Manager, Solutions Engineering

Manager, Solutions Engineering

Stellar Development Foundation is a mission-driven organization advancing financial access globally through the Stellar blockchain network. Since 2014, the foundation has supported developers and enterprises building on this open-source platform at scale. As the Web3 and blockchain sectors expand rapidly, Stellar is growing its teams to serve an increasingly sophisticated ecosystem of partners and integrations.

You will lead the Solutions Engineering function for Stellar, taking ownership of how the foundation enables enterprise partners to design, build, and operate production-grade systems on the network. This is a senior leadership role that combines people management, technical architecture, and strategic partner relationships. You'll operate at the intersection of engineering, product, and business, responsible for the entire partner journey from initial technical exploration through production deployment and ongoing operations.

What you'll do

• Build, mentor, and grow a team of Solutions Architects and Solutions Engineers, including both internal staff and certified external collaborators.

• Own the Solutions Engineering program end-to-end, including engagement models, partner tiering structures, service level agreements, documentation standards, and escalation procedures.

• Lead technical partner engagements directly, from discovery and solution design through production launch and sustained support, serving as the senior technical escalation point for complex or high-value integrations.

• Provide hands-on architectural leadership including system design guidance for non-standard use cases, architecture reviews, technical trade-off analysis, and de-risking through design reviews and prototyping.

• Establish and maintain a high technical bar for enterprise integrations, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, maintainable, and aligned with Stellar's long-term roadmap.

• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to identify recurring partner needs and tooling gaps, informing product priorities based on real-world enterprise requirements.

• Oversee hiring, onboarding, training, and certification programs for solutions engineers within SDF and across the partner ecosystem.

• Represent SDF in strategic partner conversations and selective onsite engagements with enterprise stakeholders.

What you'll bring

• Significant experience leading customer-facing engineering or solutions teams, preferably in blockchain, fintech, or financial infrastructure.

• Strong technical foundation enabling you to lead architectural discussions, evaluate system-level trade-offs, and guide complex integrations, even if not writing production code daily.

• Demonstrated experience managing multi-disciplinary technical teams such as Solutions Architects, Forward-Deployed Engineers, or Partner Engineers.

• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, rapidly evolving environments where you help define structure, processes, and best practices.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, translating between partner needs, technical constraints, and internal priorities.

• Direct experience working with enterprise or institutional partners and senior technical stakeholders.

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability for program outcomes.

• Willingness to travel occasionally for partner engagements.

Nice to have

• Experience with blockchain systems, distributed ledgers, or financial market infrastructure.

• Background in forward-deployed or embedded engineering models.

• Experience designing or operating certification, training, or partner enablement programs.

• Contributions to open-source or ecosystem-driven platforms.

What they offer

• Base salary range of $172,000 to $258,000 depending on experience and location, plus lumen-denominated grants.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage with most plans at 100% for employee and dependents, plus HSA with employer contribution.

• Flexible time off plus 15 company holidays including a company-wide break, generous paid parental leave, and paid pregnancy disability leave.

• Professional development budget of $1,500 annually, gym reimbursement of $80 monthly, commuter benefits with $250 monthly employer contribution, and wellness programs including One Medical, Rightway, and Headspace.

• 401k with 4% match, life and ADD insurance up to $50k, short and long-term disability coverage, and family building benefits through Kindbody.