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Senior Protocol Researcher

Remote, Seattle, Washington, United States

Eigen Labs is more than just a leading name in the blockchain space. We’re the driving force behind EigenLayer, a game-changing solution that revolutionizes crypto-economic security. Imagine a world where blockchain projects break free from the shackles of the scaling trilemma and capital limitations.  In today's blockchain ecosystem, each service is typically secured by its own tokenized trust-network. With EigenLayer, services can build upon the established security of the Ethereum trust network, unlocking untold scalability while maintaining security and decentralization.

Enter EigenDA: Provisioning data availability is one of the key components for scaling blockchains, and specifically Layer2 rollups. EigenDA is a secure, high throughput, and decentralized data availability (DA) service built on top of Ethereum using the EigenLayer restaking primitive. Developed by Eigen Labs, EigenDA is the first actively validated service (AVS) to launch on EigenLayer. Restakers will be able to delegate stake to node operators performing validation tasks for EigenDA in exchange for service payments, and rollups will be able to post data to EigenDA in order to access lower transaction costs, higher transaction throughput, and secure composability across the EigenLayer ecosystem.

With EigenLayer, building blockchain infrastructure modules (AVSs) in a permissionless manner is no longer a hypothetical—it's our reality. Now, we invite you to be part of this exciting journey.

The Role

This role represents an opportunity to drive the future of our protocol security and design. This role combines cutting-edge cryptographic research with practical implementation, requiring someone who can think both theoretically and pragmatically. You'll work on challenging problems in mechanism design, game theory, and protocol security while having a direct impact on the protocol's evolution. The position offers significant autonomy in research direction while collaborating with top minds in the field. As we expand our protocol capabilities, you'll be instrumental in ensuring we maintain the highest security standards while pushing the boundaries of what's possible in distributed systems. If you're looking to collaborate with a talented team of engineers, driving innovation and inventing groundbreaking technologies, we look forward to hearing from you! 

What You Will Do

  • Advance the protocol’s data availability sampling, decentralization of dispersal, and operator set management capabilities.
  • End-to-end protocol design and implementation oversight
  • Security review process for protocol updates
  • Research roadmap for protocol improvements
  • Collaboration with external security auditors
  • Technical documentation and specifications
  • Mentorship of junior protocol researchers

What You Bring

  • PhD in Computer Science or related technical field (e.g., physics or mathematics)
  • Background in distributed systems or cryptography research labs
  • Proven ability in protocol design and blockchain systems architecture
  • Incentive/mechanism design experience
  • Adversarial thinking and security analysis 
  • Game theory and economic modeling
  • Strong mathematical foundation in computer science

Bonus

  • Prior research experience with industry leading cryptography/blockchain projects 

The target base salary for this role will range between $190,000 to $225,000. This is determined by a few factors including your skillset, prior relevant experience, quality of interviews and market factors at the point in time of offer. Other rewards may include short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition, Eigen Labs provides various employee benefits, including:

US Benefits

  • Competitive salary and equity (tokens and options)
  • Comprehensive insurance (medical/dental/vision)
  • Paid parental leave
  • Stipend for your ideal remote set-up
  • Flexible hours and a supportive remote environment
  • Unlimited vacation: Take time when you need it (and we really mean it!)
  • 401(k) retirement plan
  • Monthly wellness benefit
  • Yearly off-sites

If hired outside of the US through an EOR, benefits will be offered based on specific country requirements and EOR offerings.

Equal Opportunity Employment

There's one more, very important thing. We are an equal opportunity employer. We search for amazing people of diverse backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives. We take care of each other to create an inclusive work environment where we love to come to work every day. We hope you can join us.

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