Vice President of Engineering, Fiat Infrastructure

Ripple

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. What You’ll Do As VP of Engineering, Fiat Infrastructure, reporting to the SVP of Engineering, you will own the engineering platform that moves money across fiat rails on behalf of every Ripple product. Fiat Infrastructure is a foundational execution domain. Every cross-border payment, stablecoin issuance, OTC trade, and custody flow touches fiat: money arrives as fiat, exits as fiat, and the infrastructure in between has to operate with institutional-grade reliability. Stablecoins make this more important, not less — as digital assets become central to institutional finance, the fiat layer that funds reserves, settles obligations, and completes payouts must operate to a higher standard than ever. Ripple is building a financial platform where fiat, markets, and crypto are three parallel execution domains unified through shared financial state and a common account abstraction. Fiat Infrastructure is one of those pillars — and the one that meets institutions where they are today. Ripple has built a meaningful position here — money transmitter licenses across dozens of jurisdictions, direct integrations with banks and payout partners across the corridors that matter. Your mandate is to turn that position into a unified platform: shared across every Ripple product, and built to expand. You will: - Own the full fiat infrastructure domain — control plane, execution plane, and network layer — and define the clean, reusable interfaces every product team builds against. - Hold the operational standard the business depends on: real-time corridor health, prefunding visibility, and proactive detection that catches problems before customers feel them. - Build the engineering organization as an AI-native operation — using agentic development practices to expand the payout network faster than traditional headcount models allow, while maintaining the correctness bar that financial infrastructure demands. - Take an active role in expanding Ripple's fiat network: structuring banking partnerships, deploying the global licensing portfolio into new markets, and evaluating whether acquisitions can accelerate corridor or network coverage. - Collaborate deeply with Legal, Compliance, and Business Development (BizDev) to heavily influence global licensing strategies, navigate regulatory frameworks, and secure critical banking partnerships. - Partner across Payments, Custody, Stablecoin, and Markets as a true shared platform owner — ensuring fiat infrastructure is a foundation, not a feature. This role has an engineering foundation and a domain ceiling. The right candidate will want to grow beyond the org chart — influencing licensing strategy, banking relationships, and network expansion over time. What You’ll Bring Fiat Network and Financial Infrastructure Depth - Deep experience operating fiat payment infrastructure across multiple corridors and jurisdictions. - Strong understanding of payment rail mechanics — ACH, SWIFT, Faster Payments, SEPA, and regional equivalents — including settlement timing, partner degradation, and corridor operations. - Experience operating live financial networks, with strong instincts around partner quality, network expansion, and operational reliability. Shared Platform Engineering Leadership - Proven experience building unified, shared core infrastructure platforms used across multiple internal engineering teams, rather than localized vertical product integrations. - Strong architectural judgment around extracting reusable platform layers from complex, product-entangled systems. - Operator mindset: comfortable staying close to production, diagnosing system-level constraints, and balancing operational rigor with long-term platform evolution. Domain Ambition Beyond Engineering - Genuine interest in the business of financial networks — banking relationships, licensing strategy, and network expansion. - Ability to engage credibly with banking partners, regulators, and commercial counterparties. - Instinct to participate in strategic discussions around corridor expansion, partnerships, and acquisitions — not just implement integrations afterward. Leadership and Judgment - Track record of building trust across engineering, product, operations, and external counterparties. - Calm, credible leadership presence with the ability to drive significant platform evolution. - Clear communicator who translates technical architecture into business consequences and vice versa. Location & Work Model Ripple is a hybrid company. Employees are expected to work from the office at least 10 days per month. This role is based in San Francisco. Relocation assistance is available. 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 $325,000 - $375,000 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.