Distributed Systems Engineer

Flashbots; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Flashbots in New York seeks a Distributed Systems Engineer to lead the design and implementation of a cutting-edge distributed block-building system. You will tackle latency, privacy, fault tolerance, and incentives in a production-grade environment.

You will collaborate with researchers to build at the intersection of incentives and distributed systems, work on TEE Block Builder, SUAVE, and SUAPPS, and write high-quality, well-tested code.

Qualifications

• 4-10 years of hands-on experience building production-grade distributed systems.
• Proficient in Rust or Go and modern networking concepts.
• Extensive experience with end-to-end testing of distributed protocols.
• Strong understanding of availability, consistency, and latency trade-offs.
• Deep knowledge of fault-tolerant systems, including Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT).
• Open-source contributions or public technical discourse are valued.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development and scaling of Flashbots products (TEE Block Builder, SUAVE, SUAPPS).
• Design, build, and optimize distributed and fault-tolerant systems.
• Develop and refine networking layers and P2P protocols for high performance.
• Collaborate with researchers to integrate incentives and distributed systems insights.
• Maintain protocol services and developer tools within the Flashbots ecosystem.
• Write and maintain technical documentation and diagrams for public/internal use.
• Engage with the community and partner with leading crypto projects.
• Write high-quality, well-tested production-grade code.

Skills

Rust

Go

Distributed Systems

BFT

End-to-end Testing

Job description

About us Flashbots started in 2020 as a research and development organization formed to mitigate the negative externalities and existential risks posed by Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). Since then, we have had an immense impact on the world of crypto through mev-geth, Flashbots Protect, MEV-Boost, MEV-Share, our open research and soon-to-be SUAVE. Our mission is clear: illuminate, democratize, and distribute. We seek to ensure that the value created on decentralized, public blockchains is transparent and distributed. We do this by conducting cutting-edge research, building mission-critical products, and coordinating a diverse community with competing interests. Our vibe is astro-pirate-punk: irreverent, anarchic, excellent, autonomous. We’re explorers, hackers, builders, thinkers. We are relaxed, composed, and at ease in the world, but beneath our suave exterior, we do not have the time or inclination to be anything but the best.

About the role: Flashbots is searching for a Distributed Systems Engineer to lead the design and implementation of our distributed block-building system. This role is ideal for a proactive problem solver with a penchant for deep technical challenges, strong communication skills, and a builder mentality. You’ll be helping contribute to a cutting-edge distributed system, navigating nuanced trade-offs between latency, privacy, fault tolerance, and incentives.

What You’ll Do

• Contribute to the development and scaling of Flashbots products, specifically TEE Block Builder, SUAVE, and SUAPPS.
• Design, build, and optimize distributed and fault-tolerant systems
• Develop and refine networking layers and P2P protocols to ensure high performance and reliability.
• Collaborate with the best mechanism design researchers in the industry to build products at the intersection of incentives and distributed systems.
• Maintain and enhance protocol services and developer tools within the Flashbots ecosystem.
• Write and manage technical documentation and diagrams for public and internal use.
• Participate actively in the community and partner with leading crypto projects.
• Write high-quality, well-tested code that meets production-grade standards.

Who You Are

• 4-10 years of hands-on experience in building production-grade distributed systems, skilled in Rust or Go.
• Proven track record in designing scalable, high-throughput architectures.
• Extensive experience in end-to-end testing of consensus or distributed system protocols.
• Strong ability to navigate and optimize the trade-offs between availability, consistency, and latency.
• Deep understanding of fault-tolerant systems, including Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and other relevant models.
• You have contributed to open-source work/projects or participate in public technical discourse, such as contributing to protocol specifications.
• Capable of independently leading projects and unifying cross-functional teams through exceptional communication and collaboration skills.
• You bias towards finding problems to solve, rather than waiting for issues to pile up.
• Flexible, accountable, and focused on high-impact solutions.
• T-Shaped skills

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Ethereum node clients or adjacent software (indexer, p2p overlay).
• Worked with Solidity or other smart contract languages.
• Experience in modeling distributed systems using libraries like TLA+.
• Strong OSS blockchain projects/contributions in Ethereum projects.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development and scaling of Flashbots products, specifically TEE Block Builder, SUAVE, and SUAPPS.
• Design, build, and optimize distributed and fault-tolerant systems
• Develop and refine networking layers and P2P protocols to ensure high performance and reliability.
• Collaborate with the best mechanism design researchers in the industry to build products at the intersection of incentives and distributed systems.
• Maintain and enhance protocol services and developer tools within the Flashbots ecosystem.
• Write and manage technical documentation and diagrams for public and internal use.
• Participate actively in the community and partner with leading crypto projects.
• Write high-quality, well-tested code that meets production-grade standards.

Requirements

• 4-10 years of hands-on experience in building production-grade distributed systems, skilled in Rust or Go.
• Proven track record in designing scalable, high-throughput architectures.
• Extensive experience in end-to-end testing of consensus or distributed system protocols.
• Strong ability to navigate and optimize the trade-offs between availability, consistency, and latency.
• Deep understanding of fault-tolerant systems, including Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and other relevant models.
• You have contributed to open-source work/projects or participate in public technical discourse, such as contributing to protocol specifications.
• Capable of independently leading projects and unifying cross-functional teams through exceptional communication and collaboration skills.
• You bias towards finding problems to solve, rather than waiting for issues to pile up.
• Flexible, accountable, and focused on high-impact solutions.
• T-Shaped skills

Tech stack

• Blockchain
• Rust
• Distributed Systems
• Ethereum
• Go