Protocol Researcher

What are we all about?

We are a team of builders and researchers on a mission to empower enterprises and developers worldwide to access and build on decentralized systems.

Our expertise covers several domains: Ethereum and Starknet protocol engineering, layer-2, cryptography research, protocol research, decentralized finance (DeFi), security auditing, formal verification, real-time monitoring, smart contract development, and dapps and enterprise engineering.

Working to solve some of the most challenging problems in the blockchain space, we frequently collaborate with renowned companies, such as Ethereum Foundation, Starknet Foundation, Gnosis Chain, Flashbots, Forta Protocol, Lido, EigenLayer, Open Zeppelin, RISCZero, Aleph Zero, and many more.

Today, we are a 350+ strong team working remotely across 66+ countries.

View all our open positions here: https://www.nethermind.io/open-roles

About Switchboard

Our focus is on building a preconfirmation platform to unlock near-instant confirmations for users on Ethereum L1, based rollups, and beyond. We are putting together a highly-motivated team of builders and researchers to develop, test, and innovate with. As a Nethermind product team, we will have access to Nethermind’s wealth of expertize, both as an industry leader in product development.
https://switchboard.nethermind.io/

Are you the one?

An ideal candidate is a researcher who actively participates in debates about L1 and L2 designs, systemic risks, and consensus algorithms by writing academic papers, blog posts, or forum entries.

Candidates should be able to work in a distributed research team, express their research ideas clearly, and know how to argue their findings formally. We value candidates who are entrepreneurial and self-motivated.

Responsibilities:

As a protocol researcher, you will be expected to:

• Formally analyze and test existing protocol designs.
• Provide well-formed solutions, both theoretical and practical, for any issues that arise.
• Innovate and add value to the current design, with scope and encouragement to extend this to any related protocols.
• Coordinate and communicate protocol design choices with the engineering team.
• Participate actively in preconfirmations related discourse, tracking new publications and projects in the area.
• Publish articles, blog-posts, and Twitter threads disseminating your findings on behalf of the company.

Skills:

• A strong understanding of distributed protocol design, particularly a demonstrable ability to identify the trade-offs faced by protocols when deployed on blockchains.
• Knowledge of different consensus algorithms (e.g., Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance) and their implications on preconfirmation techniques.
• Understanding of the security models applicable to preconfirmations, including potential attack vectors and mitigation strategies.
• Familiarity with Ethereum: how it works and why.
• Familiarity with various designs of L2s.
• Familiarity with game-theoretic principles that underpin the strategic interactions of blockchain participants.

Nice to have:

• Knowledge about cryptography.
• Published work in relevant fields, including blog posts, and forum posts.

Join us and be part of an exciting new chapter in the blockchain space, with the added opportunity to gain equity benefits in our innovative spinoff venture.