Protocol Research Lead at Scroll.io

Scroll is a globally distributed team focused on improving Ethereum while maintaining decentralization and transparency. As a zkEVM-based zkRollup on Ethereum, Scroll provides native compatibility for existing Ethereum applications and tools. The platform aims to provide the best experience for developers and users through scalability, EVM equivalence, and security. Scroll's vision and values are centered around empowering humanity, building in the open with the community, and fighting for decentralization and censorship resistance. Scroll is looking for values-aligned individuals to help them become the most developer- and user-friendly scaling solution for Ethereum. To learn more about their mission, technical challenges, and available roles, visit their website, Twitter, Discord, or jobs page.

We are looking for a Protocol Research Lead to join and take over the leadership of our research team. Building a truly secure, scalable, and decentralized zero-knowledge rollup requires considerable research work, including solving many open problems around protocol and mechanism design.Your day-to-day work as a researcher at Scroll will involve conducting research on Ethereum and layer 2 design. This research will need to cover a very large scope including rollup economics, state growth, EVM, MEV, PBS, AA, Layer 3, etc.We are looking for somebody with a deep understanding of protocol research as well as basic coding ability, who can directly contribute to research whilst leading and building a team of other world class researchers.About Scroll…Scroll is building an open source, bytecode level compatible zkEVM layer 2 solution for Ethereum. Our mission is to scale Ethereum while maintaining our values of credible neutrality, openness, and execution.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead and continue the build of a world class research team at Scroll.
• Manage a small but growing globally distributed research team whilst directly contributing with your own research.
• Represent and present for Scroll at conferences and events.
• Survey existing layer 2 and Ethereum protocols through code and papers.
• Propose new designs and optimizations for our layer 2 protocol.
• Propose new designs and optimizations for Ethereum (i.e. propose layer 2 related EIPs).
• Explore new research directions (i.e. EVM, MEV, PBS, AA, Layer 3, etc).
• Output high quality content (i.e. talk, blog post, research post).
• Keep the engineering team up to date with the latest ideas in protocol research.
• Establish collaborations with universities and external researchers to solve open problems.

Required Skills and Experience

• 3+ years of experience in a research role within crypto / web3.
• 1+ years of experience leading a team of at least 2+ researchers.
• Familiarity with Layer 2 and Ethereum infrastructure.
• Ability to read and write academic papers, understand and propose EIPs.
• Ability to present and explain cutting-edge crypto research to engineers clearly.
• Experience in blockchain infrastructure development or cryptography preferred.
• Fluency in Golang, Rust, C++, or similar languages. We work primarily in Golang and Rust, but prior experience is not mandatory.

About You

• You are directly aligned with our values of building with community, openness, credible neutrality.
• You have a strong interest in decentralized system and open source collaboration.
• You are responsive, collaborative and mission-led person with a high work ethic
• You are able to work autonomously, at pace with weekly 1-2-1s
• You are a good communicator who can articulate their views succinctly on calls or asynchronously

What We Offer

• A mission-led, collaborative culture
• Opportunity to work with cutting edge technology and like-minded people who are contributing to the progression of Ethereum
• Competitive salary package / generous paid time off / annual growth budget
• Remote from any location with flexible hours
• Home office set up / co-working membership allowance
• Private healthcare in selected countries