Founding Protocol Engineer - Prover Network

Remote; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in blockchain technology is seeking a seasoned Protocol Engineer to design and implement core components, focusing on optimized communication between clients and GPUs. This role is pivotal to shaping the protocol and encourages innovation while offering a collaborative environment with excellent benefits.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Equity

Full healthcare coverage

Learning stipends

Collaborative team environment

Qualifications

• Expertise in Rust (~4 years) with advanced concepts like generics and memory management.
• Experience with property testing and fuzzing.
• Ability to work independently on complex problems.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement core components of Prover Network.
• Lead implementation and collaborate on protocol design.
• Shape protocol and company culture while setting technical standards.

Skills

Protocol engineering aspects

Rust

Benchmarking and testing frameworks

Communication

Job description

Job Title: Protocol Engineer

Prover Network is developing the infrastructure necessary to meet the increasing demands for proof generation, due to the increasing popularity of zero-knowledge proofs. While proof generation is time-consuming for end users, proof generation for industrial provers requires deploying power-hungry GPUs, making the process costly. Prover Network aims to create a platform for easy delegation of proving tasks.

We are seeking a seasoned Protocol Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will design and implement core components of Prover Network, including optimized communication between clients and GPUs, and the consensus protocol. You will collaborate closely with Dr. Rao on design and lead the implementation, while building out the necessary team.

As an early team member, you will help shape our protocol and company culture, setting technical standards and contributing to the future of verifiable delegation of computation. This role offers the autonomy to influence the platform's evolution and the opportunity to solve complex problems in a rapidly evolving space, expanding your skills and growing with the company.

Job Requirements

• Deep familiarity with protocol engineering aspects
• Expertise in Rust (~4 years), including advanced concepts such as generics, lifetimes, memory management, and concurrency
• Experience with benchmarking and testing frameworks (e.g., property testing, fuzzing)
• Ability to work independently on open-ended problems
• Strong sense of responsibility and autonomy

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Interest in zero-knowledge proof-based blockchain systems
• Experience writing smart contracts
• Knowledge of cryptography fundamentals (hash functions, finite fields)
• Passion for open-source software and learning
• Interest in privacy

Benefits include a competitive salary, equity, full healthcare coverage, learning stipends, and the chance to work with a talented, collaborative team dedicated to innovation and positive impact. Our culture emphasizes mutual respect, empathy, learning, and growth.