Specialty Software Engineer 3 - Contingent

Position: Blockchain / Protocol Engineer
Location: Iselin NJ
Duration: Contract
Job ID: 177733
Only W2

Are you passionate about blockchain protocols, distributed systems, and applied cryptography? We are seeking a Lead Protocol Engineer to help build a cutting-edge Digital Asset Platform focused on solving one of the biggest challenges in institutional finance-delivering regulatory compliance while preserving transaction confidentiality.

This role sits at the intersection of cryptography, blockchain infrastructure, and high-performance distributed systems, offering the opportunity to design and develop core protocol components from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities
Core Protocol Development

• Architect and develop a custom blockchain application using Go (Golang), Cosmos SDK, and CometBFT (Tendermint).
• Design scalable and secure protocol components for institutional-grade digital asset settlement.

Cryptographic Engineering

• Implement and optimize privacy-preserving cryptographic primitives including:
• Pedersen Commitments
• Bulletproofs (Range Proofs)
• Ensure cryptographic solutions operate without requiring a trusted setup.

Consensus & Distributed Systems

• Develop custom ABCI++ extensions including:
• Prepare Proposal
• Vote Extensions
• Build and support an on-chain Multi-Party Computation (MPC) mixing network.

State Machine Design

• Design and maintain custom KVStore state machines.
• Manage homomorphically encrypted balances using Elliptic Curve cryptography rather than traditional plaintext accounting models.

Performance Optimization

• Optimize cryptographic operations such as:
• Scalar multiplication
• Point addition
• Improve throughput, latency, and scalability across distributed environments.

Regulatory Auditing Infrastructure

• Develop secure off-chain query layers.
• Implement \"view key\" mechanisms enabling permissioned regulatory oversight while maintaining privacy.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of Software Engineering experience.
• 3+ years of backend or systems programming experience.
• Expert-level proficiency in Go (Golang).
• 1+ year of experience building reliable distributed systems.

Experience with:

• BFT Consensus Algorithms
• P2P Networking
• State Replication
• 6+ months of hands-on experience with Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC).
• Strong understanding of distributed architecture, performance optimization, and systems design.

Ideal Candidate:

• Deep interest in blockchain protocol development.
• Experience building low-level distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of applied cryptography and privacy-preserving technologies.
• Ability to translate mathematical concepts into production-grade software.
• Comfortable operating in highly complex, research-driven engineering environments.

Preferred Experience:

• Cosmos SDK
• CometBFT / Tendermint
• Blockchain protocol engineering
• MPC (Multi-Party Computation)
• Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP)
• Cryptographic protocol implementation
• Financial services, digital assets, or fintech platforms

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