--- title: 'Business Development Lead, AI at Monad Foundation' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-lead-ai-monad-foundation-san-francisco-6c29hz69myn9' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-10' --- # Business Development Lead, AI at Monad Foundation - **Company:** Monad Foundation - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-10-20 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/monad.foundation/481259aa-4817-4047-b175-d0157f042b97 ## Job description The Monad Foundation is a team of dedicated ecosystem and community builders who are on a mission to massively grow the impact of decentralized tech. We believe that the [Monad](https://monad.xyz/) blockchain--the performant and parallel EVM Layer 1--will help decentralized apps eat the world. ## The Role AI is coming onchain. Compute is becoming a tradeable asset. Agents are starting to pay each other. Monad wants to be where it settles. Monad Foundation, a core contributor to the Monad protocol, is looking for a Business Development Lead for AI & Compute to own the ecosystem at the intersection of AI infrastructure, agentic applications, and onchain markets. You'll build relationships with AI founders, venture firms, and compute providers and turn those relationships into early-stage teams building and launching on Monad. Your focus is where AI meets onchain markets: tradable compute, agentic payments, and the capital markets forming around them. We’re looking for a Business Development Leadwho can identify where Monad adds value, close commercial deals, and make Monad a preferred settlement layer for live AI and compute products, backed by the Foundation’s resources and network. ## What You Will Do - Own sourcing and activation. Build Monad’s presence in San Francisco through founders and the wider AI community. Develop the existing pipeline and source new teams, owning qualification, follow-up, deployment, and launch. - Build venture and capital relationships. Develop durable relationships with venture firms and crypto-native capital, turning introductions into qualified opportunities and teams building on Monad. - Drive the compute-markets strategy. Recruit protocols, index providers, curators, liquidity providers, compute operators, and trading partners. Develop collaborations around compute index vaults, lending against tokenized compute, and hedging products that bring liquidity and volume to Monad. - Drive agentic payments. Find and activate teams building agent-driven and stablecoin payments, including x402 and emerging payment models. Convert integrations into real transaction activity. - Structure and close collaborations. Understand each business and make the case for Monad. Negotiate commercial arrangements across company stages, connecting traditional financial structuring with onchain execution and settlement. - Turn strategy into measurable outcomes. Coordinate technical, ecosystem, DeFi, communications, and legal support. Set priorities and milestones, remove launch blockers, and track live products, users, payments, liquidity, and sustained volume. ## Who You Are - A record of closing and launching. You’ve taken BD or strategic partnerships from an initial conversation to a working product, including with growth or late-stage businesses. - Strong AI and compute relationships. You understand AI business models and can bring together founders, venture investors, GPU providers, neoclouds, trading firms, and market makers. - Founder empathy and follow-through. You can explain why Monad matters to a partner, earn trust, bring in technical expertise, and sustain momentum through a complex integration. - Autonomy and judgment. You build your own pipeline, prioritize real use cases, set clear success and failure criteria, and stop investing in weak opportunities. You collaborate with low ego and stay effective without a playbook. - Based in San Francisco. You want to build relationships in person and spend time with the AI, compute, and crypto communities across the Bay Area. ## Why Work with Us - Challenging problems. You’ll tackle deeply complex and technically demanding problems, with autonomy and impact. - Endless Opportunity for Impact. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) standard is ubiquitous, but existing EVM-compatible chains are slow and bandwidth-constrained. Monad’s core innovations offer developers and founders the best of both worlds (portability and performance) and are a game-changer to power global on-chain finance. - The right team. You’ll be part of a world class team, who are exceptional and highly-motivated. - Culture. We’re a lean team working together to achieve very ambitious goals. We are united in our culture of collaboration, low ego, and high-quality output. - Strong Ecosystem. The broader Monad ecosystem has attracted support from leading investors, builders and long-term contributors. ## About Monad Foundation ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Monad Foundation is an independent organization dedicated to supporting the development, adoption, and growth of the Monad blockchain protocol, a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain. - **Entity Type**: Private (Foundation/DAO structure) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, United States - **Founded**: 2022 - **Founders**: Not publicly available (the Monad protocol was built by a team including Keone Hon, James Hunsaker, and others, but the Foundation’s specific founders are not listed) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Blockchain infrastructure, Layer 1 protocol, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Web3 - **Target customers**: Developers building on the Monad protocol, validators, institutional DeFi participants, and end-users of decentralized applications (dApps) on the Monad ecosystem. - **Mission or purpose statement**: To support the growth of the Monad protocol through developer support, ecosystem initiatives, and decentralization efforts, ultimately fostering the adoption of a high-performance, EVM-compatible blockchain. [monad.foundation](https://www.monad.foundation/) ## Products & Services - **[Monad Protocol]**: A high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to address scalability challenges while maintaining compatibility with Ethereum-based smart contracts and tools. It is now live on mainnet. - **[Developer Documentation & Support]**: Comprehensive documentation, developer tooling, and grants to support builders in deploying and scaling dApps on the Monad network. - **[Ecosystem Initiatives]**: Programs to foster the growth of the Monad ecosystem, including marketing, advisory services, and community-building efforts. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (the Foundation is a non-profit entity; the Monad protocol’s token value is determined by the market, but no specific valuation for the Foundation is disclosed). - **Key Metric**: **Total Funding**: Not disclosed for the Foundation itself; however, the Monad protocol’s development team raised significant funding (e.g., a $225M round led by Paradigm in 2024). The Foundation is independently funded. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: The Monad protocol has backing from Paradigm, one of the largest crypto venture capital firms. The Foundation partners with various validators, DeFi protocols, and infrastructure providers in the Monad ecosystem. - **Growth Signals**: - **Mainnet Launch**: Monad Mainnet is live as of 2025, marking a major milestone. [monad.foundation](https://www.monad.foundation/) - **Headcount**: Approximately 200 employees, indicating a scaling organization. [web3vacancy.com](https://web3vacancy.com/companies/monad-foundation) - **Active Hiring**: 22+ open roles across business development, research, marketing, and leadership positions, including roles in New York, South Korea, and remote. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/monad.foundation) ## Competitive Advantages - **EVM Compatibility**: Full compatibility with Ethereum’s Virtual Machine (EVM) allows developers to deploy existing Ethereum smart contracts and tools on Monad with minimal changes, reducing friction for adoption. - **High Performance**: The Monad protocol is designed to achieve high transaction throughput and low latency, rivaling non-EVM chains while retaining Ethereum’s developer ecosystem. - **Strong Backing**: Backed by Paradigm, a top-tier crypto VC, providing credibility, resources, and network effects. - **Independent Foundation Structure**: The Monad Foundation operates as an independent entity focused solely on ecosystem growth and decentralization, separate from the protocol’s core development team, which can foster trust and long-term sustainability. ## Strategic Focus - **Ecosystem Expansion**: Scaling the Monad ecosystem by attracting developers, DeFi protocols, and institutional partners. - **Decentralization**: Promoting validator-led governance and reducing central points of control over the network. - **Institutional Adoption**: Targeting traditional financial institutions and large-scale DeFi participants with roles like Business Development Lead, Financial Institutions and Tokenization Lead. [eco-jobs.monad.xyz](https://eco-jobs.monad.xyz/) - **Global Reach**: Expanding into key markets such as South Korea (Head of Korea role) and the US (New York). [eco-jobs.monad.xyz](https://eco-jobs.monad.xyz/) ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: The Foundation operates at the cutting edge of blockchain technology, offering a mission-driven environment focused on building the future of decentralized finance and infrastructure. - **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Many roles are listed as remote, with some requiring presence in New York, NY, USA, or South Korea. The organization supports a flexible work model. [eco-jobs.monad.xyz](https://eco-jobs.monad.xyz/) - **Compensation**: Competitive compensation packages, with roles like Senior Researcher (Mechanism Design and Systems) and Quantitative Researcher offering USD 180k–250k/year plus equity. [eco-jobs.monad.xyz](https://eco-jobs.monad.xyz/) - **Engineering Culture**: Emphasis on research and engineering excellence, with dedicated roles for mechanism design and systems research, indicating a strong technical culture. - **Growth Trajectory**: With a live mainnet, 200 employees, and active hiring across multiple senior and director-level positions, the Foundation is in a high-growth phase, offering significant career development opportunities. ## Sources 1. [monad.foundation](https://www.monad.foundation/) 2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/monad.foundation) 3. [eco-jobs.monad.xyz](https://eco-jobs.monad.xyz/) 4. [web3vacancy.com](https://web3vacancy.com/companies/monad-foundation) 5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/monad-network) ## Other roles at Monad Foundation - [Trading Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/trading-lead-monad-foundation-remote-fknq24dwvyg3) - [Director of Business Development, Financial Institutions](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-business-development-financial-institutions-monad-foundation-united-9agmkknn25aj) — United States - [Head of Korea](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-korea-monad-foundation-south-korea-pse6z2tnbs7p) — South Korea - [Head of Japan](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-japan-monad-foundation-japan-nc2m89qp65j5) — Japan - [Head of DeFi](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-defi-monad-foundation-remote-wq9rv606b98c)