally.
- Experience scoping, structuring, or managing complex multi-party engagements - whether that's a consulting workstream, a product integration, a pilot program, or a partnership negotiation.
- Strong analytical and structured thinking; comfortable building frameworks, business cases, and evaluation criteria from scratch with limited direction.
- Genuine, provable interest in emerging technology - AI, digital assets/blockchain, quantum computing, or adjacent domains. This goes beyond staying current; you can hold an informed point of view.
- Track record of operating cross-functionally across Legal, Risk, Compliance, IT, and business stakeholders to move complex initiatives forward.
- Excellent written and verbal communication; you can write a tight executive brief and hold the room in a C-suite meeting.
- Bachelor's degree in a technical, quantitative, or business discipline; MBA or advanced degree a plus but not required.
Preferred- Prior experience in financial services, insurtech, enterprise software, or management consulting serving regulated industries.
- Experience at or with early-stage startups, venture-backed companies, or a corporate innovation function.
- Familiarity with venture capital - deal flow, diligence, or the fund/portfolio model - even informally.
Pay TransparencySalary Range: $119,000-$170,000
Overtime eligible: Exempt
Discretionary bonus eligible: Yes
Sales bonus eligible: No
Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual's experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.
Our BenefitsWe provide a full package of benefits for employees - and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work.Click hereto discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site.
Job Requisition ID: 94723
