Director, Ecosystem Growth
Ripple•San Francisco, CA
•Hybrid
About The Position
RippleX is building a global, multi-entity ecosystem to drive XRPL adoption at scale. This role leads strategic partnerships with independent ecosystem operators, validator networks, and regional hubs across the US, Europe, APAC, and emerging markets, while guiding DeFi strategy through dedicated external partners. This is a senior, strategic, and hands-on position requiring strong partnership management, DeFi fluency, and the ability to set milestones, drive accountability, and align partner outputs across regions while driving measurable ecosystem growth globally.
Requirements
- 10+ years in ecosystem development, strategic partnerships, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, or venture building
- 5+ years managing external partnerships, independent organizations, or decentralized networks
- Proven track record leading complex partnership governance and external entity management
- Experience enabling developer programs, accelerators, startup support, and community building at scale
- Director-level experience with strategic decision-making authority
- Deep crypto/blockchain ecosystem experience with strong DeFi fluency
- Strategic partnership management with ability to influence without direct authority
- Deep DeFi knowledge: AMMs, money markets, DEXs, liquidity dynamics, incentive design
- Experience designing developer programs, grants operations, startup frameworks, and community engagement strategies
- Exceptional governance and framework design capabilities
- Data-driven decision making with strong analytical skills
- Cross-cultural competency and experience managing across geographies
- Outstanding communication and comfort navigating ambiguity
Nice To Haves
- Venture capital, accelerator, or venture studio background
- Foundation governance, nonprofit management, or DAO operations experience
- Direct community management experience (meetups, hackathons, grassroots campaigns)
- Regulatory or policy experience in crypto/blockchain
- Technical background or strong developer ecosystem understanding
- Complex deal structuring experience
Responsibilities
- Manages strategic relationships with independent ecosystem operators, regional hubs, and partner organizations
- Designs governance frameworks, milestone structures, and accountability models for external partners
- Sets strategic direction while enabling operational autonomy for each entity
- Coordinates cross-entity initiatives to prevent duplication and maximize impact
- Ensures external partner outputs align with RippleX ecosystem priorities
- Guides DeFi ecosystem strategy across external partners with focus on AMMs, DEXs, lending, and liquidity protocols
- Oversees DeFi initiatives requiring market making, liquidity depth, and OTC trading expertise
- Evaluates and prioritizes DeFi partnership opportunities based on strategic impact
- Enables independent operators to build and activate vibrant developer, startup, retail communities across regions
- Guides community engagement strategies, including meetups, hackathons, educational content, and grassroots initiatives
- Ensures external partners maintain quality community standards while allowing cultural and regional adaptation
- Tracks community health metrics, including engagement, sentiment, and conversion to active participants
- Orchestrates ecosystem growth across the US, Europe, APAC, and emerging markets
- Aligns regional strategies with global priorities while respecting local market dynamics
- Identifies white space opportunities and strategic expansion areas
- Establishes KPIs, dashboards, and scorecards for external entity performance
- Conducts strategic reviews with ecosystem operator leadership teams
- Identifies performance gaps and implements course corrections
- Ensures milestone achievement and budget accountability across entities
- Partners with Product, DevRel, Engineering, Legal, and Executive teams on ecosystem strategy
- Translates ecosystem insights into product and company strategy recommendations
- Produces executive-level reports, opportunity assessments, and long-term roadmaps
- Synthesizes partner, community, and market feedback into actionable insights
Benefits
- Professional development budget
- Competitive salary, bonuses, and equity
- Competitive benefits that cover physical and mental healthcare, retirement, family forming, and family support
- Employee giving match
- Mobile phone stipend
- R&R days
- Generous wellness reimbursement and weekly onsite & virtual programming
- Generous vacation policy
- Industry-leading parental leave policies
- Family planning benefits
- Catered lunches, fully-stocked kitchens with premium snacks/beverages, and plenty of fun events
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
