Protocol Engineer

Protocol Engineer — Verifiable Execution InfrastructureAIMB-X Labs — AIMB-X Proof Gateway | Full-time or contract-to-hire | RemoteABOUT AIMB-X LABSAIMB-X Labs researches and builds infrastructure for verifiable decentralized execution. Our technical direction brings together blockchain protocols, deterministic policy enforcement, cryptographic evidence, AI-assisted coordination, interoperability, and operational assurance.We're developing Proof Gateway: an execution boundary for autonomous systems. An AI agent or application can propose a blockchain action, but it cannot authorize itself — the gateway evaluates explicit policy constraints, creates cryptographic evidence for approved decisions, and requires independent on-chain verification before execution. AI proposes, deterministic policy evaluates, cryptographic evidence authorizes, the network executes.Our current implementation uses EIP-712 signed attestations. We describe those accurately and do not market them as zero-knowledge proofs. Proof Gateway is an early-stage research and development project — not currently a production custody product, an audited protocol, or a zero-knowledge proof system. We want engineers who value accurate technical claims and measurable evidence over hype.THE ROLEYou'll help turn an early protocol foundation into a defensible local implementation and, later, a controlled Avalanche Fuji pilot. This role spans Solidity, typed-data authorization, protocol-state modeling, backend integration, adversarial testing, and operational security.You'll be expected to challenge assumptions, define invariants, and explain what the system does not guarantee. We value engineers who can reduce a protocol to its critical trust boundaries and prove those boundaries through clear code and tests.RESPONSIBILITIES• Design and harden EVM smart contracts governing policy-authorized execution• Define attestation, nonce, expiry, signer-rotation, revocation, and replay semantics• Review EIP-712 domain separation and message encoding across TypeScript and Solidity• Build adversarial contract and integration tests• Connect server-side decisions and signatures to on-chain execution receipts• Maintain an auditable relationship between policy versions, evidence, signatures, transactions, and events• Analyze reentrancy, external-call, balance, timestamp, governance, and failure behavior• Contribute to PostgreSQL evidence and protocol-state models• Design safe local and testnet deployment workflows• Produce threat models, architecture decisions, runbooks, and honest readiness assessments• Collaborate on future proof-system and interoperability research without overstating incomplete work• Participate in security reviews and incident/failure exercises before public deploymentREQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS• Strong Solidity and EVM fundamentals• Practical experience testing smart contracts with Hardhat, Foundry, or equivalent tooling• Clear understanding of ECDSA signatures, EIP-712 typed data, replay protection, and domain separation• Experience reasoning about contract state transitions, access control, external calls, and failure modes• Proficiency in TypeScript and Node.js backend development• Ability to build negative and adversarial tests, not only happy-path tests• Ability to write concise technical documentation and threat models• Careful handling of private keys, secrets, and deployment configuration• Comfort reviewing an incomplete system and prioritizing the highest-risk workPREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS• Experience with OpenZeppelin cryptography and access-control libraries• Experience deploying or operating contracts on Avalanche or another EVM network• Familiarity with KMS/HSM-backed signing and key-rotation procedures• Experience with transaction simulation, relayers, account abstraction, multisig, or policy engines• Knowledge of formal methods, fuzzing, invariant testing, or symbolic execution• Familiarity with zero-knowledge proof systems and the ability to distinguish precisely what a circuit proves• Experience with protocol observability, incident response, and operational readiness• Experience auditing or responding to smart-contract vulnerabilitiesCURRENT STACKSolidity 0.8.x, EIP-712 and ECDSA, Next.js, React, and TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Viem, Hardhat local development environment, Avalanche Fuji (planned first controlled testnet).WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKEFirst 30 days: understand the current policy, evidence, and attestation model; produce a prioritized protocol-risk assessment; harden the local gateway and expand adversarial coverage; complete a reliable local execution and receipt workflow.First 60 days: define signer rotation, revocation, ownership, and recovery semantics; improve backend authorization and race-free policy-limit enforcement; establish deployment, monitoring, and rollback procedures; prepare a controlled Fuji deployment plan.First 90 days: deliver a reviewed Fuji pilot with test evidence; integrate operational telemetry; participate in failure, pause, recovery, and key-rotation exercises; define requirements for independent security review and the next protocol milestone.COMPENSATION AND LOGISTICS• Rate: $60–85/hr, depending on experience• Commitment: 30+ hrs/week, with meaningful overlap with the core engineering team• Engagement type: full-time or contract-to-hire• Equity/tokens: none• Benefits: this is a contract-style engagement without a traditional benefits package (no health insurance, PTO stipend, etc.); the role is fully remote• Location: remote, open globallyHOW WE EVALUATE CANDIDATESQualified candidates complete a paid technical assessment — $50/hr for a genuine, completed submission, paid regardless of the outcome as long as real work is submitted. It's local-infrastructure-only, expected to take 6–8 hours, and asks you to harden an early protocol, add adversarial tests, complete one local execution, and document residual risk honestly. Work is submitted as a GitHub Pull Request against a private repository you're invited to as a collaborator — you're not expected to paste code or a full write-up into the initial screening conversation. We weigh reasoning and correctness more heavily than feature count.Screening for this role is assisted by an AI chatbot that has an initial conversation with you about your background and the role, then coordinates the technical assessment. A human on our team makes every final hiring decision — the AI does not reject or approve candidates on its own, only helps route the process.HOW TO APPLYUse company website's career page[https://aimb-x.com/careers]. Please include:• A brief explanation of a protocol or smart-contract system you designed, reviewed, or operated• One example of a security assumption you challenged• Links to relevant code, audits, technical writing, or research when available• Your location, availability, preferred engagement model, and compensation expectationsWe will never ask you to send private keys, confidential client material, proprietary source code, or to pay for assessment access, software, or equipment.