Senior Layer-1 Blockchain Engineer — Remote Impact

Placements24; Polokwane; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Competitive compensation

Health benefits

Remote work

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Blockchain Engineer for a fully remote startup role focused on building a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain. You will shape core protocol architecture, consensus, and cryptographic primitives to advance security, scalability, and decentralization.

The position emphasizes autonomy, asynchronous collaboration, and a results-driven culture, delivering robust blockchain systems from anywhere in the world.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Cryptography, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of software engineering, with at least 4 years on blockchain protocol development.
• Strong knowledge of distributed systems, networking, and consensus algorithms (PoW, PoS, BFT).
• Expertise in Rust, Go, or C++ and modern cryptographic primitives.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement core components of a Layer 1 blockchain protocol.
• Research and develop consensus algorithms and network protocols.
• Write secure, high-performance code in Rust, Go, or C++.
• Optimize performance, scalability, and security through testing and analysis.
• Collaborate with cryptography experts to integrate advanced techniques.
• Develop and maintain network infrastructure, including nodes and RPC endpoints.
• Participate in code reviews and troubleshooting of protocol issues.
• Contribute to protocol documentation and research papers.
• Stay updated on distributed systems and blockchain advancements.

Skills

Blockchain protocol

Rust

Go

C++

Distributed systems

Cryptography

Performance tuning

Problem solving

Communication

Research contributions

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science or Cryptography

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Senior Blockchain Engineer for a fully remote startup role focused on building a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain. You will shape core protocol architecture, consensus, and cryptographic primitives to advance security, scalability, and decentralization.

The position emphasizes autonomy, asynchronous collaboration, and a results-driven culture, delivering robust blockchain systems from anywhere in the world.