Policy Lead

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is striving to create equitable access to the global financial system by leveraging the Stellar blockchain. As an organization, we are at the forefront of where blockchain meets the real world, which gives us a unique role in the policy space. We are hiring a key team member to strengthen our voice and influence on relevant policy topics. The individual will report to the Chief Legal and Policy Officer and will be responsible for engaging with internal and external stakeholders to develop the company’s policy positions, craft and execute a strategy to implement those positions, build and maintain relationships with stakeholders in both blockchain and traditional policy communities, and ensure alignment between our internal workstreams and our policy positions.

As the SDF Policy Lead, you will: Engage with executives, and colleagues on the government relations, communications, legal, product, and ecosystem teams as well as external stakeholders, including think tanks, NGOs, standard setting bodies, academic institutions, industry, public interest, and advocacy groups as well as participants in the Stellar ecosystem to: 

• Develop a strategic policy engagement plan to establish SDF as a leading voice, thought leader, and influencer on key policy areas; 
• Identify and craft positions on SDF’s policy priorities and collaborate across the organization to ensure consistency in messaging in those priorities;
• Identify and support speaking and writing opportunities for SDF’s executives to further SDF’s policy engagement plan; 
• Draft timely, digestible written assets, including blog posts, consultation responses, memos, and white papers on policy issues and company positions in collaboration with the communications and legal teams and, as appropriate, external stakeholders; 
• Collaborate with the ecosystem and product teams to understand all aspects of SDF’s goals and to align the product roadmap with SDF’s policy positions and strategy. 
• Contribute to the development of creative solutions to address emerging issues and trends in the policy arena.
• Lead SDF’s engagement with relevant think tanks, NGOs, standard setting bodies, academic institutions, and industry, public interest, and advocacy groups, to create alliances, coalitions, and opportunities to strengthen the reach of SDF’s voice and influence;   
• Contribute to Government Relations colleagues’ engagement strategy with government entities on legislative matters and serve as an SME, as appropriate; 
• Collaborate with Government Relations and Legal colleagues as well as outside consultants to track relevant policy developments and craft a comprehensive approach to address them; 
• Represent SDF at policy-focused events to educate key stakeholders inside and outside of the blockchain ecosystem on SDF and our policy positions.

What we’re looking for:

• 8+ years of experience in policy work, with a preference for experience in technology, digital assets, everyday financial services (payments, lending, and borrowing), and financial access and inclusion.
• A Master's Degree in Public Policy or Economic Development is very helpful, but not required.
• Experience with blockchain, digital assets as well as traditional finance. 
• Understanding of the technical, economic, and social implications of decentralized technologies. 
• A passion for furthering financial access and inclusion with technological solutions.
• A creative thinker with the capability to develop innovative policy solutions for a fast-growing and evolving industry.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to articulate complex technical and policy concepts effectively to a diverse set of audiences.
• Superior writing skills and ability to deliver high-quality, timely briefing materials to the CEO, CL&PO, and other senior members of the team.
• Strong strategic, organizational, collaborative, problem-solving, and independent decision-making skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work cross-functionally to reach creative solutions to challenging policy issues. 
• Experience advising Product and Engineering teams to incorporate policy considerations into their roadmaps.
• A strong interest in blockchain and how emerging technology can solve real world problems.
• Existing relationships with relevant think tanks, NGOs, standard setting bodies, academic institutions, and industry, public interest, and advocacy groups.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed. 
• An independent worker, who is comfortable working with a largely distributed team. 
• A sense of humor!

We offer competitive pay with a base salary range for this position of $144,000 - $171,000 depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, we offer lumen-denominated grants along with the following perks and benefits:

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