Director, Business Development – Strategic Startup Partnerships

Job Description

NYL Ventures – Director, Business Development | New York Life Insurance Company

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at New York Life Insurance Company, located in New York, USA (Hybrid – 3 days per week). New York Life Ventures (NYLV) is the company’s strategic corporate venture capital unit, which invests in and partners with startups and venture funds to accelerate innovation across the business. This role focuses on identifying, developing, and scaling high-impact partnerships between New York Life and the startup ecosystem, acting as a trusted advisor to help business leaders embrace cutting-edge technologies. The Director will drive innovation by validating new opportunities through startup engagement, operating at the intersection of strategy, venture capital, and business transformation.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid – New York, USA
• Pay: $119000–$170000 yearly
• Team: NYLV’s Strategic Startup Partnerships team
• Mission: Identify, develop, and scale high-impact partnerships between New York Life and the startup ecosystem to drive enterprise innovation.
• Tech Stack: AI, digital assets/blockchain, data, infrastructure, quantum computing

What You’ll Actually Do
• Build relationships: Build trusted relationships with senior business leaders across New York Life to understand strategic priorities and introduce emerging technologies.
• Source startups: Source, evaluate, and conduct diligence on startups aligned to enterprise priorities, facilitating introductions between founders and business stakeholders.
• Manage engagements: Identify, prioritize, and manage a portfolio of Proof of Concept (PoC) engagements and pilot programs, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and measurable value.
• Lead execution: Lead cross-functional execution of startup engagements by partnering with internal stakeholders such as Legal, Risk, Procurement, Information Security, and Compliance.
• Conduct research: Conduct ongoing market and competitive research on emerging technologies and innovation themes, synthesizing findings into strategic recommendations for business decisions.
• Support investments: Partner closely with the NYL Ventures investment team by providing insights that strengthen investment sourcing, diligence, and portfolio value creation.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in a technical, quantitative, or business discipline; this is a Director level position within a corporate venture capital or innovation context.
• Experience: 6+ years of professional experience, with a meaningful portion in a technical role like solutions engineering, technical product management, presales, or technology consulting. Demonstrated ability to scope, structure, or manage complex multi-party engagements.
• Skills: Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value for executive, non-technical audiences; strong analytical and structured thinking for building frameworks and business cases; genuine, provable interest in emerging technology (AI, digital assets/blockchain, quantum computing); track record of operating cross-functionally across Legal, Risk, Compliance, and IT.
• Bonus: 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.