Our client is looking for a Head of Cryptographic Engineering to join their team. They is a leading company in the crypto industry. They are designing and implementing different blockchains using Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, and permissioned BFT. They are leaders in the research field, with more than a hundred research papers published in the most influential cryptography conferences and journals (NDSS, ICDCS, EUROCRYPT, CRYPTO, SODA, ACM CCS, Financial Cryptography, ESORICS, S&P, Euro S&P, etc).

You will lead their team of applied cryptographers to implement the crypto primitives designed in collaboration with their Research division into the different blockchains we are developing. You will be at the forefront of cryptographic innovation, from zero-knowledge proofs to novel quantum cryptographic protocols.

Job Responsibilities

• Define short, mid, and long term roadmaps for implementation of cryptographic primitives
• Synchronize with the Director of Engineering (or, by default, the CTO) to validate the roadmap, requirements, and strategy for the cryptographic engineering team
• Interact and coordinate with research, engineering, and product management teams when cryptographic work is required
• Define and structure the team that is required to satisfy this roadmap
• Interview cryptography engineer candidates
• Manage a team of cryptographers, organize the development methodologies, and enforce the best practices defined by the engineering division
• Provide secure implementations of the cryptographic primitives required by IO projects
• Read and review cryptographic research papers and contribute when possible to implement them as prototypes
• Design, specify, implement, and improve cryptographic primitives in production-grade software directly or delegate to and supervise the applied cryptographers in charge of it
• Review, integrate, and improve common cryptographic primitives, and translate them to other programming languages or delegate/supervise the applied cryptographers in charge of it.

Ideal Candidate

• A Master’s or PhD degree such as computer science, software engineering, mathematics, or a related technical discipline
• Solid experience in managing small teams of cryptographic engineers
• Solid understanding of cryptography, its basic theories, and uses
• Senior expertise in developing cryptographic primitives in C/C++ and Rust
• Senior expertise in standard cryptography domains
• Ability to learn new domains like zero-knowledge proofs and MPC and project innovation roadmaps
• Clear understanding and experience of implementing cryptographic primitives delivered by researchers
• Experience with formal verification and security audits of cryptographic libraries
• Expertise in security best practices
• Experience with quick check or other property-based testing
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Interpersonal skills.