Sr. Director of Partnerships

Job description

WE’RE SUPERCHARGING THE CLEAN ECONOMY. Crux is the capital platform for the clean economy. We modernize capital raising and deployment for clean energy and critical infrastructure with solutions across advisory, investments, technology, and intelligence. Our team of 120+ is composed of experts in energy, tax, finance, government, and technology. We have raised $77 million in capital from some of the best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercarbon Capital, New System Ventures, Overture, Ardent Venture Partners, QED, Canapi, and others. These funds are joined by strategic investors including Pattern Energy, Clearway Energy, EDF Renewables, Intersect Power, LS Power, Orsted, Hartree Partners, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, and OMERS Ventures. AN INFLECTION POINT IN AMERICAN ENERGY AND MANUFACTURING. Energy demand is growing for the first time in decades, driving an urgent need for more affordable and reliable electricity. More electricity requires new clean energy infrastructure and strong domestic supply chains for minerals and components — as well as large amounts of capital. Traditional project financing is opaque, fragmented, and analog. At Crux, we’re changing that. Through unmatched insights and expertise, white-glove service, purpose-built tools, and risk underwriting, we power a more prosperous, clean, and secure energy future. We are scaling quickly and looking for team members who are eager to combine deep expertise with an AI- and tech-forward mindset. THE OPPORTUNITY We're seeking an experienced Sr. Director of Partnerships to own and scale Crux's partnerships program as a partner-sourced deal-flow engine. This leader will build and manage Crux's most important institutional advisor relationships — primarily law firms and tax/accounting firms (Big 4 and AmLaw, plus mid-market and regional firms) — and turn them into a structured, measurable source of referred pipeline. Crux's partnerships function has grown from early relationship-driven motions into a program with real commercial velocity that helps deepen Crux’s connectivity to capital, particularly with tax investors in the Fortune 1000. This role will take what's working and scale it into a repeatable, tiered engine: systematized referral tracking, tiered partner activation, and intelligence- and events-led enablement that gives partners a reason to bring Crux into their client work. Importantly, this is a services-and-relationships motion, not a software sale into partners. The offer to partners is Crux's expertise, deal flow, market intelligence, and reputation — so this leader must operate as a peer to partner-level counterparts at the most sophisticated legal and tax firms in the country. You'll lead a team of two direct reports, with plans to grow, and orchestrate extensively across commercial, research, content, events, legal, policy, and operations. This is a high-impact, senior leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of enterprise relationship management, program architecture, and commercial strategy in a fast-growing company operating at the frontier of climate finance. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM ARCHITECTURE & SCALING - Own and evolve Crux's partnerships program as a partner-sourced referral and lead-generation engine focused on legal and tax/accounting advisors - Build tiered partner frameworks with clear activation criteria, enablement programs, and performance metrics for each tier and persona - In partnership with Operations, operationalize partner management in HubSpot — building the infrastructure to track referrals, attribution, partner health, and ROI, replacing ad hoc tracking PARTNER ACQUISITION & PORTFOLIO EXPANSION - Build and run a repeatable partner acquisition program to systematically expand the portfolio of law and accounting firm relationships — identifying, qualifying, and activating target firms - Develop standardized outreach, qualification criteria, and onboarding motions so new partners ramp to active referral status quickly - Maintain a portfolio view of all partnerships — knowing when to double down, restructure, or exit ENTERPRISE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT - Personally build and deepen relationships with institutional partners, carrying key accounts as the senior point of contact and earning peer-level trust with partners at Big 4 and AmLaw firms - Develop partner enablement, co-branded campaigns, and joint GTM motions tailored to each partner persona - Negotiate and manage commercial terms including referral agreements, revenue share, and co-marketing commitments - Establish creative, compelling commercial structures with partners that are unable to accept revenue share incentives INTELLIGENCE AND EVENTS-LED ENGAGEMENT - Own the strategic direction of the market intelligence briefing series and related thought leadership that uses Crux's market and legal intelligence as the door opener with institutional partners, with a clear path from enablement → referral → closed deal - Identify new opportunities to provide partners additional value through Crux’s growing market intelligence verticals - In partnership with the Events team, architect and scale a robust events program — partner briefings, co-hosted receptions, conference activations, and regional roadshows - Drive partner-facing presence at key conferences with a clear strategy for each CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ORCHESTRATION - Coordinate extensively across research (market intelligence requests), content (co-branded materials, white papers), events (program logistics), commercial teams (deal support), legal and policy (subject-matter input), and RevOps (infrastructure and reporting) - Act as the strategic coordinator of partner programs at Crux, ensuring partner insights flow back into commercial strategy TEAM LEADERSHIP - Lead a team of two direct reports across relationship coverage, events/operations, and enablement - Develop career paths for the team and hire additional headcount as