[Hiring] Head of Ceno Research & Korea Partnerships @Ceno Group Inc.

Role Description

This is a mini-founder role in Korea. The 12-month mandate is simple to state and hard to do: make Ceno Research real. That means building Ceno Research from the ground up as a business, and owning every relationship that matters to Ceno in Korea. It carries three of the company's hardest deliverables.

• Build Ceno Research. Stand up the Korean subsidiary and turn IR translation, English distribution, and investor-facing content into a real business unit with its own B2B revenue.
• Own Korea-side partnerships and institutional sales. Build and own the partnership and sales pipeline across Korean public companies and their IR teams, media companies, financial institutions, the Korea Exchange, and regulatory stakeholders, and turn it into signed deals and revenue.
• Be Ceno's operator on the ground. Act as a mini-founder in Korea: represent the company to every important counterparty, manage all Korea-side business relationships and IR relationships, bring in strategic partnerships, and support Korea-side institutional financing alongside the CEO.

What you will own

• Build Ceno Research. Stand up the Korean entity in partnership with Korean counsel and build the B2B IR-translation and English-distribution pipeline into a real business unit with its own revenue. Own the product alongside our senior Korea policy consultant, coordinate Ceno News editorial and distribution, and hire the first 1 to 2 Ceno Research operators.
• Korea partnerships and business development. Build and own relationships with Korean public companies and their IR teams, media companies, and financial institutions. Create B2B revenue opportunities around IR translation, English distribution, and investor-facing content, and help Korean companies reach US investors through Ceno's platform.
• Institutional sales execution. Own the Korea-side institutional sales and partnership pipeline end to end, from cold outreach to signed agreement, including bringing at least one top-tier Korean securities firm to a signed omnibus or introducing-broker agreement, coordinating with US and Korean counsel on structuring.
• Strategic and regulatory relationships. Build and manage strategic partnerships with Korean regulatory authorities (FSC, FSS, KOFIA), the Korea Exchange, and major financial institutions, as access and partnership, not just compliance. Run point on any Korean regulatory filings.
• Media and content partnerships. Own Korea-side media and content relationships that expand Ceno Research distribution and help Korean companies tell their story to US investors.
• Institutional investor relations (with the CEO). Support the Korea-side capital pipeline alongside the CEO: Korean-language DD materials, IC navigation, and term-sheet support across Korean and Japanese institutional investors.
• Work with the US team. Partner with the US team on product, content, and commercialization so Korea-side research and relationships turn into product and revenue.
• Team build-out. Hire the first 2 to 3 Korea-based team members over 12 months, typically a BD or sales analyst/associate and a compliance and legal contractor for the counsel interface.
• Korea P&L ownership. Own the Korea P&L, including Ceno Research revenue, from launch.

Qualifications

• A senior operator with 10+ years in Korean capital markets, IR, institutional sales, or business development.
• Demonstrated ability to take a complex Korean deal from cold outreach to signed agreement.
• Native-level Korean and professional English.
• Real relationships across the Korean financial and corporate ecosystem.
• Comfort with a US-incorporated parent and US-side reporting requirements.
• Owner's mindset and judgment.

Strong nice-to-have

• Prior fintech or brokerage experience, particularly anything cross-border.
• Direct working knowledge of Korean securities regulation.
• Existing relationship with FSC, FSS, or KOFIA.
• Experience standing up a Korean subsidiary.
• Japanese language proficiency or prior business experience in Japan.

Not the right fit

• Pure relationship-management profiles with no closed deals.
• Senior VC partner profiles where the day-to-day was diligence and portfolio support rather than outbound dealmaking.
• Candidates who lead with "I want strategy." The first 12 months are heavy execution across broker BD, investor relations, and entity standup.