Corporate Vice President - Director, Business Development

Location: New York

Job Description

Requisition ID94723

Department Tech Data AI Ventures Job Function Tech Data AI Ventures Location New  York,New York,United States Role Location Designation Hybrid - 3 days per week Location Designation:
Hybrid - 3 days per week Business Overview New York Life Ventures (NYLV) was founded in 2012 as New York Life's strategic corporate venture capital unit, built to invest in and partner with leading startups and venture funds while accelerating the pace of innovation across New York Life and its businesses. Managing approximately $1.7B across direct and fund-of-funds strategies, NYLV operates with the speed and conviction of a dedicated venture firm, backed by the scale and institutional depth of one of the largest mutual life insurers in the country.

At the heart of NYLV is a flywheel model: three highly interconnected functions that share intelligence and amplify each other's impact:
Venture & Fund Investments, Strategic Startup Partnerships, and Technology Innovation & Scale. Our investments make our partnerships stronger, and our partnerships make our investments smarter, each creating compounding value across the platform over time. We have a deep, proprietary network that spans top-tier founders, VC funds, and co-investors which gives us privileged access to high-quality opportunities while generating frontier and competitive intelligence that supports strategic decision-making and accelerates innovation across New York Life.

Role Overview The Director, Business Development is a member of NYLV's Strategic Startup Partnerships team, responsible for identifying, developing, and scaling high-impact partnerships between New York Life and the startup ecosystem. This role serves as a trusted advisor to business leaders, helping them embrace cutting edge technologies, validate new business opportunities, and drive innovation through startup engagement.

Working at the intersection of strategy, venture capital, and business transformation, the Director partners closely with internal stakeholders, startup founders, and the NYL Ventures investment team to identify high-impact companies and opportunities that strengthen New York Life's innovation capabilities. This role requires problem discovery, solution design, partnership scoping and negotiations, and is best-fit for someone equally comfortable engaging world-class startup founders and senior company executives while also navigating a complex, matrixed organization.

While this is a non-technical role, the ideal candidate has outstanding technical literacy and a deep and proven interest in emerging technologies like AI, digital assets/blockchain, data, infrastructure or quantum computing. They may have a background in solutions engineering, product management, technical sales, corporate innovation, or technology consulting. They possess strong business acumen and are highly collaborative, thoughtful, and comfortable operating in ambiguous environments.

This role is well-suited for someone who wants to develop deep pattern recognition across technologies, business models, and partnerships at the frontier of innovation — a launchpad for those who see themselves as future operators or founders.

What You'll DoBuild trusted relationships with senior business leaders across New York Life to understand strategic priorities, identify innovation opportunities, and introduce emerging technologies.

Source, evaluate, and conduct diligence on startups aligned to enterprise priorities, leading screening and evaluation discussions and facilitating introductions between founders and business stakeholders.

Identify, prioritize, and manage a portfolio of Proof of Concept (PoC) engagements and pilot programs, ensuring initiatives align with…