Head of Governance - House of Stake

Why this role matters

House of Stake (HoS) is the NEAR Foundation’s flagship experiment in transparent, data-driven, and eventually AI-augmented, on-chain governance. Your mandate is simple but ambitious: design, operate, and continuously improve the governance system that keeps HoS—and by extension the NEAR ecosystem—credible, resilient, and ahead of the curve.

You will be both strategist and operator:

• Strategist: synthesize governance research, shape policy, and set the long-term roadmap.
  
  
• Operator: run the day-to-day—shipping code with vendors, facilitating delegate votes, and communicating decisions to a global audience.

If you thrive at the intersection of mechanism design, community building, and product execution, you’ll find few playgrounds as wide-open as this one.

What you’ll own

Day-to-day responsibilities

• Craft and iterate the HoS governance constitution, operating manuals, and upgrade procedures.
  
  
• Run regular (weekly to biweekly) syncs with Gauntlet & Agora; translate research output into shipped code.
  
  
• Maintain a lightweight but rigorous delivery pipeline (issues, sprints, retros).
  
  
• Publish governance analytics dashboards and monthly “state-of-governance” reports.
  
  
• Represent HoS at major events; host Twitter/X Spaces, podcasts, and AMAs.
  
  
• Curate a living library of cross-chain governance case studies and best practices.

• The skill-set we’re after

  • 5+ years in protocol governance, open-source leadership, or complex stakeholder program management.
    
    
  • Demonstrated track record shipping production-grade governance tooling (on-chain or off-chain).
    
    
  • Fluency in game theory / mechanism design and comfort debating trade-offs in public.
    
    
  • Polished public speaker and crisp writer—your forum posts become reference links.
    
    
  • Battle-tested on social media; you defuse criticism with data and empathy.
    
    
  • Operate happily across time zones and cultures; prior experience in fully-remote teams.
    
    

  Bonus points

  • Publications or conference talks on governance or AI-assisted decision-making.
    
    
  • Hands-on familiarity with NEAR, Rust, or any other type of smart contract development.
    
    
  • Experience mediating conflicts or running formal dispute-resolution processes.
    
    

  What you’ll get

  • A front-row seat to the next wave of decentralized governance.
    
    
  • The opportunity to work at the cutting edge of AI x governance.
    
    
  • Autonomy: clear objectives, minimal bureaucracy, vast ownership.
    
    
  • A world-class network of researchers, builders, and ecosystem partners.
    
    
  • Competitive comp package (salary + tokens + conference travel + lots of other perks).
    
    

  Ready to steward the future of on-chain governance?

  Send us: your CV, a short cover note, your most relevant governance win, and links to any public writing or talks.

We value

• ECOSYSTEM-FIRST: always put the health and success of the ecosystem above any individual's interest
• OPENNESS: operate transparently and consistently share knowledge to build open communities
• PRAGMATISM OVER PERFECTION: find the right solution not the ideal solution and beat dogmatism by openly considering all ideas
• MAKE IT FEEL SIMPLE: strive to make the complex feel simple so the technology is accessible to all
• GROW CONSTANTLY: learn, improve and fail productively so the project and community are always becoming more effective

NEAR is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. NEAR is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, please let your recruiter know during the interview process.