Variant

About Variant

Variant is a first-check venture firm dedicated to backing true value-creating projects in crypto. We were early investors in Uniswap, Morpho, World, Phantom, Farcaster, and more.

At Variant, we’re a small, focused team deeply embedded in the day-to-day operations of the projects we back. From strategy and product decisions to tokenomics and incentive design, we work side-by-side with founders as thought partners, helping them navigate the high-stakes early days of building something net-new.

Role Overview

We are hiring a full-time Deputy General Counsel to help shape and execute the firm’s legal/regulatory work. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs and unlock innovation by understanding legal/regulatory developments. The Deputy General Counsel will report to the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) and work from Variant’s New York, NY office. The Deputy General Counsel will:

• Leverage deep expertise in crypto legal and regulatory matters to assist the CLO in providing strategic value to founders. Collaborate with the investment team to utilize this expertise as a competitive advantage in winning deals.
• Externalize unique insights on legal and regulatory through persuasive writing targeted to founders (not lawyers). 
• Support portfolio companies by providing insight on policy developments and guidance on commercial, regulatory, and government relations strategy.
• Advise the firm’s investment team on policy developments relevant to specific deals and market sectors of interest.
• Communicate with the public about the firm’s policy work to demonstrate our expertise and leadership on issues that matter to entrepreneurs.
• Advise the CLO and manage outside counsel on a variety of firm legal matters, including deal execution for investments, coordination of responses to regulatory inquiries and examinations, fund formation, and other general corporate matters. 

Ideal Attributes

• A JD from an ABA-accredited law school and an active US law license in good standing.
• At least two years of relevant practical experience working at a law firm or in-house.
• A strong understanding of blockchain technology, the crypto industry and legal/regulatory landscape, and the substantive issues relevant to the firm’s priorities.
• Exceptional analytical and communication skills, including a demonstrated ability to research complex issues, distill them into clear insights, and write for a public audience.
• The mindset of an ambitious and creative self-starter with a passion for technological innovation and a desire to think, write, and operate with excellence and precision.

Why Join Variant?

• You will work with some of the smartest people in the crypto industry, develop valuable skills and experience, and build an incredible network.
• You will have the autonomy and support that you need to operate at the highest level and take ownership of a lean, mighty, and impactful legal function.
• You will receive a competitive salary, benefits, and ownership interest in fund profits.
• We will invest in you: we will expect a lot from you, so you should expect a lot from us.

The base salary for this full-time position, spanning multiple levels depending on qualifications, ranges between $200,000 to $300,000 plus benefits & fund carry.

Variant is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to building a diverse team and fostering an inclusive culture. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

APPLY HERE

About Variant

Variant is a seed-stage crypto fund. We invest at the earliest stage and work alongside founders as they build. Since 2020, we’ve helped projects like Uniswap, Phantom, Morpho, and World become category-defining companies.

We’re known for being hands-on. Founders describe us as their “first call,” a “consistent supporter,” and “day to day” partners who “care deeply.”

From starting blockchain startups ourselves to launching one of the first seed crypto funds, we’ve lived every stage of crypto’s history. That experience taught us founders need true thought partners who understand the unique challenges of this space. We started Variant to be the investors we wished we had.

Role Overview

We’re hiring for the role of AI Lead to support Variant’s investment and internal operations functions. You’ll be the engineer and product manager for internal firm AI and data products. One can think of it as an “AI lead.”

Success in this role looks like someone who can build tooling across many dimensions, and that would level up the entire team (investment team, ops, marketing, etc). The role will involve proactively coming up with, building, and integrating new AI tooling / products for firm use. It will also entail ensuring that AI tooling is being used accurately across critical workflows. 

We expect this person is already excited by and experimenting with the latest AI tools in their free time.

