Founding General Manager: O2 Exchange

Company: Fuel Labs Inc. Comp: Competitive Base + Significant Equity Upside The Mission: Turn the world's fastest execution layer into the world's most profitable orderbook exchange. About Fuel Labs Fuel Labs is incubating O2, a high-performance orderbook exchange designed to prove the throughput of the Fuel Network. We are looking for the Founding GM to take this internal venture from MVP to profitability. This is not a standard PM role, it is a startup leadership role backed by the resources of a Layer 2 protocol. Fuel is a high-performance blockchain operating system that redefines what's possible on Ethereum. By combining unparalleled throughput with the core principles of decentralization and security, our platform simplifies the development process for builders worldwide. The Fuel Virtual Machine, with its groundbreaking state minimization and parallel transaction execution capabilities, sets a new standard for Ethereum Rollups, overcoming existing limitations in protocol development. Since our 2019 launch with Fuel V1, we've been focused on enhancing Ethereum's scalability. Our innovations, like the Fuel Virtual Machine and the Sway programming language, provide developers with a powerful, user-friendly environment. We’re a passionate, intelligent, and empathetic globally dispersed team, united by a love for innovation and a commitment to shaping the future of blockchain technology—one groundbreaking solution at a time. The Role We are looking for a Founding General Manager to lead the strategy, roadmap, and execution of our O2 Exchange, our decentralized orderbook and its supporting ecosystem. You won’t just be managing a backlog—you’ll be defining the future of how users trade, provide liquidity, and interact with decentralized finance. As one of the earliest product leaders, you’ll shape everything from market research and user experience to building markets and growing volume. You’ll collaborate closely with engineering, design, and business stakeholders to ensure we build products that are both technically excellent and deeply valuable to our users. The ideal candidate is entrepreneurial, data-driven, and passionate about the intersection of crypto, market structure, and user experience. You’ll help establish a culture of rapid iteration, high standards, and obsessive focus on growing a trader base and functional markets. Responsibilities Product Leadership & Strategy Define and drive the product vision, strategy and roadmap for the orderbook, including spot trading, market making, and cross‑chain integrations Translate the company’s mission into clear product milestones and success metrics that balance user experience, scalability, and decentralization. Push the Fuel Ignition team to shape the underlying blockchain to meet the orderbook’s high performance requirements. Lead product discovery: identify user pain points, analyze competitors, and validate hypotheses with real usage data and user interviews. Cross‑Functional Execution Partner closely with engineering, design, and research to deliver features end‑to‑end—from contracts to API design to front‑end UX. Partner with marketing and business development teams to drive the creation of markets and acquisition of traders Ecosystem & Growth Work with community, marketing, and BD teams to drive user acquisition, market making, and integrations with other protocols to support shared growth. Develop and manage incentive programs (trading rewards, referral systems, rebates, etc.) aligned with long‑term healthy growth. Data‑Driven Decision Making Define core KPIs (volumes, retention, liquidity depth, user growth) and use analytics to inform prioritization and roadmap iteration. Establish frameworks for experimentation (A/B tests, on‑chain metrics, incentive feedback loops). Continuously drive execution toward those goals. Team Building & Culture Recruit, mentor, and develop team members as the organization scales. Foster a culture of ownership, iteration, curiosity, and speed while maintaining product quality and user trust. Qualifications 5+ years of experience in product management, including 3+ years in leadership roles. Proven track record of launching and scaling complex financial or trading products (crypto, fintech, or exchanges). User acquisition and growth experience—work tightly with marketing and business development to bring traders and related parties onto the platform. Strong analytical mindset—comfortable using data to drive decisions and assess product performance. Exceptional communication skills: able to align technical and non‑technical stakeholders on a shared vision. Passion for decentralized systems, user empowerment, and building products that redefine financial access. Bonus Points Experience as an early‑stage startup or founding product leader. Familiarity with on‑chain data analysis and tools like Dune, Nansen, or Flipside. Previous collaboration with blockchain engineering teams (Solidity, Rust, or TypeScript stacks). Involvement in designing or running incentive programs. Contributions to DeFi or open‑source protocols. Why work with us? High Impact: You’ll shape the core product and direction of an emerging decentralized exchange from its earliest stages. Visionary Team: Collaborate with builders and researchers across crypto, market design, and protocol architecture. Ownership & Autonomy: Lead a zero‑to‑one product function with full influence over roadmap, KPIs, and team culture. Competitive Package: We offer competitive compensation, meaningful token upside, and a fully remote, flexible culture. Culture Adds User‑Focused Missionary Someone who deeply cares about solving problems for traders Can spread that zeal3>Growth Minded Focused on user acquisition Understands trade‑offs between growth and profitability Thinks clearly about CAC and Customer Value Knows when to partner vs build internally Understands all barriers to growth to knock them down (eg. Market maker onboarding, levered trading, etc.) Revenue minded Disciplined Execution Builds culture of quick feedback cycles Good formal communication skills Holds teams accountable Practical about delegating ownership and responsibility Sets a strong consistent cadence Experimental Culture Doesn’t know everything, but can figure things out Balances qualitative and quantitative insights effectively Knows the data inside out Pushes for clear thinking and good reasoning based on facts Business Sustainability Experience (Nice to Have) Understands all sources of cash available to a business. Eg: Revenue / contribution margin, Capital Raises from Investors, Passive Yield / Treasury Ops, Token or other offerings, Debt financing Knows how and when to use each form of cash to sustain an operation Be Aware of Job Scams Fake job ads and fraudulent recruiters can sometimes appear in the Web3 industry. To ensure the legitimacy of any job offer or recruiter communication, please contact us directly at jobs@fuel.sh. Our Commitment At Fuel Labs, we are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering a fair and inclusive work environment. We do not discriminate against applicants or employees based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply. #J-18808-Ljbffr