Protocol Engineer, Lodestar (Backend TypeScript)

Company Description

ChainSafe Systems, a blockchain research and development company, is seeking dedicated Protocol Engineers to join the Lodestar team, Ethereum consensus (Eth2.0) implementation written in TypeScript.

About Lodestar

Lodestar is an Ethereum 2.0 client and ecosystem of resources to provide and support the next generation of light-clients. Light-clients are the missing piece in today’s blockchain ecosystems to achieve decentralization across the entire stack. You will contribute in ensuring the long-term success of Ethereum while being at the edge of multiple technological fronts.

Culture fit and alignment to our core values are extremely important to us. We are fueled by an immense intellectual curiosity of what technology can do and the impact it can have. You will thrive here if you are intensely driven by tackling technical challenges that no one else has solved yet and are inspired by the possibility of building the next generation of web infrastructure and decentralized systems.

About the role

As a protocol engineer, you will contribute to Lodestar by developing accurate, secure, and performant code to implement various specifications. No prior blockchain experience is required, but it’s expected to gain protocol proficiency over time. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage with a wider Ethereum 2.0 community, other client teams and contribute to research efforts to influence its future design. The position is full-time and remote-friendly.

No prior blockchain experience is required

Responsibilities

• Understand a protocol specification and develop a highly performant implementation
• Research multiple solutions and evaluate their performance-memory trade-offs
• Research and develop novel light-client solutions
• Refactor and improve existing features in the client
• Review, audit, and test your teammate’s code
• Provide feedback on overall design decisions
• Collaborate with other protocol implementation teams to share knowledge and improve each other’s clients

Qualifications

Required skills and experience

• Extended experience developing highly performant, secure, and scalable software
• Senior Proficiency in Javascript and TypeScript (no front-end experience required)
• Experience in distributed applications and peer to peer networking
• Comfortable learning complex protocols from scratch
• Takes initiative, is a self-starter, be accountable for work
• Experience with open-source software or strong communication skills as we actively coordinate with external parties

Nice to have

• Experience with blockchain protocols
• Experience with cryptography
• Familiar with Node.js C++ internals and/or the v8 javascript engine
• Strong academic or engineering background
• Performance analysis and optimization, optimizing data structures and algorithms
• DevOps, testing infrastructure, and CI for large systems
• Familiarity with open-source software principles

Additional Information

Why join us

Founded by Developers for Developers, we foster an Agile environment where tasks are assigned based not just on what you know but what you want to learn. We offer fast opportunities for personal growth, mentorship, professional development funding, tons of autonomy and responsibility, a results-driven environment, close collaboration with an international team, exposure to a wide array of ecosystems and trailblazing technologies, and flexible work hours.

At ChainSafe, we are a compassionate group of builders and makers, working to bring our ideas to life. You’ll be part of a team that believes in the vital importance of community and contributing to advance humanity with open-source and decentralized technology.

We care deeply about our values and look for these in every team member: A dedication to self-improvement and professional development; a commitment to community and collaboration; a drive for accountability, diligence, and autonomy; and above all fostering a place of acceptance, friendliness, and compassion.

ChainSafe is a remote-first company with an international team. We offer opportunities for personal and professional learning and growth, value autonomy and responsibility, and have a results-driven environment, flexible work hours and time-off policy, as well as competitive salary.