Key Qualities

• Product skillset; demonstrated ability to build products that make it easy for third parties to manage / automate workflows and analyze data
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; must be able to explain and demonstrate how to use the internal tooling
• High velocity of iteration; builds products in a timely manner and proactively seeks user feedback
• Agency & creativity; takes initiative to build new products, pro-actively identifies areas across all firm functions that could be enhanced with data and/or automation
• Strong culture fit; optimist, low-ego, no-task-to-small mentality
• (nice-to-have) Crypto-native; understands and can analyst onchain data, actively uses crypto products
• (nice-to-have) Experience at a company / startup that is AI-native and have experience working with the frontier of AI tooling

The base salary for this full-time position, spanning multiple levels depending on qualifications, ranges between $150k to $250k plus benefits & fund carry.

Variant is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to building a diverse team and fostering an inclusive culture. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

APPLY HERE

About Variant

Variant is a seed-stage crypto fund. We invest at the earliest stage and work alongside founders as they build. Since 2020, we’ve helped projects like Uniswap, Phantom, Morpho, and World become category-defining companies.

We’re known for being hands-on. Founders describe us as their “first call,” a “consistent supporter,” and “day to day” partners who “care deeply.”

From starting blockchain startups ourselves to launching one of the first seed crypto funds, we’ve lived every stage of crypto’s history. That experience taught us founders need true thought partners who understand the unique challenges of this space. We started Variant to be the investors we wished we had.

In addition to our early-stage venture practice, we run a concentrated strategy investing in liquid, publicly traded digital assets. We bring the same research-driven approach to liquid markets as we do to venture, combining long-term conviction in thesis-driven bets with active institutional-grade risk management.

Role Overview

We’re hiring for the role of Investment Partner – Liquid Venture to support Variant’s liquid  investment strategy. This role involves a combination of fundamental, bottoms-up investment analysis with top-down portfolio management. You will have exposure to all areas of Variant’s investment strategy and work collaboratively with the rest of the investment team.

This is an in-person role based out of our SoHo office in New York. 

• Thesis development & research – Develop and refine Variant’s frameworks for identifying liquid investment opportunities. Go deep into market structures, tokenomics, catalysts, and regulatory dynamics to build defensible, high-conviction views.
• Collaboration & integration – Partner with the investment team to ensure Variant’s venture and liquid strategies reinforce each other. Share insights from liquid markets that inform venture theses, and vice versa.
• Portfolio monitoring – Actively track and monitor public tokens in Variant’s portfolio, including buy and sell plans. Collaborate with operations to achieve best execution in trading.
  
• Portfolio support – Work hands on with founders to strategize on network launches, from incentive models and tokenomics to market maker and trading desk support.

Ideal Attributes

• Digital asset investment expertise – 3+ years in trading, research, or portfolio management, ideally in digital assets, hedge funds, or prop trading firms.
• Track record – demonstrated investment track record in liquid crypto markets, personally or professionally.
• Crypto-native – Deep understanding of onchain ecosystems, tokenomics, DeFi primitives, and governance. Active participation in crypto communities is a plus.
• Analytical rigor – Exceptional ability to synthesize data, build frameworks, and articulate clear, defensible theses. Comfortable working with both qualitative narratives and quantitative models.
• High agency and ownership — A no task too small mindset focused on taking initiative, recommending decisions, and driving outcomes. Ability to operate independently at a high level with minimal oversight.
• Deep intellectual curiosity — Deeply passionate about what’s going on onchain. Natively curious to learn more. You will be expected to lean into the investment team’s categories of focus, while also making us interested in new areas.
• Alignment with Variant’s core values — Be crypto-native. Pursue excellence. Act with integrity. Commit to personal growth toward becoming a star. Win as a team.

Why This Job is Awesome

• You’ll have the opportunity to shape and expand Variant’s liquid investment practice, operating within a fund that combines deep crypto-native expertise with institutional credibility and discipline.
• You’ll have access to and will be expected to leverage Variant’s entire team, portfolio, community to inform liquid investment decisions.
• We will invest in you. We will expect a lot from you, so you should expect a lot from us.
• You’ll develop the ability to think critically, build conviction, and persuade others.
• You’ll have the autonomy to operate at a high level and take ownership from day one.
  

The base salary for this full-time position, spanning multiple levels depending on qualifications, ranges between $200k to $300k plus benefits & fund carry.

Variant is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to building a diverse team and fostering an inclusive culture. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

APPLY HERE