Director, Ecosystem Growth

At Ripple, we’re building a world where value moves like information does today. It’s big, it’s bold, and we’re already doing it. Through our crypto solutions for financial institutions, businesses, governments and developers, we are improving the global financial system and creating greater economic fairness and opportunity for more people, in more places around the world. And we get to do the best work of our career and grow our skills surrounded by colleagues who have our backs.

If you’re ready to see your impact and unlock incredible career growth opportunities, join us, and build real world value.

THE WORK:

RippleX is building a global, multi-entity ecosystem to drive XRPL adoption at scale. This role leads strategic partnerships with independent ecosystem operators 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.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

Ecosystem Partner Management

• Manages a portfolio of independent ecosystem partners delivering programs and developer initiatives.

• Sets milestones, impact goals, and accountability rhythms.

• Reviews progress, identifies gaps, and ensures alignment with ecosystem priorities.

DeFi Ecosystem Management and Development

• Manage partnerships to support the evaluation of DeFi teams with a strong understanding of AMMs, DEXs, stablecoins, incentives, and liquidity behavior.

• Manage partners to help shape milestone and incentive structures that support DeFi development.

• Oversee DeFi initiatives with market structure needs, including liquidity depth, market making, and OTC flows.

Startup and Builder Growth

• Builds a strong pipeline of developers, founders, and partners.

• Engages with communities, events, and industry groups to drive adoption.

• Supports teams from ideation through integration and launch.

• Creates milestone frameworks and incentive logic for ecosystem partners.

• Runs evaluation cycles and ensures partners stay on track.

• Provides milestone structure to incorporate into formal agreements.

Ecosystem Reporting and Insights

• Develops dashboards and scorecards for partner performance, DeFi activity, and US ecosystem growth.

• Produces updates highlighting progress, risks, and opportunities.

• Maintains consistent tracking of activation and partner output.

Bonus: Fintech, TradFi, RWA, and Stablecoin Fluency, including understanding of tokenized assets, stablecoin flows, treasury operations, and institutional integrations.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING:

Experience

• Seven to ten years in DeFi, crypto ecosystem growth, fintech or TradFi partnerships, or program operations.

• Experience managing external partners, program operators, or independent entities.

• Track record supporting developers, founders, or technical teams.

• Ability to drive meaningful adoption or program success in fast-moving environments.

Skills

• Strong DeFi literacy

• Working understanding of payment flows, treasury operations, RWAs, and institutional asset use-cases.

• Knowledge of market structure, including market making, liquidity depth, and OTC dynamics.

• Skill in designing milestone frameworks, incentive structures, and accountability models.

• Exceptional relationship management and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Clear communication, strong evaluation instincts, and structured thinking.

• Comfort working with autonomy and navigating ambiguity.

Bonus

• Experience working with community hubs, nonprofit organizations, or venture studios.

• Exposure to institutional DeFi, RWA platforms, or liquidity networks.

• Familiarity with milestone-based funding or incentive operations.

For positions that will be based in CA, the annual salary range for this position is below. Actual salaries may vary based on numerous factors including, among other things, an individual applicant’s experience and qualifications for the position. This range does not include equity or additional compensation, such as bonuses or commissions.
CA Annual Base Salary Range
$225,000—$270,000 USD

WHO WE ARE:

Do Your Best Work

• The opportunity to build in a fast-paced start-up environment with experienced industry leaders

• A learning environment where you can dive deep into the latest technologies and make an impact. A professional development budget to support other modes of learning.

• Thrive in an environment where no matter what race, ethnicity, gender, origin, or culture they identify with, every employee is a respected, valued, and empowered part of the team.

• In-office collaboration for moments that matter is important to our culture, and we give managers and teams the flexibility to decide which 10+ days a month they come in.

• Bi-weekly all-company meeting - business updates and ask me anything style discussion with our Leadership Team

• We come together for moments that matter which include team offsites, team bonding activities, happy hours and more!

Take Control of Your Finances

• 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

Take Care of Yourself

• R&R days so you can rest and recharge

• Generous wellness reimbursement and weekly onsite & virtual programming

• Generous vacation policy - work with your manager to take time off when you need it

• Industry-leading parental leave policies. Family planning benefits.

• Catered lunches, fully-stocked kitchens with premium snacks/beverages, and plenty of fun events

Benefits listed above are for full-time employees.

Ripple is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We do not discriminate against qualified employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, sexual identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, military status, or any other characteristic protected by local law or ordinance.

Please find our UK/EU Applicant Privacy Notice and our California Applicant Privacy Notice for reference.