Strategic Intelligence Manager, Protective Intelligence

About the role

This role involves leading Coinbase's Strategic Intelligence program, which includes managing reputational due diligence for mergers, acquisitions, investments, and strategic partnerships. The manager will produce detailed risk findings that directly inform corporate development and executive decision-making, ensuring adherence to quality standards and service level agreements. A key aspect is delivering proactive intelligence that assesses geopolitical events and crises, providing timely insights to various internal teams, including senior leadership and business continuity.

The manager will be responsible for establishing and maintaining intelligence sources, both open and closed, and building relationships with intelligence partners in both public and private sectors. This network will be crucial for identifying potential threats to Coinbase and the broader crypto community. Additionally, the role requires designing and implementing scalable, AI-enabled processes to enhance program efficiency and reduce costs, while ensuring human oversight. Defining metrics to communicate the program's impact to senior leadership is also a core responsibility.

Success in this position means effectively safeguarding Coinbase's people, assets, and reputation through robust intelligence gathering and analysis. This includes proactively identifying risks, providing actionable insights for strategic decisions, and continuously improving intelligence operations through technology and process optimization. The manager will also mentor team members, providing feedback to elevate standards across complex and ambiguous work.

The annual base salary for this role ranges from $166,345 to $195,700 USD, with total compensation potentially including equity and bonus eligibility.

Skills that matter here

• intelligence: This role requires expertise in intelligence gathering and analysis to identify threats and inform strategic decisions.
• due diligence: The manager will lead reputational due diligence for M&A, investments, and partnerships, assessing risks to the company.
• geopolitical risk analysis: The position involves assessing how global events impact Coinbase's operations, personnel, and business strategy.
• investigations: Experience in investigations is relevant for producing reports that inform business decisions at scale.
• generative AI: The role involves utilizing generative AI responsibly to improve workflow efficiency, cost, and quality in intelligence operations.
• systems thinking: This skill is applied to anticipate impacts and design resilient, scalable intelligence operations.

Who this role suits

• You have a background of at least six years in intelligence, due diligence, or geopolitical risk analysis, with recognized expertise in one of these areas.
• You can independently lead initiatives from problem identification to solution delivery, taking ownership of a specific capability within a larger program.
• You are adept at communicating complex technical and business risks clearly to senior audiences, both in writing and verbally.
• You are comfortable mentoring team members, including those more senior, and providing constructive feedback to improve their judgment and influence.

From the employer

• Own the strategic direction and governance of Coinbase's Strategic Intelligence program, serving as the recognized subject-matter expert across reputational due diligence, geopolitical intelligence, and first-party diligence.
• Lead Reputational Due Diligence for mergers and acquisitions, investments, and strategic partnerships, producing complex risk findings that inform Corporate Development and executive decision-making within defined SLAs and quality standards.
• Deliver forward-looking geopolitical intelligence, assessing how events and crises impact Coinbase offices, personnel, assets, and business strategy, and routing timely assessments to senior leadership, GSOC, Executive Protection, and Business Continuity teams.
• Source and establish open and closed-source intelligence streams while building deep relationships with public and private-sector intelligence partners to proactively identify threats targeting Coinbase and the crypto community.
• Design scalable, AI-enabled processes that increase program efficiency and reduce cost while maintaining appropriate human-in-the-loop safeguards, and define program metrics that communicate impact to senior leadership.
• Mentor analysts, specialists, and contractors, including senior teammates, providing high-signal feedback on judgment, influence, and craft and elevating standards across complex, ambiguous work.

• 6+ years of experience in intelligence, due diligence, geopolitical risk analysis, investigations, or related fields, with recognized expertise in at least one intelligence domain.
• Proven track record producing investigation and geopolitical risk reports that have directly informed M&A, investment, or other business decisions at scale.
• Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives independently from problem identification through solution delivery, owning a defined capability within a broader program while holding cross-functional partners and vendors accountable.
• Communicates complex technical and business risks clearly to senior audiences in written and verbal formats, ensuring stakeholders are rarely surprised by outcomes.
• Applies systems thinking to anticipate second-order impacts and designs for long-term resilience and scale across intelligence operations.
• Utilizes generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality.

• Base salary varies by location (see range below). Total compensation may also include equity and bonus eligibility, and benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401(k)). Annual base salary range (excluding equity and bonus): $166,345—$195,700 USD.
• Equal Opportunity Employer: Coinbase is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information. Applicants with criminal histories will be considered consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.