Principal, Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES)

About the Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES)

CFES is an industry standards body, incubated within FS Vector, that develops and maintains voluntary standards for the financial ecosystem, including bank–fintech partnerships, payments, BSA/AML, and emerging areas such as agentic payments. Through member coalitions, working groups, independent assessments, published research, and convenings, CFES brings together banks, fintechs, payments companies, and other stakeholders to raise the bar on safety, soundness, and consumer protection across the industry.

As CFES enters its next phase of growth, we are building dedicated leadership to drive its standards and assessment work, scale its membership, and expand its influence across the policy and industry ecosystem.

Job Description

FS Vector is seeking a full-time Principal to serve as a primary day-to-day leader for CFES from our Washington, D.C. office. This is a high-ownership role for a professional with approximately 7–10 years of relevant experience.

At its core, this role is responsible for driving CFES's substantive work, including standards development, working groups, and the independent assessment program. The Principal also executes on strategy and member management in close collaboration with FS Vector leadership, converting direction into dated plans and a reliable operating cadence. The ideal candidate combines deep substantive knowledge of financial services policy or standards with the rigor to run a high-quality standards and assessment program and the maturity to manage senior external stakeholders including regulators.

Key Responsibilities

Standards, Working Groups & Assessments

• Drive the development and maintenance of CFES standards, coordinating subject-matter input across the FS Vector team and external experts
• Manage CFES working groups from formation through deliverables, including one-pagers, frameworks, and published outputs
• Manage the CFES independent assessment program, partnering with assessors and members to drive adoption of the standards
• Read and contribute to CFES white papers and research, and draft comment letters, briefings, and member-facing analysis
• Plan and execute roundtables, webinars, and other convenings that advance CFES's standards and visibility

Strategy & Execution

• Work with FS Vector leadership to define the strategic direction for CFES 
• Convert strategic direction into clear, dated plans and a consistent operating cadence, and drive them to completion across internal and external contributors
• Identify emerging policy and industry developments relevant to CFES members and position the coalition to respond

Membership & Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate with FS Vector leadership to manage member relationships and lead outreach to prospects
• Own day-to-day management of member relationships, including onboarding, renewals, attrition, and retention
• Represent CFES with senior executives at banks, fintechs, payments companies, trade associations, and regulators with professionalism and discretion

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (J.D., M.B.A., or similar) a plus
• Approximately 7–10 years of relevant experience in financial services policy, standards-setting, a trade association or coalition, a regulatory agency, a financial institution, or a comparable advisory or industry environment
• Strong substantive knowledge of banking, payments, or fintech regulation; familiarity with bank–fintech partnerships, BSA/AML, or emerging payments is a plus
• Demonstrated ability to drive complex substantive work products to completion on tight timelines
• Exceptional research, writing, and communication skills, with a track record of producing executive-ready work
• Demonstrated ability to manage senior external stakeholders and build durable relationships across the financial services ecosystem
• Entrepreneurial mindset and comfort operating with ambiguity in a growing organization
• Professional demeanor, sound judgment, and discretion in client-facing and stakeholder settings

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Benefits

- Excellent environment for learning and growth

- Firm-wide social events and activities

- Start-up atmosphere and horizontal staff structure

- Competitive compensation

- Flexible Paid Time Off

- Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance with HSA and FSA account options

- Employer Paid Life and Disability Insurance

- Employee Assistance Program

- Paid Family and Parental Leave

- 401k with match

- Student Loan Assistance

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This position is based in Washington, D.C. The Principal is expected to be present in the office during the workweek.

FS Vector provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, age, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

For more information, please reach out to careers@fsvector.com.

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