Stellar Development Foundation - Director of Research
Requirements
• PhD in Computer Science, Cryptography, Distributed Systems, or a related field. • 10+ years of research experience in academia (e.g., tenured or tenure-track faculty) or industry (e.g., senior research scientist or director-level role). • Strong track record of high-impact contributions, such as peer-reviewed publications, patents, open-source projects, or foundational technical work. • Demonstrated experience leading research programs or teams, including setting strategy and managing multi-year initiatives. • Experience working in both academic and applied research settings, with an ability to translate deep technical insights into practical impact. • Familiarity with open-source software development practices and/or participation in open standards communities (e.g., IETF, W3C). • Proven ability to collaborate across disciplines and institutions, including with academic labs, research consortia, and industry partners. • Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders, represent the organization publicly, and contribute to technical and policy discussions. • Commitment to mentoring and supporting researchers across career stages, and to fostering a collaborative and inclusive research culture. • Interest in or experience with the societal, economic, and ethical dimensions of decentralized systems, particularly in the context of financial access and inclusion. • We offer competitive pay with a base salary range for this position of $210,000 - $365,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, we offer lumen-denominated grants along with the following perks and benefits:
Responsibilities
• Shape the research vision by defining a long-term scientific research agenda that supports SDF’s mission while contributing to broader conversations in computer science and decentralized systems. Identify both applied challenges aligned with the mission and foundational open problems for guiding internal research and community engagement. • Foster deep academic and industry collaboration by building strong, lasting partnerships with top researchers, labs, and institutions to support joint publications, open-source contributions, and shared advancement of knowledge within and beyond the Stellar ecosystem. • Balance innovation with exploration overseeing a portfolio of research efforts ranging from mission-critical applications to blue-sky investigations in areas such as cryptography, distributed systems, and incentive design while championing rigorous thinking that leads to practical outcomes and advances the state of the art. • Build and support a strong, mission-driven research team by recruiting and developing diverse groups of research scientists and applied researchers from early career PhD interns to experienced domain experts in an environment where various perspectives can thrive. • Translate insights into real-world impact ensuring that the outcomes inform product strategy, ecosystem standards, and protocol development to strengthen Stellar’s role in building accessible financial infrastructure. • Engage with the global research community by representing SDF at conferences, academic workshops, and standards bodies while contributing actively to these platforms for knowledge exchange and collaboration.
Benefits
• 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 • Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for both non-birthing and birthing parents, as well as up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy leave for birthing parents • Gym reimbursement ($80 per month) • Life & ADD (up to $50K) • Short & Long term disability • 401K with 4% match • Health & Dependent Care FSA Accounts • Commuter benefits with $250/month employer contribution • Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly employer contribution • 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
Apply in one click
Upload My Resume
Drop here or click to browse · Tap to choose · PDF, DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT