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Job Description & How to Apply Below
Join to apply for the Cycles Cryptographer / Protocol Lead role at Informal Systems .
About Cycles
Cycles' mission is to clear the most debt, for the most people, with the least money. We’re building a privacy‑preserving on‑chain protocol to enable arbitrary finance to occur in the most capital‑efficient manner possible, by taking advantage of the liquidity saving effects of multilateral settlement. Cycles is an open clearing protocol that generalizes the capabilities of a clearing house while making them accessible to anyone.
This requires solving challenging protocol design problems at the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, security, scalability, payment and financial system design.
About the Role
We are looking for a Cryptographer and Protocol Lead to own the design, specification, and security of our protocol development. We take modern Shielded Pools (ZCash, Penumbra, Aztec) as our jumping off point, and have designed a first version of our Shielded Graph on top, which extends privacy from assets to past and future debts. The Cycles Protocol will underpin a host of new products that make the capabilities of clearing accessible across diverse user groups, from SMEs to multinationals, trading firms to clearing houses, municipalities to central banks.
These products aim to revolutionize how people and businesses interact with money, clearing, and payments.
The ideal candidates will have deep expertise in cryptography and privacy‑preserving protocols, and a passion for elegant protocol design and security. You will work closely with cross‑functional teams to deliver a scalable and secure protocol that powers transformative new products.
Responsibilities
Own our cryptography, proving, and protocol stack end‑to‑end
Lead design and implementation of new primitives and protocols
Write specs, develop security arguments, and apply formal methods (where applicable) to ensure soundness and security
Review, audit, and improve existing designs and system implementations for security, performance, and scalability.
Collaborate closely with product, engineering, and research teams: translate high‑level product requirements into rigorous protocol designs, and partner with engineering to bring them to life
Research new and emerging cryptographic techniques to advance performance,, developer experience, and scalability
Mentor the team by guiding engineers and running workshops and deep dives
Engage with the broader community: publish specs/papers, participate in protocol review cycles, open‑source contributions, and stay abreast of state‑of‑the‑art in cryptography and distributed systems.
Qualifications
Passion for bringing advanced cryptography to life through delightful products and elegant protocols
Degree in Cryptography, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field—with a strong publication track record in cryptographic protocols.
Deep expertise in cryptographic primitives and protocols (e.g., zero‑knowledge proofs, multiparty computation, shielded pool design, circuit design and optimization, etc.).
Hands‑on experience designing and implementing production‑grade cryptographic systems or protocols at scale, especially decentralized ones
Strong programming background (Rust) and familiarity with cryptographic libraries.
Strong ability to write clear specifications, define in variants, reason about correctness, and use formal specification tools where appropriate.
Ability to think both abstractly (protocol design, mathematics) and concretely (engineering trade‑offs, performance, system integration).
Excellent communication skills: you’ll articulate complex cryptographic ideas to diverse audiences (product, engineering, security, external partners).
Passion for pushing the boundaries on what's possible in security, privacy, decentralisation, and the future of cryptographic infrastructure.
Seniority level
Mid‑Senior level
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Engineering and Information Technology
Industries
Software Development
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