Protocol Engineer

Responsibilities

• Design and implement core protocol contracts and logic on both EVM and non-EVM chains, including message validators and data availability mechanisms.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop new system primitives and validate security assumptions.
• Own components throughout their entire lifecycle, from architecture and implementation to testing and deployment.
• Contribute to high-assurance engineering practices such as formal verification, invariant testing, fuzzing, and audit readiness.
• Investigate emerging cryptographic techniques to enhance trust minimization and scalability.
• Optimize protocol performance for gas-constrained environments, focusing on modularity and composability.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong smart contract development experience in Solidity or equivalent languages.
• Proven experience building protocol-level infrastructure, such as bridges, interoperability layers, or light clients.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems fundamentals and intuition regarding adversarial conditions in blockchain environments.
• Experience working with workflow engines.
• Ability to write clear, well-tested, and secure code with a focus on gas efficiency and upgradeability patterns.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience with blockchain technologies, smart contracts, and decentralized finance (DeFi).
• Experience with formal verification and simulation frameworks.

About the Company

LayerZero is building the future of omnichain interoperability. Founded in 2021, our vision is to create a community of cross-chain developers building dApps that are no longer constrained by individual blockchain capabilities. Through our generic messaging protocol, we enable builders to unify the power of individual blockchains into a seamless ecosystem. We are backed by leading investors including a16z, Sequoia, and Coinbase Ventures.