Lead Smart Contract Engineer - Solana

ZipRecruiter; Los Angeles (CA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading blockchain technology company is seeking a Lead Smart Contract Engineer to architect and implement Solana programs that power on-chain products. This role involves mentoring junior developers and managing the lifecycle of various programs. The ideal candidate will have significant experience with Rust and Solana protocols, with a strong emphasis on security and testing in a high-ownership, remote-first environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer, including 2+ years with Solana programs.
• Successful launch of Solana protocols and passing third-party audits.
• Deep knowledge of the Solana Program Model and common attack vectors.

Responsibilities

• Design and architect Solana programs and account structures.
• Implement high-performance programs in Rust using the Anchor framework.
• Manage program lifecycle and ensure stable account data layouts.

Skills

Software engineering

Solana programs

Rust programming

Testing culture

Technical writing

Tools

Anchor framework

solana-cli

@solana/web3.js

Job description

Job DescriptionJob Description

Blockchain is eating the world of financial services and payments. Over the next 10 years, money, payments, and banking will move to blockchain-based networks.

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We’re accelerating this transition. We’re building a global financial ecosystem enabled by this technology. One that advances financial access and opportunity, and reduces costs around sending and receiving money. We started with our flagship stablecoin, AUSD, as an SPL Token, and are building across the infrastructure and application layers to change the way the world transfers value.

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Our team has deep roots in this space, and we’re looking for people who share in our mission to create a more inclusive and effective financial system. Come join us.

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The Role

As our first Lead Smart Contract Engineer, you’ll architect, implement, and own the lifecycle of the Solana programs that power our next- on-chain products. You’ll partner closely with the CTO and mentor junior developers while driving both greenfield protocol launches and iterative upgrades of production programs.

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What You’ll Do

• Design architect Solana programs and their on-chain account structures from ideation to mainnet.

• Implement test high-performance programs in Rust using the Anchor framework.

• Own deployments across Solana clusters (mainnet-beta, devnet, testnet) and manage the program lifecycle.

• Maintain upgrade existing programs: oversee Solana's upgradeability, manage Program Derived Addresses (PDAs), and ensure stable account data layouts across versions.

• Harden security: write comprehensive unit and integration tests, run static analyzers, coordinate external audits, and remediate findings.

• Collaborate daily with frontend and product to ship end-to-end DeFi features on Solana.

• Mentor lead: set best practices for junior Rust/Anchor engineers and help shape our on-chain architecture roadmap.

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Who You Are

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer, with 2+ years of hands-on experience architecting and deploying Solana programs in Rust.

• Successfully launched Solana protocols through to mainnet-beta and ensured the underlying programs have passed third-party audits.

• Deep knowledge of the Solana Program Model, the Sealevel runtime, Program Derived Addresses (PDAs), account validation, and common Solana-specific attack vectors (e.g., account confusion, missing ownership checks, type cosplay).

• Proficiency with the Anchor framework,& solana-cli, and& @solana/web3.js.

• Comfortable with Solana's Cross-Program Invocation (CPI) model and familiar with cross-chain communication protocols like Wormhole.

• Strong testing culture—unit, integration, and fuzz tests baked into CI pipelines.

• Excellent written verbal communication; you’re able to write concise technical specifications and audit reports.

• Ability to thrive in a high-ownership, fast-moving startup environment and set technical direction.

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How We Work

• Remote‑first; asynchronous and written communication.

• Opinionated, test‑oriented development culture.

• Fast iteration cycles with continuous deployment.

• High ownership and autonomy.

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Why Us?

• High impact, high ownership: You’ll be the go-to architect for all on-chain logic.

• DeFi at scale: Work on programs that secure significant TVL within the Solana ecosystem.

• Security-first culture backed by an audit budget and time for deep testing.

• Remote-first flexibility with periodic team offsites.

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Location

Remote - Based in EST to CET timezone