Obsidian Systems is a software engineering consultancy that builds production systems for capital markets and other regulated industries. Our clients include market infrastructure providers, national exchanges, and global financial institutions. Much of our work today centers on the Canton Network, the privacy enabled blockchain adopted by major capital markets institutions, where Obsidian is one of the most experienced engineering firms in the ecosystem. We're a remote-first, globally distributed team that values ownership, curiosity, and clear communication. We believe the best ideas come from people who ask difficult questions, take responsibility for their work, and collaborate openly to solve challenging problems. We're looking for a Business Development Manager to originate new business with financial and other institutions across our core business pillars, building outbound pipeline and ecosystem partnerships, qualifying opportunities, and carrying deals from first contact through closing.
About The Role
As a Business Development Manager, you will sell complex engineering engagements to banks, exchanges, asset managers, market infrastructure firms, and other financial institutions, with sales cycles of 6 to 12 months and typical six and seven figure engagements.
You'll own the full business development lifecycle, from identifying and qualifying opportunities through to negotiating and closing new business.
You'll work closely with engineering, client relationship managers, and leadership to understand client needs, develop tailored proposals, and ensure successful project handoffs. This role requires someone who is equally comfortable building relationships, developing sales strategies, and managing complex enterprise opportunities.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and execute the sales strategy for one or two strategic business pillars.
- Identify, prospect, and engage high-quality outbound leads.
- Build relationships with financial institutions (banks, trading firms, asset managers, exchanges) and ecosystem partners.
- Lead discovery meetings to understand customer challenges and identify opportunities.
- Accurately qualify opportunities and forecast pipeline.
- Own the end-to-end sales cycle from prospecting through signed contracts.
- Originate, lead, and close Canton Foundation Development Fund opportunities.
- Work closely with Sales Engineers to scope technical engagements.
- Ensure contracts accurately capture project scope and customer expectations.
- Maintain accurate pipeline and opportunity data within HubSpot.
- Ensure a smooth transition from Sales to Delivery after contracts are signed.
- Build long-term relationships within the Canton ecosystem and broader blockchain and traditional finance industries.
- Represent Obsidian Systems at industry conferences, networking events, and client meetings.
- Continuously improve sales processes, tooling, and reporting.
What We Are Looking For
Key Requirements
- 7+ years in enterprise sales or business development, with a track record closing complex six and seven figure engagements.
- Experience selling to financial institutions (banks, exchanges, asset managers, trading firms, or market infrastructure firms) at senior/executive level.
- Demonstrated success managing complex, six to 12 month B2B sales cycles.
- Experience sourcing and closing outbound opportunities.
- Strong commercial negotiation skills.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building abilities.
- Experience working cross-functionally with technical teams.
- Ability to travel for conferences and customer meetings when required; East Coast US preferred.
Preferred Requirements
- Digital asset or blockchain experience in a capital markets context (tokenization, DLT, market infrastructure).
- Familiarity with the Canton Network ecosystem.
- Experience working with developer-focused products or technical consulting services.
- Experience using HubSpot or similar CRM platforms.
- Existing network within capital markets or digital asset institutions.
How We Work
At Obsidian Systems, we believe great work comes from thoughtful people who take ownership, communicate openly, and enjoy solving difficult problems together. These principles guide how we work every day.
Own Your Work, Protect Your Team
- We take full ownership of our responsibilities while supporting the people around us. We believe accountability creates trust, and clear ownership allows teams to move quickly without stepping on one another's work.
Don't Settle for Superficial
- We aim to understand problems deeply rather than treating symptoms. We ask questions, challenge assumptions, and make unknowns explicit so we can build durable solutions instead of temporary fixes.
Be Honest Proactively
- We communicate openly and early. Raising risks before they become problems helps our team and our clients make better decisions. We value transparency over avoiding uncomfortable conversations.
Get to It
- Many of the challenges we solve have never been solved before. We don't wait for perfection, we start, learn, iterate, and move forward. Progress comes from taking the next concrete step.
What We Offer
- A mandate to build. You will be one of the first dedicated Sales hires, shaping the playbook rather than inheriting one.
- Work at the center of capital markets’ move onto new infrastructure, selling with the credibility of an engineering firm already running production systems for these institutions.
- A remote-first culture with a globally distributed team.
- High ownership and autonomy with the opportunity to shape how we grow.
- The chance to work alongside experienced engineers, researchers, and industry leaders solving complex technical challenges.
- Exposure to cutting-edge blockchain technologies and enterprise clients.
- Opportunities to attend industry conferences and grow your network across the capital markets and blockchain ecosystems.
- Competitive compensation based on experience and location.
If you're excited by continuous learning and playing a real role in building the next generation of financial market infrastructure, you'll feel at home at Obsidian.
