Senior Cryptographer, Zero Knowledge - Research & Implementation

About The Role:

Pagoda is looking for a software engineer with experience building and maintaining cryptography and Zero-Knowledge projects. You will be the in-house expert on cryptography and Zero-Knowledge technology. You will initiate, implement, and lead a variety of projects in this area, including integrating the results of Zero-Knowledge research done by teams in the Near community into NEAR Protocol. Your work will have a major impact on the scalability and decentralization of NEAR Protocol.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Apply advances in cryptography and Zero-Knowledge technology to improve security, scalability, and decentralization of NEAR Protocol.
• Audit external ZK projects in the NEAR ecosystem and seek opportunities to integrate them into NEAR Protocol
• Act as a subject matter expert and provide consultation to internal and external teams on Zero-Knowledge technology

What We're Looking For:

• Knowledge and experience with cryptography
• Knowledge and experience with Zero-Knowledge
• Demonstrated experience writing well-structured, clean, maintainable code
• Ability to learn new languages, APIs and SDKs quickly
• Knowledge of Rust or other low-level language
• Strong communication and remote friendly working skills 
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related fields is a must

We'd Love If You Have:

• Open source contributions and previous or continued involvement in open source communities
• Familiarity with Ethereum development and related technologies (web3.js, ethers.js, etc)
• Familiarity with other crypto or blockchain technologies
• Experience working at a startup

Here’s What Our Interview Process Looks Like:

Depending on calendar availability, from the first stage to the final stage, we do our best to keep the entire process to under three weeks. Our interviews take place via Zoom and typically consists of the following stages:

• Internal Recruiter Call (30 to 45 minutes)
• Meet with the Hiring Manager (30-45 minutes)
• Technical Interviews (4 x 60 minutes) 
• Pagoda Values Interview (30 to 45 minutes)

Please let us know if you require any special requirements for your interview and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

Ideal Location For This Role

This is a fully remote role, so that your timezone matches or overlaps with our leadership for this role, you’ll ideally be located in Remote - US, North America, South America or, Europe.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $187,000 - $198,000. 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, we do have 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.