Decentralized Software Engineer

Job Description

BigchainDB is a leader in the blockchain space. We’re building a decentralized database and a data marketplace for the internet. Organizations use us to build applications that liberate personal data from centralized silos, that help artists & musicians feed their families, and to power their applications in IoT, supply chains, and AI.

If you are someone that loves to build things and cares deeply about the future of the internet and of society, we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• You will research, design, and implement decentralized database software & networks (BigchainDB & IPDB), and data marketplaces (Ocean Protocol)
• You will co-plan and co-design the product with your team in an agile, open-source development process

Skills and Experience

We don’t expect applicants to be an expert in everything listed below which is why we’ve separated the requirements into two tiers. We offer a collaborative work environment where the team shares experiences, ideas and lessons learned. The ideal candidate has experience with Python and distributed systems; loves to learn; and thrives working in a team environment.

Minimum Qualifications

• You have a Bachelor’s in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline; or equivalent practical experience
• You love Python, and have 3+ years of production experience; or you have crazy experience in distributed DBs and are willing to learn Python
• You have experience with distributed systems, backend development, and web-based tech
• You possess good communication skills; interacting with your team and others will be an integral part of your daily routine
• You are a creative, “make it happen” problem solver

Nice-to-haves

• You have a Master’s or PhD in distributed systems, or a related field
• You have engineered distributed databases, networking protocols, or large-scale transaction systems
• You’ve worked with: consensus protocols; Linked Data / Semantic Web; languages such as C, C++, Go, Rust, Haskell, Erlang, Clojure, Solidity
• As a bonus, we’d love to hear about cool stuff you’ve done with: new decentralization protocols and tech (Bitcoin, IPFS / libp2p / cid, Ethereum / EVM / Solidity, Tendermint / abci, Interledger, etc), asynchronous Python, container orchestration (Kubernetes, Swarm, Mesosphere, Fleet), databases (ORM, SQL, noSQL, newSQL; MongoDB, RethinkDB, Cassandra, CockroachDB, Riak, CouchDB)

We don’t expect you to be an expert in all of these. Rather, we’d love to see that you’re interested in them, perhaps know one or two as a starting point, and most importantly, that you’ll learn more about them as you grow with us professionally and personally.

BigchainDB & Benefits

We’re a tight-knit international team based in Berlin. We’re always building and shipping, but with an appreciation for the theoretical. We work closely with our users, technology partners, and engage with the global decentralization community on and offline.

From our very beginnings having a female cofounder: we are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We strongly encourage applications from women, transgender or non-binary people, people of colour, people with disabilities, or anyone traditionally underrepresented in tech.

Location: We’re in Berlin, Germany. If you don’t know much about Berlin, don’t fret. Almost all of us have immigrated here, from all over the world, from Canada to India, from Italy to USA. And we love it!

Immigration: We’ll hold your hand in the visa / immigration process, which is smooth and surprisingly fast.

Language: We speak English in the office. And in fact if you only speak English, you can easily get by in Berlin. (As is the case for many of our employees.)

Transit: We’re spoiled, Berlin has one of the best public transit systems in the world. Our office is near a major connection point of the train (S-Bahn), underground (U-bahn) and trams (no “bahn” for that one, sorry). Berlin also has safe bike lines all throughout the city; you can park your bike in the office (finally: see “Health benefits” ;) )

Working hours: The engineering team has a daily standup at 9.30am. In general we try to be around the office until 5pm. But if your 3yo has an event at the local kita, by all means, go! Or if you get on a roll and work late, then please, sleep in. Or if you wish to work from home now and then, that’s ok. We trust you to do your job, and doing your job is about getting the task done, not us looking over your shoulder.

Time off: Health first. Without health and happiness, what is left? So, our minimum paid leave per year is 25 days, plus statutory national holidays.

Health Benefits: Germany has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Some of the nation’s top university hospitals are here in Berlin. Many of us have a family doctor just down the street from our office. Berlin is also great for sports.

Parenting, Parental Leave: We love kids! And we recognize the time that parents need for their children’s’ well-being, not to mention their own well-being! So we want to give all the space in the world to new parents who wish to spend time with their children: mothers get fully paid maternity leave six weeks prior to birth and eight weeks after. In addition, there are 14 months of 2/3 paid leave, split between the parents according to the parents’ choice. And for general parental responsibilities that invariably come up, by all means, go attend to your child. We trust that you are a professional and know how to balance your time.

Professional and Personal Growth: BigchainDB is at the epicenter of blockchains + big data + AI, so if you’re not learning, then something’s wrong! We’ll be giving you opportunities to represent us speaking at conferences, hosting hackathons, writing, and more. Finally, we give you an annual €2000 budget that you choose as you wish to spend on books, personal conferences, and other things to grow yourself.

Amazing cool city. Did we mention, it’s Berlin?

Things work. Did we mention, it’s Germany?