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The Head of Business Development will drive Shelby's go-to-market strategy, secure partnerships, and build the commercial foundation of a decentralized storage ecosystem.
Aptos is a people-first blockchain on a mission to help billions of people achieve universal and fair access to decentralized assets in a safe and scalable way.
Founded by some of the original creators and maintainers that researched, designed, and built the Diem blockchain to serve this purpose, we have dedicated several years toward this mission. We believe the open-source Diem technology we have developed is an important foundation of a safe and scalable web3 world where everyone has more equitable opportunities to grow and access financial assets with lower fees and fewer intermediaries.
Aptos (Ohlone for "The People") encompasses our mission and ethos for why we build.
About Shelby
Shelby is a high-performance object storage platform with a global namespace, purpose-built for AI and large-scale, data-intensive workloads. It enables organizations to store data once and access it from anywhere—bringing data closer to compute while delivering cloud-grade performance at significantly lower cost.
As AI infrastructure becomes increasingly distributed, organizations need data platforms that support training, inference, and global collaboration without complex or expensive data replication. Shelby’s “write once, read anywhere” architecture simplifies global data movement across regions, teams, and compute environments.
Designed for secure, high-throughput, read-optimized access patterns, Shelby plays a critical role across the AI data lifecycle—from data acquisition to model training to inference. The platform can also be deployed within select datacenters, enabling flexible, hybrid infrastructure strategies.
Shelby is built by a team with deep experience in large-scale infrastructure, distributed systems, and production-grade platforms.
The Role
We’re hiring a Head of Business Development to build and lead Shelby’s enterprise go-to-market motion from the ground up.
This is a zero-to-one leadership role for someone who can translate Shelby’s technical strengths into clear commercial value, define where we win in the market, and drive real adoption. You will identify high-impact use cases, secure early customers, and establish the partnerships that position Shelby as a foundational data platform for AI.
You will operate as both a strategist and an executor—owning early revenue, shaping market positioning, and laying the groundwork for a scalable commercial organization.
Responsibilities
Go-to-Market Strategy
Define and execute Shelby’s GTM approach across key segments such as AI infrastructure, robotics, neoclouds, and large-scale data platforms. Identify where Shelby delivers the most differentiated value and focus efforts accordingly.
Partnerships & Ecosystem Development
Source, structure, and close strategic partnerships with enterprises, infrastructure providers, and ecosystem partners that accelerate adoption and expand Shelby’s footprint.
Revenue & Early Adoption
Drive initial traction by securing design partners, pilot customers, and lighthouse accounts. Convert early interest into meaningful deployments and long-term commercial relationships.
Market Development
Build and manage a pipeline across both enterprise and developer-led opportunities. Balance near-term wins with long-term ecosystem growth.
Cross-Functional Leadership
Partner closely with product, engineering, and marketing to ensure customer insights inform roadmap, positioning, and product priorities.
Team Building
Lay the foundation for Shelby’s BD and growth organization, with the opportunity to build and lead a team over time.
What We’re Looking For
- 7+ years in business development, partnerships, or strategy, ideally within cloud, storage, or infrastructure
- Proven ability to originate and close complex, high-value partnerships
- Strong network across enterprise technology and/or AI ecosystems
- Solid understanding of cloud, storage, and/or datacenter infrastructure
- Experience operating in early-stage or zero-to-one environments
- Ability to balance strategy and execution in ambiguous, fast-moving settings
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills
Why Shelby
- Lead the commercial build-out of a new infrastructure platform from day one
- Work alongside a team with a track record of building and scaling category-defining technologies
- Help define how next-generation storage powers AI, decentralized systems, and global compute
Our Benefits
- 100% insurance premium coverage for medical, dental, and vision for you and your dependents (US Employees)
- Equipment of your choice
- Flexible vacation time, 11 holidays, and floating company days off
- Competitive Salary
- Protocol Token Grants
- 401k matching (US Employees)
- Fun and inclusive in-person and digital events
Aptos is committed to diversity in the workplace, and we’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not hire on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law. All employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.
We are committed to providing a safe and secure hiring process for all applicants. Unfortunately, there are individuals who may attempt to impersonate Aptos or our employees for fraudulent purposes.
To protect yourself, please be aware of the following:
To protect yourself, please be aware of the following:
- We will never ask you for payment of any kind during the application or onboarding process, including fees for background checks, training, or equipment.
- We will always communicate with you using our official company email domain.
- We will never request your personal financial information, such as your social security number or bank account details, during the initial application stages or via email or a video/voice call when onboarding.
Top Skills
AI
Blockchain
Cloud
Decentralized Storage
Smart Contracts
Aptos Labs Palo Alto, California, USA Office
Palo Alto, CA, United States, 94301
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