{"id":126192,"url":"https://alion.io/job/stellar-development-foundation-director-research","title":"Director, Research","company":{"id":47450,"name":"Stellar Development Foundation","domain":"stellar.org","url":"https://alion.io/company/stellar-development-foundation","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":91,"open_postings":16,"ghost_share":0.063,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":88,"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"Leadership","role_family":"Leadership","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"inferred","locations":["San Francisco, United States","New York, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["US","CA"],"hiring_countries_total":2,"salary":{"min":210000,"max":350000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":350000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Stellar","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-06-17T19:13:33Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-06-17","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T20:54:44Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":122,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":121},"description":"Are you interested in advancing open technology that supports equitable access to the global financial system? The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is expanding its scientific and technological research efforts and looking for someone to help guide that growth with purpose, depth, and a commitment to the public good.\nSince 2014, SDF has stewarded the development of the Stellar network, an open-source, large-scale blockchain platform that enables inclusive, efficient financial infrastructure around the world. SDF Research plays a critical role in this mission, focusing on both practical and long-term challenges in distributed systems, cryptography, mechanism design, and the broader societal impact of decentralized technologies.\nWe believe open research, open standards, and open-source software are essential to building trustworthy and accessible systems. In this role, you’ll help define and grow a research agenda rooted in these values, working closely with academic and industry partners, guiding and supporting a team that brings together diverse technical and disciplinary perspectives, and contributing to the technical foundations that power a more inclusive financial future.\nThis is a unique opportunity to apply deep research experience in a mission-driven environment where thoughtful, collaborative work has real-world impact.\nIn this role, you will:\nShape the research vision: Define and lead a long-term scientific research agenda that supports SDF’s mission while contributing to broader conversations in computer science and decentralized systems. Identify both mission-aligned applied challenges and foundational open problems to guide internal research and community engagement.\n\nFoster deep academic and industry collaboration: Build strong, lasting partnerships with top researchers, labs, and institutions. Support initiatives that lead to joint publications, open-source contributions, and shared advancement of knowledge-both within and beyond the Stellar ecosystem.\n\nBalance innovation with exploration: Oversee a portfolio of research efforts ranging from mission-critical applications to blue-sky investigations in areas such as cryptography, distributed systems, and incentive design. Champion rigorous thinking that leads to practical outcomes and advances the state of the art.\n\nBuild and support a strong, mission-driven research team: Recruit and develop a diverse group of research scientists and applied researchers, from early-career PhD interns to experienced domain experts. Create a supportive environment where a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and research styles can thrive.\n\nTranslate insights into real-world impact: Ensure that research outcomes inform product strategy, ecosystem standards, and protocol development-helping strengthen Stellar’s role in building accessible, resilient financial infrastructure.\n\nEngage with the global research community: Represent SDF at conferences, academic workshops, and standards bodies. Contribute to the broader discourse on decentralized systems and financial inclusion through publications, presentations, and thought leadership.\n\nYou have:\nPhD in Computer Science, Cryptography, Distributed Systems, or a related field.\n\n10+ years of research experience in academia (e.g., tenured or tenure-track faculty) or industry (e.g., senior research scientist or director-level role).\n\nStrong track record of high-impact contributions, such as peer-reviewed publications, patents, open-source projects, or foundational technical work.\n\nDemonstrated experience leading research programs or teams, including setting strategy and managing multi-year initiatives.\n\nBonus Points if (optional):\nExperience working in both academic and applied research settings, with an ability to translate deep technical insights into practical impact.\n\nFamiliarity with open-source software development practices and/or participation in open standards communities (e.g., IETF, W3C).\n\nProven ability to collaborate across disciplines and institutions, including with academic labs, research consortia, and industry partners.\n\nStrong communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders, represent the organization publicly, and contribute to technical and policy discussions.\n\nCommitment to mentoring and supporting researchers across career stages, and to fostering a collaborative and inclusive research culture.\n\nInterest in or experience with the societal, economic, and ethical dimensions of decentralized systems, particularly in the context of financial access and inclusion.\n\nWe offer competitive pay with a base salary range for this position of $210,000 - $350,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, we offer lumen-denominated grants along with the following perks and benefits:\nUSA Benefits/Perks:\nCompetitive health, dental & vision coverage with most plans covered at 100% for the employee + any dependents\n\nFlexible time off + 15 company holidays including a company-wide holiday break\n\n401(k) with 4% match\n\nCommuter benefits with $250/month employer contribution\n\nHealth & Dependent Care FSA Accounts\n\nHealth Savings Account (HSA) with monthly employer contribution\n\nGym reimbursement ($80 per month)\n\nLife & ADD (1x salary, up to $250K)\n\nShort & Long term disability\n\nGenerous paid parental leave for all parents, plus paid pregnancy disability leave for birthing parents\n\nFamily building benefits through Kindbody\n\nWellbeing benefits (One Medical, Rightway, Headspace)\n\nL&D budget of $1,500/year\n\nDaily lunch and snacks in office\n\nCompany retreats\n\nAbout Stellar\nStellar is more than a blockchain. Powered by a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network made for financial products and services and a thriving and passionate ecosystem that includes a non-profit organization driven by a mission, Stellar is paving the path to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology. Built with speed and low costs in mind, the Stellar network provides builders and financial institutions worldwide a platform to issue assets, and to send and convert currencies in real time creating real world utility. Founded in 2014, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) supports the continued development and growth of the Stellar network and also serves the ecosystem of NGOs, corporations, universities, small businesses, governments, and solo entrepreneurs building on the Stellar network through tooling, funding and strategic collaborations. Together, Stellar is where blockchain meets the real world.\nAbout the Stellar Development Foundation\nThe Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization focused on working with and supporting change-makers to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. SDF provides grants, investments, funding, and other awards to builders and organizations. SDF also develops resources and tooling on the Stellar network to help unlock real world utility. As a nonprofit foundation, SDF puts the health of the Stellar network and the Stellar ecosystem and its mission above all else.\nWe look forward to hearing from you!\nPrivacy Policy\nBy submitting your application, you are agreeing to our use and processing of your data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.\nSDF is committed to diversity in its workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. SDF does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal law.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7776,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Flexible time off","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"},{"name":"Canada","iso":"CA","kind":"country"},{"name":"New York","iso":null,"kind":"city"},{"name":"San Francisco","iso":null,"kind":"city"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Cryptocurrencies","Blockchain Infrastructure","Asset Tokenization","Nonprofits & Foundations"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-06-17T19:13:33Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 6 · green card filings: 2","filings_12m":6,"filings_prev_12m":8,"green_card_filings_12m":2,"median_offered_wage_usd":168750,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":31,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.704,"p_room":0.44,"age_days":121,"expected_fill_days":88,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":350000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/stellar-development-foundation-director-research","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/stellar-development-foundation-director-research.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T23:15:20Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1480,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":47450},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=47450"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstellar-development-foundation-director-research"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fstellar-development-foundation-director-research"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fstellar-development-foundation-director-research"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/stellar-development-foundation-director-research\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstellar-development-foundation-director-research"}]}