Director, Ecosystem & Product Security

As Director of Ecosystem & Product Security at the Stellar Development Foundation, you lead security strategy across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem and directly own security outcomes for Foundation-developed systems, Foundation-operated infrastructure, and treasury-related responsibilities. This role is both strategic and hands-on, requiring deep technical judgment across decentralized systems, product security, and operational risk, along with the ability to work across teams and influence independent ecosystem participants without direct authority.

What you'll do

• Define and lead the Foundation's security strategy across both the Stellar ecosystem and Foundation-owned systems
• Raise the practical security baseline for key ecosystem participants, including wallets, infrastructure providers, custodians, issuers, and validators
• Publish actionable guidance, reference patterns, and security expectations that drive real adoption across the ecosystem
• Build coordination mechanisms for shared risks, incident response, and cross-ecosystem security improvement
• Own security outcomes for Foundation-developed software, Foundation-operated infrastructure, and treasury or custody-related responsibilities
• Partner with Engineering, Finance, Legal, IT, and Corporate Security to drive implementation of security controls and secure operating practices
• Lead secure development efforts across architecture, threat modeling, vulnerability management, bug bounty programs, and product incident response
• Build and lead a high-performing security team, while translating strategy into execution plans and measurable outcomes
• Represent the Foundation externally as a credible technical leader and convener on ecosystem security

What you bring

• 10+ years of experience in security, including significant time in senior leadership roles
• 5+ years leading security programs, teams, or functions with meaningful scope
• A track record of owning security outcomes for complex, high-consequence systems in production
• Deep experience in product and application security, with hands-on judgment in real-world environments
• Strong familiarity with blockchain and decentralized system security
• The ability to assess and prioritize risk across areas such as protocol design, smart contracts, wallets, validators, dependencies, and governance mechanisms
• Experience driving security improvements across multiple teams, organizations, or ecosystem participants, including in environments where you do not have direct authority
• Strong incident judgment, including experience handling high-severity incidents and disclosure processes
• A pragmatic approach to security, with the ability to make tradeoffs that reduce real-world risk rather than optimize for theoretical completeness
• Experience building, leading, and developing high-performing security teams
• The ability to set strategy, translate it into execution, and deliver measurable outcomes
• Clear communication skills and the credibility to work effectively with engineers, executives, and external ecosystem participants
• Experience operating in environments where security failures could lead to financial loss, operational disruption, or loss of trust

Nice to have

• Experience with secure development frameworks such as NIST SSDF
• Familiarity with Web3 security frameworks such as OWASP SCSVS or SEAL
• Experience in financial infrastructure, payments, custody, or tokenized finance
• Experience with large-scale platform or ecosystem security architecture
• Experience in identity, trust, encryption, or internet-scale systems

What we offer

• Competitive base salary of $225,000 to $320,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location, plus lumen-denominated grants
• Competitive health, dental, and vision coverage with most plans covered at 100% for the employee and any dependents
• Flexible time off plus 15 company holidays including a company-wide holiday break
• 401(k) with 4% match
• Commuter benefits with $250 per month employer contribution
• Health and Dependent Care FSA Accounts
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly employer contribution
• Gym reimbursement of $80 per month
• Life and ADD coverage of 1x salary, up to $250,000
• Short and long term disability
• Generous paid parental leave for all parents, plus paid pregnancy disability leave for birthing parents
• Family building benefits through Kindbody
• Wellbeing benefits including One Medical, Rightway, and Headspace
• Learning and development budget of $1,500 per year
• Daily lunch and snacks in office
• Company retreats

About Stellar Development Foundation

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization focused on creating equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. The Foundation supports the Stellar network, an open-source platform built for financial products and services, by providing grants, investments, and resources to builders and organizations in the ecosystem. SDF works with developers, financial institutions, NGOs, corporations, and entrepreneurs worldwide to unlock real-world utility in payments, asset issuance, and currency conversion.