Senior Product Manager - Protocol

Who is Risk Labs?

Risk Labs is the foundation and core team behind UMA, and some top tier products built with it such as oSnap, Oval, and the Across protocol. The Risk Labs team, operates as one cohesive (amazing!) culture, but focuses on two core protocols, UMA and Across. UMA and Across are decentralized protocols governed by community members across the globe in DAOs, and are supported by Risk Labs Foundation. UMA’s optimistic oracle (OO) can record any verifiable truth or data onto a blockchain. Across is leading the future of interoperability with its frontier intents based architecture.

Your Impact?

We’re looking for a Sr. Product Manager – Protocol who thinks about interoperability as the most exciting unlock in crypto (and we agree!). You will be responsible for the core protocol and offchain infrastructure of Across’ frontier intents-based system, ensuring it is robust, scalable, and meets the evolving needs of the holistic product. As such, you will have heavy influence over the protocol’s strategic development, architecture, and the aligned integration within the broader Ethereum, L2 and L1 ecosystems.

Someone who will thrive in this role will be high-agency, and excited about the opportunity to be part of a growing product team. You’ll report to, and work alongside our head of product, and collaborate with a growing product team.

Responsibilities

• Protocol Strategy: Own the roadmap for the protocol team. Develop and defend strong opinions on what is important, balancing the needs of internal teams, adjacent product verticals, external partners, and the long-term health of the protocol.
• Architectural and Mechanism Design: Critically assess and make informed decisions on core areas of the protocol such as intent mechanism design, the evolution of our solver network, and innovations in intent auctions.
• Execution and Delivery: Own product development from conception to launch. This includes writing detailed and technical PRDs, managing a backlog, and making decisive priority calls between new features, architectural improvements, and technical debt.
• Ecosystem Collaboration: Work closely with key partners and initiatives within the Ethereum ecosystem, such as the Open Intents Framework and ERC-7683. You will be responsible for understanding and owning how these standards and frameworks should influence our protocol’s evolution.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with engineering, business development, and marketing to ensure the protocol roadmap is aligned with the broader company and product objectives and market needs.
• Data-Informed Decisions: Gather and analyze data on protocol performance, solver behavior, and market trends to inform your product strategy and justify your roadmap decisions.
• AI-First mindset: Leverage modern AI tooling to accelerate shipping without compromising quality; evaluate and suggest new tools/frameworks when advantageous.

Requirements

• 5+ years of product management experience, with a significant portion focused on technical or platform products.
• Deeply Technical: You must have a strong technical background and be comfortable discussing smart contract architecture, protocol-level mechanisms, and the trade-offs inherent in decentralized systems.
• Proven Web3 Experience: Successfully built and shipped protocols and products in the Web3 space. A deep understanding of DeFi, interoperability protocols, and the broader smart contract landscape is ideal.
• Execution-Oriented: A demonstrated ability to take ideas and turn them into shipped products. You are a pragmatist who knows how to get things done in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Strategic Thinker: An entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to form strong, well-reasoned opinions and the humility to update them with new information.
• Passion for the future of interoperability and a desire to be at the forefront of innovation in the space.

Compensation and Benefits

• Risk Labs’ pay packages include competitive salaries & substantial token options.
• Salaries are typically between $100-200k (USD), and your token allocation can grow with your voting rewards while you participate in the growing ecosystem.
• Philosophies for a culture that show we care: Take vacation when you need it, family care, training and development (just to name a few)
• 100% remote, which means we encourage you to create the work environment that you thrive in
• We are a globally distributed team and require all employees to have at least 3-4 hours of daily overlap with Eastern Standard Time (EST) to ensure seamless collaboration and communication. This allows us to work effectively across time zones while maintaining a strong team connection

Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. Risk Labs, the employing entity, is an equal opportunity employer and is dedicated to diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplaces. So, if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t perfectly align- we encourage you to apply anyways. We value you taking the chance. Risk labs will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Our values:

1. We value each individual’s right to economic freedom.
2. We value openness, honesty, and directness.
3. We value integrity.
4. We value iterative learning.
5. We value taking smart risks.
6. We value creating an environment where everyone “does their best work”.

Why do we love working at Risk Labs?

We are a group that’s aligned with the ethos of the crypto industry and doing our best to make an impact for the industry and world at large. You’ll succeed with Risk Labs if you’re a self-starter, kind, adaptable, and passionate about making an impact. Risk Labs is a values driven team that strives to create an environment where we can do our best work, and succeed. We’re building products that we believe in, and continuing to strive for innovation and growth. Both personally and professionally we support each other to create a happy, healthy, and inspired team vibe, so we can remain motivated to build things the world needs and loves. We take pride in the fact that we are at once family-friendly as well as nomad-friendly.

UMA’s optimistic oracle is a decentralized truth machine for Web3- yes, that’s a bold and very exciting statement. We’ve built a solid foundation, in terms of the team, the technology, and the products, and the road map ahead is one full of exciting technical challenges, growth, and telling our story to the world. Across is creating an interoperable world where DeFi is seamless with its intents based architecture. We’ve grown from an early bridge, to a market leader, and won’t stop innovating and building. We have big dreams, and a team excited to bring them to life.

Still want to know more?

• Our team blends a mix of highly-sought engineers, and a diverse business team to showcase their high quality tech. Our international and fast-growing team includes a diverse background of experiences and has drawn world class talent. We have a great network of supportive investors from groups like: Placeholder, Blockchain Capital, Bain Capital, Coinbase, Dragonfly… to name a few.
• Teammates take the time off that they need and support each other to be their best selves- we care about your wellness.
• You will not get bored with Risk Labs. We are constantly developing, building, experimenting and evolving. Yes we try to allow people to focus on their specific product areas, but things are always shifting and evolving. There’s no right answer and we’re all just doing our best!