This is not a “crypto rebrand” role. It’s a build mandate.

Our client is an established, trusted financial services business with real customers, real governance, and a serious reputation to protect. They are expanding into digital assets in a way that can scale, satisfy risk and compliance, and still feel genuinely crypto native.

The opportunity is simple to describe and hard to execute: build a digital assets product line that becomes a meaningful growth engine for the broader business. Not hype. Not theatre. Not another me too exchange.

A commercially sharp, partner powered capability that can take off and keep flying.

Why this exists

The business already has distribution, customer trust, and the operational muscle to do things properly. What it needs now is a senior operator who can turn “we should do digital assets” into a real capability with customers, controls, partners, and a roadmap that makes commercial sense.

You understand that digital assets inside financial services is a game of alignment: customers need simplicity, the business needs scalable economics, and governance needs visibility and control. It is about building a product line that can grow without surprises, and without compromising standards.

The mission

You will design, launch, and scale a digital assets ecosystem inside a regulated environment. You will set the strategy, choose the partner stack, shape the operating model, and deliver products that customers actually use.

This role suits a crypto native who operates like a commercial builder. You live and breathe this space. You follow market structure, technology, regulation, custody trends, and customer behaviour. You can separate what’s important from what’s loud, and you can ship outcomes without drama.

What makes this different

This isn’t a blank canvas startup. You’re building inside a business that already wins on trust and distribution, which means the bar is higher and the upside is real. The build is partner led: you will choose best in class rails rather than reinventing them, and you’ll focus on what creates durable advantage, customer experience, commercial design, and operational control.

You will also be the person who can say “no” early, before complexity, scope creep, and risk sneak in. The goal is a capability that feels inevitable in hindsight: clean, safe, and commercially meaningful.

What you will build

The exact roadmap will be shaped by regulatory pathway, partner capabilities, and commercial priorities, but the core focus is clear.

1. A buy and sell experience customers trust
2. • onboarding and verification flows that are compliant but not punitive
3. • pricing logic that stands up to scrutiny: spreads, slippage, and execution quality
4. • operational readiness: monitoring, reconciliation, customer support paths, escalation, and incident playbooks
5. Custody, wallets, and security that pass the adult test
6. • custody models you can defend in an executive forum (MPC, cold storage, hot wallet controls)
7. • key management, security reviews, threat modelling, vendor due diligence, and incident response planning
8. • controls that make sense to engineers and to risk teams, with clear ownership and audit trails
9. Liquidity and execution plumbing
10. Not glamorous. Completely essential.
11. • liquidity partners, market makers (where relevant), routing, and execution quality measurement
12. • settlement and reconciliation logic that matches real world flows
13. • treasury thinking: how money moves, how risk accumulates, and how you keep the system stable
14. Staking, designed for utility and sustainability
15. Staking is in scope, but only when it makes sense.
16. • clear customer value and transparent risks (validator selection, lock ups, slashing, yield variability)
17. • product design that works in a regulated, reputation sensitive environment
18. • operational controls, disclosure, monitoring, and customer education that reduce misalignment
19. Asset strategy that is commercially smart and operationally supportable
20. • start with assets customers actually want (think major assets and, where appropriate, stablecoins)
21. • define listing principles, risk frameworks, and “not now” rules
22. • treat every basis point like it matters, because it does

This is not about building every component from scratch. It is about selecting the right partners, integrating properly, and owning the commercial and operational outcomes end to end.

What you will do

This is a build and own role with real accountability. You will be expected to lead, decide, and deliver.

Strategy and venture build

• define the market opportunity, positioning, and the sequence of what gets built first

• translate “digital assets” into a clear product strategy with economic logic and defensible assumptions

• set boundaries on scope, risk appetite, and what the business will not build

• create a roadmap from MVP to scaled product line, including investment cases, unit economics, and prioritisation principles

Partner stack and commercial execution

This is partner led build. Your judgement here is everything.

• select, negotiate, and manage key partners across custody, liquidity, and core rails

• define service levels, governance, incident processes, and commercial terms

• ensure the stack can survive audit questions, stress events, and real customer volume

• build a partner ecosystem that stays resilient when the market gets noisy

Operating model, governance, and delivery cadence

• design a working rhythm across product, engineering, risk, legal, compliance, operations, and customer teams

• establish controls that enable speed without sloppiness

• implement reporting that executives can trust and that de-risks decision making

• create clarity around decision rights: who signs off what, and how fast decisions get made

A Satoshi line (because it still fits)

“If you don’t believe it or don’t get it, I don’t have time to try to convince you.” — Satoshi Nakamoto

Product delivery and growth

• drive build, integration, launch readiness, and post launch optimisation

• own adoption outcomes: acquisition, activation, engagement, retention, and sensible expansion

• build the measurement system, define success metrics, and make performance visible

• build product narratives that customers understand without needing a crypto dictionary

Commercial ownership

• pricing and revenue design, including margin logic and customer value trade offs

• business cases the executive team can rely on, with clear sensitivities and risk notes

• performance management: unit economics, conversion, churn, and cost to serve

• make sure the product is not only loved, but profitable and sustainable

Team build and leadership

• hire and lead a lean, high quality team across product, partnerships, and go to market

• set standards, cadence, and culture: shipping, accountability, and calm execution

• build credibility with engineers and executives, and keep everyone moving in the same direction

• create a culture where problems surface early, not late

What success looks like

• a clear digital assets strategy and operating model is in place

• one or more products are live, adopted, and operationally stable

• risk and compliance stakeholders have confidence in the controls and reporting

• staking exists only where it makes sense, is explainable, and is operationally sound

• the partner ecosystem is stable, measurable, and governed properly

• there is a credible path to profitability or meaningful strategic value

Who this suits

You can bridge two worlds: crypto native execution and financial services discipline.

You likely bring:

• deep commercial experience in digital assets, with outcomes you can point to

• strong product judgement: you know what to build, what to partner, and what to drop

• understanding of market structure, custody models, liquidity, staking, and the partner ecosystem

• confidence working with governance, risk, legal, and compliance without slowing everything to a crawl

• the ability to translate crypto complexity into executive level decisions and board safe reporting

• a leadership style that attracts talent and sets a high bar, without ego or drama

• real conviction and curiosity. You follow the space because you love it, not because it is fashionable

Working style

Sydney CBD, 5 days on-site. This build will move faster with decision makers in the room, aligned, and accountable. The pace is high, but the standard is higher.

Why Big Wave Digital Recruitment

We’re not a volume shop. Big Wave Digital is a specialist tech and digital recruitment firm, known for operating with a high bar. We’re award winning, relationship driven, and obsessive about match quality because this end of the market has no tolerance for “close enough.”

Keiran and Jules lead this search. Keiran has 28 years in tech and digital marketing recruitment, and has been recruiting in crypto and digital assets since 2017. Jules is equally committed to the craft: rigorous shortlisting, strong candidate care, and an ability to identify the people who can actually build, not just talk.

If you’re reading this and thinking “finally, a role that isn’t pretend crypto,” you’re in the right place. If you want the best, expect a serious process. We do quality over volume.

A Satoshi style riddle (for the people who actually read job ads)

I am born from scarcity.

I travel without borders.

I can be held without being touched.

Lose my keys and I disappear forever.

What am I?

Big Wave Digital Recruitment

Sydney | Tech + Digital | Quality over volume