Protocol Engineer

King River Capital Group; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 165,000 - 276,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Protocol Engineer to work on core infrastructure for decentralized interoperability. This role involves designing protocol components, optimizing security and performance across different blockchain environments while contributing to high-assurance engineering practices. Ideal candidates possess strong smart contract experience and enjoy working in a collaborative technical team.

Benefits

Total compensation packages including equity

Full range of medical, financial, and other benefits

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong smart contract development experience in Solidity or equivalent.
• Previous experience with blockchain technologies, smart contracts, and decentralized finance a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement core protocol contracts on both EVM and non-EVM chains.
• Collaborate to develop new system primitives and validate security assumptions.
• Optimize for correctness and gas efficiency.

Skills

Smart contract development

Security models

Module development

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Job description

LayerZero

The Future is Omnichain.

Founded in 2021, LayerZero’s vision is to create a community of cross-chain developers, building dApps that are no longer constrained by individual blockchain capabilities. With LayerZero's simple, generic messaging protocol, builders will develop cross-chain dApps designed to unify the power of individual blockchains.

We are funded by the best investors in the world including:

a16z, Sequoia, PayPal, Binance Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Uniswap Labs, Circle Ventures, Delphi Digital, and many more.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Protocol Engineer, you'll work on the core infrastructure that underpins decentralized interoperability. You will design and implement core protocol components that operate across heterogeneous chains with rigorous security and performance constraints. You’ll be part of a deeply technical team working across LayerZero’s protocol and smart contract surface, contributing to novel cross-chain primitives and helping shape the architecture of systems used by some of the most demanding applications in Web3.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Design and implement core protocol contracts and logic on both EVM and non-EVM chains (e.g., message validators, data availability mechanisms, proof verification).
• Collaborate with various teams to develop new system primitives, validate security assumptions, and improve protocol robustness.
• Own components across their lifecycle: architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and iteration.
• Contribute to high-assurance engineering practices: formal verification, invariant testing, simulation frameworks, fuzzing, and audit readiness.
• Investigate emerging cryptographic techniques and novel designs to enhance trust minimization and scalability.
• Optimize for correctness and safety in gas-constrained environments, with an emphasis on upgradeability, modularity, and composability.
• Keep pace with changes across LayerZero-supported chains to ensure cross-chain compatibility and performance.

ABOUT YOU

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong smart contract development experience in Solidity or equivalent languages, with a focus on correctness, modularity, and gas efficiency.
• Have built protocol-level infrastructure: bridges, interoperability layers, state sync systems, light clients, or equivalent.
• Write clear, well-tested, and secure code and have strong opinions on security models and upgradeability patterns.
• Familiar with distributed systems fundamentals and have good intuition around adversarial conditions in blockchain environments.
• Experience working with workflow engines.
• Previous experience with blockchain technologies, smart contracts, and decentralized finance is a strong plus.

The base salary for this position ranges from $120,000/year up to $200,000/year. Salary is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. LayerZero is a total compensation company. Dependent on the position offered, equity, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

LayerZero Labs is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. LayerZero Labs is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, protected veteran status, disability, age, or any other legally protected status.