the program scales - Build a team culture of operational rigor, commercial accountability, and creative partner engagement - Partner with other Marketing Team leadership on scaling the team, improving team processes, and building a top-class culture REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS - Deep experience building and managing enterprise relationships with large, complex institutional partners with an understanding of their internal BD dynamics, compliance constraints, billing sensitivities, and client referral behavior. - 12+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, or alliance management, with at least 6+ years leading and scaling a partnership team. - Demonstrated experience building a partnership program from growth stage into a structured, tiered operation, not just inheriting a mature one - Track record of owning a revenue number tied to partner-sourced pipeline, with experience building attribution models and managing commercial terms (referral agreements, rev share, joint GTM) - Experience running partnerships built on services and relationships rather than a software product sold into partners - Executive presence and seniority to be treated as a peer by partner-level counterparts - Strong cross-functional leadership: proven ability to orchestrate across teams you don't directly manage (research, content, events, legal, commercial) - Experience running content-led, events-driven, or thought leadership-driven partner engagement programs (briefing series, co-branded research, regional events) - Demonstrated enthusiasm for using AI to accelerate and enhance a partnerships program and eager to combine deep relationship expertise with an AI- and tech-forward way of working PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - Experience partnering with law firms and tax/accounting firms (Big 4, AmLaw) with an understanding of their internal BD dynamics, compliance constraints, billing sensitivities, and client referral behavior. - Financial services, structured finance, tax, or capital markets adjacency, understanding how law firms and accounting firms operate within deal structures - Clean energy finance knowledge, or demonstrated ability to learn complex technical domains quickly and translate that into partnership strategy - Familiarity with emerging partner personas in energy transition: commodity brokers/traders, financial intermediaries, cost segregation & appraisal providers, independent engineering firms WHAT WE BRING - Backing, traction & brand: - We have raised $77 million in capital from some of the best venture and strategic investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercarbon Capital, New System Ventures, Ardent Venture Partners, Pattern, Clearway, EDFR, Intersect, LS Power, Orsted, Hartree Partners, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, and OMERS Ventures. - $500m debt warehouse facility from Nuveen to invest in clean energy. - Have been profitable and are growing exponentially - Closed over 130+ transactions in just the last 2 years, facilitating billions of dollars of capital flowing into renewables projects - Culture & working dynamic - Remote-first operating model: Work from anywhere in the US and Canada, or work out of our optional offices in DC (open), NYC (opening Q1’26). Optional co-working opportunities with co-workers in Bay Area, Seattle, Denver, Boston, LA, and beyond. - High growth & high ownership culture: We grow quickly by giving extremely talented people a lot of responsibility. - Best of financial services & technology: We have brought together a team that are experts in clean energy finance, and the best technologies. Use your expertise while getting to be on the cutting edge of applying AI to your day and your clients’ experience. - Regular team offsites: We sustain culture by bringing the entire company together 2 times a year. Individual teams may also meet up more frequently. - Benefits - Healthcare: We cover 100% of premiums for employees with a variety of plans on Aetna (nationwide) and Kaiser (WA and California) and subsidize 70% for dependents (total as a group), if relevant. - Dental & vision: We cover 100% of premiums for employees and 50% for dependents (each), if relevant. - Holidays: 10 company holidays per year. - Paid time off: 20 days per year. - 401k: We support a 401k account but don't have a matching program set up at this time (typical for an early-stage startup). - Parental leave: 16 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents. - AI learning stipend: $5,000 towards AI learning and development - Compensation: - Total Cash Compensation: $250,000 - $350,000+, depending on experience - Performance bonus: Discretionary annual performance bonus - Equity: Meaningful offering in the form of stock options A note on title & comp: we are flexible on leveling and compensation for the right candidate OUR VALUES Care for each other: We want to work on a team where people support each other — in their growth, in their work, and towards our shared mission. When we do that, we have fun. Build and improve rapidly: The thing we can best control is our pace of learning and pace of execution. We can’t control the market, regulators, or what competitors do. One of the best ways to move rapidly is to focus, and consistently ask ourselves if we are prioritizing the right things and executing them as best as possible. Focus unremittingly on customers: Developers, manufacturers & their advisors are doing critical work to accelerate renewable energy development. Our obligation is to them first, and we must keep their needs front & center in everything we do. Demonstrate ownership: We are all owners of Crux. This is our team, our company, our product and we show that to each other. Convene a team that reflects the breadth of experiences in the country: We expect everyone to actively help us build a team where people of all backgrounds can thrive. This applies in hiring, people policies, how we interact — and connects closely with caring for each other. We provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by law.