Public Policy and Government Relations
Tempo enables high-throughput stablecoin payments through a purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain featuring dedicated payment lanes, stablecoin-native gas fees, and sub-second finality.
Maintainer signals as of 9/25/2026
Funding history
Projects
About Tempo
Tempo is a Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin payments and real-world financial transactions. Built using the Reth SDK, Tempo features dedicated payment lanes that guarantee blockspace for payment transactions regardless of network congestion, stablecoin-native gas fees allowing users to pay transaction costs in any USD-denominated stablecoin, and Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus achieving approximately 0.5-second finality. The blockchain includes a native decentralized exchange optimized for stablecoins, structured memo fields for reconciliation against enterprise systems, and protocol-level compliance features through the TIP-403 Policy Registry. Tempo was incubated by Stripe and Paradigm, with design input from global partners including Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, OpenAI, Shopify, Visa, and Standard Chartered. The blockchain launched its public testnet in December 2025, operating with an initial set of validators before transitioning to a permissionless validator model. Tempo raised $500 million in Series A funding at a $5 billion valuation in October 2025, led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks with participation from Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, and SV Angel.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will establish and run the federal government relations function, representing Tempo before Congress, regulators, trade associations, and industry coalitions. You will shape strategy for stablecoin, payments, digital asset, AI, and agentic commerce policy; analyze policy developments; prepare advocacy materials; advise leadership and product teams; and manage external lobbying and policy consultants.
Requirements
- 8+ years of policy or government relations experience
- In-house government relations experience at a payments, fintech, financial services, or technology company
- Experience with payments policy, including stablecoins, money transmission, BSA/AML, card networks, real-time payments, or fintech regulation
- Strong relationships and credibility across political parties
- Direct experience with digital asset policy, including stablecoin legislation and implementation, market structure, or tax
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work in a fast-moving startup and shift between strategy and execution
- Prior Capitol Hill experience preferred
- Experience with AI or agentic commerce policy preferred
- Multi-client experience at a lobbying firm, consultancy, or trade association preferred
- Familiarity with federal agency rulemaking and regulatory engagement preferred
Responsibilities
- Build and run the federal government relations strategy focused on stablecoins, payments, digital assets, and agentic commerce legislation and rulemaking
- Develop and maintain relationships with members of Congress, committee staff, and relevant regulators
- Engage on emerging AI and agentic commerce policy as it intersects with payments
- Track and analyze federal and key state policy developments and provide guidance to leadership and product teams
- Draft comment letters, testimony, white papers, one-pagers, and briefing materials
- Build and manage participation in trade associations and industry coalitions
- Build alliances across payments, fintech, and AI ecosystems
- Support company leadership in Washington, DC engagement
- Manage outside lobbying and policy consultants as needed
- Own the policy function as a hands-on individual contributor
