Director, Ecosystem & Product Security

Interested in working on cutting-edge blockchain technology and creating equitable access to the global financial system? Since 2014, the mission-driven team at the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has helped fuel the tremendous growth of the Stellar blockchain network, an open-source platform that operates at high-scale today. Developers and companies around the world build on it, and the SDF team is expanding to support the rapidly growing and changing Stellar ecosystem.

We're hiring a Director, Ecosystem & Product Security to lead security strategy across the Stellar ecosystem and directly own security outcomes for Foundation-developed systems, Foundation-operated infrastructure, and treasury-related security responsibilities. This role is focused on raising the practical security baseline across a decentralized financial ecosystem that includes wallets, infrastructure providers, custodians, issuers, validators, and other critical participants. Success means reducing real-world security risk and financial loss through clear standards, effective coordination, and practical improvements that are adopted in production.

The role is both strategic and hands-on. It requires 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. This is a highly cross-functional and externally visible leadership role. The right candidate will combine technical credibility, sound judgment, and strong execution to help make security a durable strength of both the Foundation and the broader Stellar network.

In this role, you will:

- 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 / 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

You have:

- 10+ years of experience in security, including significant experience 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

Bonus Points if (optional):

- 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

We offer competitive pay with a base salary range for this position of $225,000 - $320,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, we offer lumen-denominated grants along with the following perks and benefits:

USA Benefits/Perks:

- Competitive health, dental & vision coverage with most plans covered at 100% for the employee + any dependents

- Flexible time off + 15 company holidays including a company-wide holiday break

- 401(k) with 4% match

- Commuter benefits with $250/month employer contribution

- Health & Dependent Care FSA Accounts

- Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly employer contribution

- Gym reimbursement ($80 per month)

- Life & ADD (1x salary, up to $250K)

- Short & 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 (One Medical, Rightway, Headspace)

- L&D budget of $1,500/year

- Daily lunch and snacks in office

- Company retreats

About Stellar

Stellar is more than a blockchain. Powered by a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniqu