Senior Protocol Engineer

Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship (ex., H-1B transfer) of employment visas at this time, and applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the US or Canada.

Role Overview:

As a Protocol Engineer, you’ll be responsible for building the core features of our Rust-based, VM-less Layer 2, built on Reth and inspired by Vitalik’s “keystore rollup” design. You will play a critical role in defining the technical foundations of Newton Keystore Rollup, architecting systems that are performant, secure, and scalable.

This is a hands-on, high-impact engineering role where you’ll work cross-functionally with product, infrastructure, and security teams to align technical execution with real-world use cases. You’ll drive projects from zero to one, solve complex protocol-level challenges, and help shape the future of self-custody and account abstraction.

Key Responsibilities:

Protocol Engineering & Architecture

• Architect and ship foundational protocol components in Rust for our custom execution layer.
• Own end-to-end implementation: translate ambiguous product ideas into precise technical plans, timelines, and deliverables.
• Debug hard issues across layers—performance bottlenecks, consensus bugs, and security flaws.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Collaborate with our product, infra, and security teams to ensure the protocol aligns with user needs and strategic goals.
• Maintain a high standard of code quality, documentation, and testing through design reviews and mentorship (no direct reports).

Research & Innovation

• Explore and implement modern scaling techniques, from data availability to account abstraction.
• Stay current on Ethereum fundamentals and zk/Rollup innovations to inform protocol decisions.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years of backend or distributed systems experience, with 4+ years focused on blockchain client/protocol development.
• 4+ years writing production-grade Rust.
• Deep familiarity with Ethereum execution clients (Reth, Geth): profiling, extending, and debugging at the internals level.
• Proven track record owning high-throughput, low-latency distributed systems or L2 stacks.
• Strong foundation in Ethereum architecture: P2P, blocks, Merkle trees, tx pools, etc.
• Security-first mindset with experience threat-modeling wallets and bridging flows.
• Highly self-directed, thrives in environments with evolving priorities and high ownership.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills; works well in fast-paced, collaborative teams.
• Location: Pacific Time zone ( Bay Area preferred but not required)

Nice-to-Haves :

• Experience guiding an L1/L2 roadmap or driving EIPs/RFCs.
• Familiarity with zkVMs (e.g., SP1, Risc0) and building Rust-based zk circuits.
• Contributions to open-source crypto or distributed-systems projects.
• Knowledge of account abstraction tools (Bundlers, Paymasters) and solver-based cross-chain designs.
• Deep understanding of smart contract best practices and onchain security patterns.

Why you’ll love working with us:

• Remote-first culture with flexible working hours
• Competitive salary with stock options
• 99% company-paid medical*, dental and vision insurance; 100% company-paid life and disability insurance
• 401(k) plan* (US) or pension plan (CAN)
• $3,600 annual reimbursement for remote work, wellness and professional development
• Flexible time off
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• Family planning and reproductive health benefits, including up to $5,000 reimbursement, through Maven*

*Benefits available to US employees only. Canada healthcare coverage differs.

Salary Range:

US: $ $200k-$250k
CAD $170k-$220k