Head of Protocol

X-Team; United States; On-site; USD 230,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

X-Team is seeking a senior protocol architect to shape the future of DeFi infrastructure from design through mainnet deployment. You will lead architectural decisions, guide a top-tier engineering team, and ensure robust security across critical code paths and audits.

You will engage with governance bodies, external auditors, and ecosystem partners to advance protocol reliability, security, and scalable performance in a remote, US-based engagement.

Qualifications

• Extensive production experience designing, deploying, and maintaining high-stakes smart contracts.
• Proven ability to define clear onchain/offchain boundaries balancing decentralization, security, gas, and performance.
• Experience building, scaling, and mentoring high-performing protocol engineering teams.
• Security-first mindset with experience modeling failure scenarios, audits, and upgrades.
• Experience establishing guardrails for AI-assisted development with formal ownership.

Responsibilities

• Architect the protocol roadmap from design to mainnet deployment.
• Lead and develop a world-class protocol engineering team.
• Oversee security reviews, audits, and critical code paths.
• Represent Protocol Engineering in governance forums and with auditors.

Skills

DeFi & Smart Contract Mastery

Architectural Vision

Engineering Leadership

Embedded Security Rigor

Directed AI-Assisted Development

Job description

This role is a full-time engagement directly with the client. Fully remote. USA.

The Mission

Shape the future of decentralized finance by leading the core technical architecture, execution, and operating standards for a foundational smart contract and protocol stack. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will own the technical roadmap for a major lending and borrowing protocol, ensuring that security and execution quality are never compromised as we build the next generation of modular DeFi infrastructure.

The Role

As a leader, you will move comfortably between system design, smart contract implementation, security analysis, engineering management, and high-stakes product decisions. You will spend your time leading from the front: setting architectural direction, reviewing critical code, making difficult tradeoffs, and developing exceptional engineers.

• Architecture & Protocol Design (40%): Own the technical architecture for the protocol roadmap from design to mainnet deployment. Lead the design of modular lending/borrowing infrastructure, including liquidity architecture, collateral systems, market configurations, liquidations, and governance controls.
• Team Leadership & Engineering Standards (30%): Build, lead, and develop a world-class protocol engineering team. Establish rigorous engineering standards for smart-contract development, testing, code review, audit engagements, and operational readiness.
• Hands-on Security & Execution (20%): Remain hands-on in critical architecture reviews, key code paths, security decisions, audit remediation, and major protocol releases. Lead incident readiness, emergency controls, and response processes.
• Ecosystem & Governance Representation (10%): Serve as the senior technical counterpart to external auditors, infrastructure partners, and ecosystem contributors. Represent Protocol Engineering in governance forums, community calls, and technical AMAs.

The Must-Haves

• DeFi & Smart Contract Mastery: Extensive production experience designing, deploying, and maintaining high-stakes, secure smart contracts at scale.
• Architectural Vision: Proven capability defining clear boundaries between onchain and offchain systems—expertly balancing decentralization, security, gas costs, performance, and operational flexibility.
• Engineering Leadership: Experience building, scaling, and managing high-performing protocol engineering teams, with a track record of developing senior engineering talent.
• Embedded Security Rigor: A security-first mindset with deep experience modeling economic/technical failure scenarios, managing external audits, and executing disciplined protocol upgrades.
• Directed AI-Assisted Development: Experience establishing practical guardrails for the responsible use of AI-assisted development tools, ensuring speed gains never replace independent technical judgment, formal verification, or absolute code ownership.
• Location: Full-Time Employment (FTE), US-based (Remote).

The Bonus Skills

• Protocol Ecosystem Deep-Dive: Familiarity with major DeFi protocol stacks, lending/borrowing primitives, architecture history, and DAO governance mechanisms.
• Formal Verification: Practical experience implementing formal verification frameworks or advanced mathematical modeling for smart contract invariants.
• Advanced Cryptography: Exposure to or working knowledge of cutting-edge zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) or MEV mitigation strategies.
• High Accountability & Ownership: You act as a primary steward of the protocol, taking full accountability for systemic health, security, and long‑term maintainability.
• Rigor Under Pressure: You hold an uncompromising bar for quality and security, resisting the pressure to cut corners or rush deployments in a fast‑moving market.
• Strategic & Collaborative: You are an excellent partner to product, risk, and executive leadership, translating complex technical trade‑offs into clear, strategic decisions.
• Credible Communicator: You communicate clearly and with high technical authority to governance participants, developers, integrators, and security researchers alike.
• Continuous Improvement Mentor: You take pride in raising the collective bar of your team, fostering a culture of direct communication, thorough documentation, and relentless learning.