Director, Arc - Banking Strategy & GTM

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world’s leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through digital assets, payment applications, and programmable blockchain infrastructure. Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest regulated stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet. Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation. 

What you’ll be part of:

Circle is committed to visibility and stability in everything we do. As we grow as an organization, were expanding into some of the worlds strongest jurisdictions. Speed and efficiency are motivators for our success and our employees live by our company values: High Integrity, Future Forward, Multistakeholder, Mindful, and Driven by Excellence. We have built a flexible work environment where new ideas are encouraged and everyone is a stakeholder.

What youll be responsible for:

As the Director, Arc - Banking Strategy & GTM, you will define and execute Arcs banking ecosystem strategy, helping establish Arc as the leading blockchain network for institutional banking activity. Working across Ecosystem Partnerships, Product, and Commercial leadership, you will identify high-value market opportunities, develop the strategic roadmap for the banking ecosystem, architect complex partnership and commercial structures, and influence product investments required to unlock adoption.

This is not a traditional business development role. Success in this position comes from defining ecosystem strategy, influencing product direction, architecting partnerships, and creating market adoption across the banking value chain. While you will work closely with relationship owners and commercial teams, your focus is on building the banking ecosystem, not simply closing individual deals.

You will build and scale the banking ecosystem on Arc, creating a network of banks, fintechs, infrastructure providers, and ecosystem participants that drive compounding on-chain activity and establish a durable competitive advantage in institutional financial services. This is a highly strategic, zero-to-one role focused on ecosystem creation, market development, and product influence rather than traditional business development execution.

What success looks like:

Within your first 90 days, you will

• Develop and socialize a banking ecosystem strategy that aligns leadership, product, and commercial stakeholders around priority opportunities.
• Establish strong working relationships across Product, Ecosystem Partnerships, Business Development, and executive leadership teams.
• Identify key ecosystem dependencies, market gaps, and strategic partnership opportunities required to accelerate banking adoption.
• Build alignment around priority use cases, partnership opportunities, and product requirements needed to support ecosystem growth.
• Establish an operating cadence with cross-functional stakeholders and define clear ownership across active initiatives.

Within your first 6–12 months, you will

• Help bring multiple strategic ecosystem partnerships from concept to execution, creating measurable momentum for Arc within banking.
• Drive new on-chain activity through the successful launch of banking, treasury, payments, or financial infrastructure use cases.
• Influence product roadmap priorities that unlock meaningful ecosystem growth and improve the competitiveness of Arcs banking offering.
• Establish repeatable frameworks, partnership structures, and ecosystem development playbooks that enable long-term scale.
• Build a visible pipeline of future ecosystem opportunities that demonstrate a clear path toward compounding network effects and sustained adoption.

What youll work on:

• Define and own the strategic roadmap for Arcs banking ecosystem, including market prioritization, ecosystem design, use-case sequencing, and long-term growth strategy.
• Map and develop end-to-end banking value chains, identifying key participants, ecosystem dependencies, market gaps, and opportunities to accelerate institutional adoption.
• Design and structure innovative commercial partnerships, business models, and economic frameworks that unlock new on-chain banking activity.
• Partner closely with Business Development teams to evaluate, prioritize, and execute strategic partnerships that drive measurable ecosystem growth and network effects.
• Influence product roadmaps by translating banking workflows, customer needs, and ecosystem requirements into actionable product priorities across multiple product organizations.
• Establish repeatable frameworks, operating models, and partnership playbooks that enable scalable ecosystem expansion and long-term growth.
• Monitor ecosystem performance, competitive dynamics, regulatory developments, and market trends to continuously strengthen Arcs position within institutional banking.

What youll bring to Circle:

Core Requirements

• 12+ years of experience spanning management consulting, corporate strategy, product management, enterprise partnerships, business development, or related strategic functions.
• Demonstrated success defining and executing strategy in highly ambiguous, zero-to-one, or emerging-market environments.
• Proven ability to influence executive leaders and drive alignment across multiple organizations without direct authority.
• Experience building new business lines, ecosystem strategies, marketplace models, platform businesses, or network-driven growth initiatives.
• Deep experience structuring complex enterprise partnerships, commercial agreements, and strategic alliances involving significant value exchange.
• Strong systems-thinking capabilities with the ability to map value chains, identify leverage points, and create scalable growth strategies.
• Exceptional communication, executive presentation, and stakeholder management skills with experience engaging senior leaders both internally and externally.

Preferred Requirements

• Deep understanding of banking operations, core banking systems, treasury services, payments, financial infrastructure, or embedded finance.
• Experience working with banks, fintechs, banking-as-a-service providers, payment networks, or regulated financial institutions.
• Familiarity with stablecoins, programmable money, tokenized deposits, cross-border payments, or blockchain-based banking infrastructure.
• Experience navigating regulatory, compliance, risk, and operational requirements within banking environments.

Circle is on a mission to create an inclusive financial future, with transparency at our core. We consider a wide variety of elements when crafting our compensation ranges and total compensation packages.

Starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to: relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Please note that compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.

Base Pay Range: $212,500 - $272,500

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other protected status required by the laws in the locations where we hire. Additionally, Circle participates in the E-Verify Program in certain locations, as required by law.