Principal, Business Operations – AI & Automation Full Time NEW

Our Krakenites are a world-class team with crypto conviction, united by our desire to discover and unlock the potential of crypto and blockchain technology.

What makes us different?

Kraken is a mission-focused company rooted in crypto values. As a Krakenite, you’ll join us on our mission to accelerate the global adoption of crypto, so that everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion. For over a decade, Kraken’s focus on our mission and crypto ethos has attracted many of the most talented crypto experts in the world.

Before you apply, please read the Kraken Culture page to learn more about our internal culture, values, and mission. We also expect candidates to familiarize themselves with the Kraken app. Learn how to create a Kraken account here.

As a fully remote company, we have Krakenites in 70+ countries who speak over 50 languages. Krakenites are industry pioneers who develop premium crypto products for experienced traders, institutions, and newcomers to the space. Kraken is committed to industry-leading security, crypto education, and world-class client support through our products like Kraken Pro, Desktop, Wallet, and Kraken Futures.

Become a Krakenite and build the future of crypto!

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The team

Payward Services is Kraken’s B2B arm — built on 15+ years of operating history — enabling companies to embed digital asset trading, payments, custody, staking, and funding rails through a single integration. The business is scaling rapidly across products, partners, and markets.

Business Operations sits at the center of that — not planning from the sidelines, but driving execution, filling gaps, and building systems that let a lean team operate at scale across product, commercial, and operational domains.

Our biggest lever is AI. We’re building an AI-native ops function where automation is the operating model. Claude-powered workflows, agentic pipelines, and custom integrations already power core processes — now we need to take this from early traction to full-scale operating infrastructure.

As Principal, Business Operations – AI & Automation, you’ll co-own the automation stack, partner directly with leadership, and act as a force multiplier across the business. This role is about building intelligent systems that make a 50-person team operate like 500 — owning the roadmap end-to-end from opportunity identification through design, build, and scale.

The opportunity

This role requires someone who is equal parts strategist, builder, and operator — with a deep instinct for where AI creates real business leverage.

• Own the AI automation roadmap for PWS — identify, prioritize, build, ship
• Build and deploy agentic workflows and AI-powered tools (Claude-based assistants, automated reporting, pipeline systems, internal bots) that eliminate manual work
• Step into ambiguous, under-owned processes and bring structure, automation, and speed
• Partner across Sales, Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Compliance to translate business problems into automation solutions
• Improve and optimize existing automations for cost efficiency, reliability, and scale
• Drive 0 → 1 initiatives — from problem discovery to prototype to production
• Establish best practices for AI tooling, prompt engineering, and workflow design across the organization
• Advise leadership on where AI creates the most operational leverage and shape the long-term vision for AI-native operations at Kraken

Skills You Should HODL

• 5+ years in Business Operations, Consulting, Product Strategy, or similar roles in high-growth tech, fintech, or crypto
• AI-native mindset — you already use AI tools daily and instinctively think about how to automate before doing something manually
• Hands-on builder — you work with Claude, APIs, n8n, scripting, and automation platforms to ship real solutions, not just recommend them
• Rapid learner — you’ve switched domains, picked up unfamiliar tools, and delivered in weeks, not months. Steep learning curves don’t slow you down — they’re where you’re most comfortable
• Data-driven by default — you reach for metrics before opinions and can pull, clean, and analyze data yourself
• Strong structured problem-solving — able to go deep into workflows, systems, and data to find the real bottleneck
• High ownership — you find the problem, design the solution, and ship it without waiting for permission
• Comfortable in ambiguity with a strong bias toward action and experimentation
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive alignment across functions
• Experience building or optimizing AI-powered reporting, internal tools, or operational workflows

Nice to haves

• Background at a top-tier consulting firm (MBB or equivalent)
• Familiarity with agentic workflows, MCP integrations, or multi-system automation architectures
• Background in fintech, crypto, payments, or complex operational environments
• Exposure to cost optimization in AI workflows (e.g., managing API usage, token efficiency, scaling automation)
• Experience with Claude Projects, Anthropic API, or similar LLM-based development

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Kraken is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate all Krakenites for their diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions and unique perspectives. We hire strictly based on merit, meaning we seek out the candidates with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills considered the most suitable for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don’t fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you’re passionate or knowledgable about crypto!

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments are designed to evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Assessment results are considered alongside other relevant information, such as experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. Whether that’s based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state or local laws.

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