Your opportunity:

Make a real difference in the blockchain industry! Build the change you want to see.

The Institutional Finance & Asset Integrations Lead will be responsible for connecting Cardano to the institutional financial system — both traditional and decentralized. This means building the relationships and driving the integrations that allow banks, asset managers, custodians, DeFi protocols, and investment product creators to hold, trade, deploy, and build products around ADA and Cardano Native Tokens (CNTs). As tokenization of real-world assets accelerates and institutional DeFi matures, this role will be central to positioning Cardano as the infrastructure layer of choice for compliant, on-chain finance. The role requires someone equally fluent in traditional capital markets and in the mechanics of DeFi, RWA tokenization, and on-chain asset management.

Responsibilities:

• Banks & Asset Managers: Build and maintain relationships with wealth managers, family offices, and investment banks to unlock ADA and CNT custody, trading access, and portfolio allocation — including structured exposure through tokenized funds and on-chain strategies.
• Institutional DeFi: Engage with DeFi protocols targeting institutional participants — including permissioned liquidity pools, on-chain credit markets, and yield infrastructure — to drive Cardano-native adoption and position CNTs as productive, institutional-grade assets.
• Custodians & Onramps: Drive integrations with institutional-grade custody and prime services infrastructure, covering technical onboarding, commercial agreements, and ongoing relationship management.
• RWA Tokenization Platforms: Partner with RWA tokenization platforms and asset originators to bring tokenized securities, funds, credit instruments, and commodities onto Cardano — including engagement with platforms focused on equities, bonds, private credit, and real estate.
• Stablecoin Issuers: Work with stablecoin issuers and payment stablecoin infrastructure providers to support the issuance and circulation of fiat-backed and asset-backed stablecoins on Cardano.
• Compliance & Reporting Tools: Work with compliance technology providers to ensure institutional partners have access to the reporting, tax tooling, and audit infrastructure they require to meet regulatory obligations across key jurisdictions.
• Investment Products: Engage with ETF issuers, index providers, and structured product creators to develop and support ADA-linked and CNT-linked investment products suited to institutional distribution channels.

Your story:

• 8+ years of experience in institutional finance, digital assets, DeFi, or financial infrastructure.
• At least 5 years in asset management, banking, capital markets, or institutional crypto, with direct experience in how institutions evaluate and operationalize digital asset exposure.
• Strong understanding of RWA tokenization mechanics — including the legal structuring, custody, and lifecycle management of tokenized securities, funds, or credit instruments.
• Familiarity with institutional DeFi concepts: permissioned pools, on-chain credit, tokenized money markets, and the compliance frameworks emerging around them.
• Deep understanding of custody workflows, settlement processes, and institutional-grade compliance and reporting requirements.
• Proven business development or partnership track record in blockchain, fintech, or financial services.
• Comfortable engaging with both technical integration teams and C-suite, legal, and compliance stakeholders on the institutional side.
• Existing network across institutional crypto, custodian infrastructure, asset management, or RWA/tokenization is strongly preferred.

Your impact:

• Establish Institutional Trust: You will be the face of Cardano to the global financial elite, building the high-level relationships with banks, asset managers, and custodians necessary to position the protocol as a trusted partner for institutional finance.
• Unlock Commercial Liquidity: By navigating complex negotiations with stablecoin issuers and prime service providers, you will ensure that ADA and Cardano Native Tokens become a frictionless and accessible asset class for institutional investors worldwide.
• Bridge the Global Financial System: You will serve as the primary architect connecting traditional capital markets to Cardano, moving the ecosystem from "crypto-native" experimentation to a multi-trillion-dollar institutional reality.
• Mainstream RWA & Tokenization: You will lead the transition to a productive on-chain economy by successfully integrating real-world assets - such as private credit, securities, and funds - onto Cardano’s compliant, institutional-grade infrastructure.

About us:

The Cardano Foundation is an independent, Swiss-based not-for-profit organization. The Foundation is tasked with advancing the public digital infrastructure Cardano and works to anchor it as a utility for financial and social systems, thus empowering the digital architects of the future.

The Foundation facilitates the worldwide advancement of Cardano in enterprise applications. It develops infrastructure tooling—including where there may not be an immediate commercial use case—plus strengthens operational resilience, and drives diversity of on-infrastructure use cases as well as the development of sound and representative governance.

Another significant part of the Cardano Foundation’s mission is to engage with and support the Cardano community. The Foundation assists the development of tools the community can use to leverage Cardano to solve problems in new ways.

The Cardano Foundation has incredible employees from over 24 nationalities, across 3 continents, working together to grow the Foundation.

Here at the Cardano Foundation we are transparent, inclusive, passionate and innovative. We aim to have a positive impact on global change and breed a harmonious working environment for our employees to flourish.

Benefits:

• Embrace Flexibility & Freedom: Enjoy the benefits of remote work with the flexibility to tailor your hours that best supports your productivity, while staying aligned with the team.
• Collaborative Culture: We foster a collaborative remote environment where ideas flow freely and everyone feels empowered to contribute.
• Thrive in a Learning Culture: We believe in continuous growth and development. Every employee receives an annual learning budget to invest in their professional journey.
• Shape Your Career: We provide opportunities for growth and encourage you to continuously evolve your skills and expertise within a supportive environment.
• Make a Real Impact: Your work will directly contribute to the development and adoption of Cardano, shaping the future of blockchain technology and its real-world applications.
• Team Building & Fun: Connect with your colleagues and strengthen team bonds through a dedicated annual team building event, as well as a departmental team-building day. Enjoy an extra day off for your birthday and additional days off to celebrate milestone work anniversaries.
• Work with Passionate People: Surround yourself with a team of dedicated individuals who are driven by a shared passion for blockchain technology and its potential to change the world.

Equal opportunities employer:

The Cardano Foundation strives to provide a diverse, inclusive and welcoming working environment. We are committed to being a discrimination free organization - including discrimination free space with regards to age, religion, race, nationality/ethnic origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Cardano Foundation does not accept any applications from recruitment agencies for this position. We refuse any responsibility for unsolicited applications as well as any associated fees. Unsolicited applications will be treated as direct applications regardless of the channel through which we receive them.