Lead Specialty Software Engineer (Protocol Engineer)

Salary: $145,600 - 166,400 per year Requirements: At least 5 years of Specialty Software Engineering experience, or equivalent experience demonstrated through work, training, military service, or education. At least 3 years of backend or systems programming experience, with expert-level proficiency in Go (Golang). At least 6 months of experience with elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC). At least 1 year of experience with BFT consensus algorithms, P2P networking, and state replication, including reliable distributed systems. Deep experience with Cosmos SDK and CometBFT, including building custom modules and modifying consensus logic. Experience with Pedersen commitments and their homomorphic encryption properties. Experience with zero-knowledge proofs, particularly Bulletproofs or Sigma protocols. Ability to interpret academic papers or preprints and translate mathematical specifications into working code. Experience with multi-party computation (MPC) or verifiable secret sharing (VSS) schemes. Familiarity with the Ristretto255 curve or cryptographic libraries such as gnark-crypto. Background in FinTech, payment systems, or high-frequency trading platforms. Understanding of account-model and UTXO-model trade-offs in privacy-preserving ledgers. Experience with YugaByte, Postgres, and/or Liquibase. The posting also lists at least 4 years of Specialty Software Engineering experience, or equivalent experience through work or consulting, training, military service, or education. Responsibilities: Architect and build a custom blockchain application using Go, Cosmos SDK, and CometBFT (Tendermint). Implement and optimize privacy-preserving cryptographic primitives, including Pedersen commitments and Bulletproof range proofs that require no trusted setup. Develop custom ABCI extensions, including PrepareProposal and Vote Extensions, to support an on-chain MPC mixing network. Design a custom KVStore state machine to manage homomorphically encrypted balances represented as elliptic-curve points rather than plaintext integers. Optimize cryptographic operations such as scalar multiplication and point addition for low latency and high throughput in a distributed environment. Build secure off-chain query layers and view-key mechanisms for granular, permissioned regulatory auditing. Consult on or contribute to moderately complex Specialty Software Engineering initiatives and deliverables, including large-scale planning. Review and analyze moderately complex engineering challenges, assessing relevant variables in depth. Help resolve moderately complex issues and work with others to meet engineering deliverables while applying knowledge of the function, policies, procedures, and compliance requirements. Collaborate with client personnel on Specialty Software Engineering work. Technologies: Architect Backend Blockchain Cryptography Golang Support Liquibase Network More: We are seeking a Lead Specialty Software Engineer (Protocol Engineer) for a next-generation digital asset platform focused on meeting strict regulatory requirements while protecting transaction confidentiality. In this role, you will help develop the platforms core settlement engine at the intersection of distributed systems and applied cryptography. The position is based in Concord, California, with a hybrid work arrangement, and is available on a W-2 basis. The listed pay range is $70–$80 per hour; compensation depends on factors including role scope, complexity, location, relevant skills, education, training, credentials, and experience. Full-time consultants have access to medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) contributions, and applicable paid time off, sick leave, and other legally required benefits. last updated 41 week of 2026