Senior Cryptographer - Emerging Technologies

About The Role

Our team's mission is to make decentralized applications as easy to use as centralized applications. We contribute to the development of a few technologies to allow this, including chain signatures, chain encryption, decentralized domains and fast auth. The end user experience is what we care about and these technologies are a means to an end.

We are looking for an experienced cryptographer who ensures the things we’ve built are theoretically sound and well implemented. From there you’ll develop a formal model of what we have so that we can confidently iterate on it.

The team is run on the principle that the best decisions are made by the person closest to the problem. An ideal candidate is confident enough to express their opinions, to proactively get involved in designing things with the team and to own cross discipline projects when possible.

This role is open to people working 40%-100%, work hours are flexible and the position is remote.

What You'll Be Doing

• Apply advances in cryptography improving security, scalability, and decentralization of NEAR’s chain signatures
• Designing a sound model of how to do smart contract controlled chain encryption
• Designing applications of these new facilities, including decentralized identities, efficient content sharing and data availability
• Educating engineers on how the cryptography we’re implementing works
• Helping other teams solve their cryptography problems

What We're Looking For

• Knowledge and experience with Cryptography
• An ability to teach complex Mathematical/Cryptographic concepts to Engineers
• An ability to collaborate with a team to design a cross disciplinary product

We'd Love If You Have

• Proficiency in MPC protocols and techniques
• Formal verification (Lean, Coq, Agda, ect.)
• Expertise with Zero Knowledge Proofs
• Experience programming in Rust (or C++/Haskell)
• Experience Implementing Cryptography Algorithms
• Blockchain Experience (Ethereum, Solana ect.)

Here’s What Our Interview Process Looks Like

Our interviews take place via Zoom and typically consists of the following stages:

• Recruiter Call
• Hiring Manager Call
• 1st Round
  • Applied Cryptography Interview
  • Code Review Interview 
• Final Round
  • Cryptography Interview 
  • Pagoda Values Interview 

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $176,000 - $200,000. This reflects the minimum and maximum range across all US locations. This does not include bonus, incentives, or benefits.

The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: leveling, relevant skills, and work location. If you are based outside of the US, there are other geographic considerations that may impact your final compensation. Your recruiter can share more about the compensation and benefits applicable to your preferred location during the hiring process.