Engineer IV

Smart Contract Developer - Institutional DeFi Protocol Location: Remote - US only (preference for onsite/hybrid in LA) Compensation: $160K - $180K We are an on-chain financial infrastructure company backed by leading VCs, committed to upgrading financial markets through 24/7 instant settlement . Our first product is an institutional-grade smart contract protocol that facilitates interoperability and liquidity across tokenized financial assets and stablecoins. We are seeking a Smart Contract Developer to join our core engineering team and build the foundational infrastructure that bridges traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). This is a high-impact, hands-on role where you will design, develop, and deploy highly secure, robust smart contracts for our core protocol. You will architect on-chain logic, optimize gas efficiency, and ensure best-in-class security practices to enable institutional-grade DeFi operations. You will work within a small, senior team, collaborating closely with security auditors, product, and business stakeholders. Key Responsibilities: Smart Contract Development: Design, develop, test, and deploy secure smart contracts in Solidity for the core protocol, utilizing development frameworks like Foundry . DeFi Primitives: Implement complex DeFi primitives, including liquidity pools, cross-chain bridges, access control mechanisms, and institutional-grade financial logic. Protocol Architecture: Architect scalable, modular smart contract systems, designing upgradeable contract patterns and governance mechanisms for protocol evolution. Security & Auditing: Conduct thorough internal security reviews and work closely with external auditors to address findings, proactively identifying and mitigating potential vulnerabilities. Quality Assurance: Write comprehensive unit, integration, and fuzzing tests for all smart contract code, contributing to rigorous code reviews. Cross-Chain Work: Implement cross-chain messaging protocols and bridge integrations to enable multi-chain liquidity flows. Hands-On Engineering: Actively write and deploy smart contract code to mainnet and testnets, monitor deployed contracts, and troubleshoot issues in production environments. Experience: 3+ years of experience developing and deploying production-ready smart contracts in Solidity . Security Track Record: Proven track record of shipping secure, battle-tested contracts that handle significant value. EVM Expertise: Expert-level proficiency in Solidity and a deep understanding of the EVM . Security Knowledge: Strong knowledge of smart contract security best practices, common vulnerabilities (reentrancy, front-running), and mitigation strategies. Tooling: Proficiency with development frameworks such as Foundry and Hardhat , and testing tools (Echidna, Slither). DeFi Domain: Experience with DeFi protocols (AMMs, lending, yield aggregators) is highly preferred. Soft Skills: Maniacal attention to detail , clear communicator, strong problem-solving abilities, and an entrepreneurial mindset suited to early-stage environments. Preferred Experience (Nice-to-Haves): Familiarity with cross-chain protocols and bridge architectures. Familiarity with Web3 libraries (ethers.js, viem) for contract interaction. Knowledge of gas optimization techniques and upgrade patterns (proxy, diamond). Knowledge of Rust or other systems programming languages. Compensation: Competitive Base Salary + Equity upside , offering the chance to be an early builder of a transformative protocol. Impact: Help replatform financial markets by shaping the core liquidity layer for tokenized finance. Learning & Innovation: Work on real-world blockchain integrations powering institutional-grade capital flows . Team: Join a collaborative, mission-driven team of senior engineers backed by top investors. Due to the high volume of applications we anticipate, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback to all candidates.If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We genuinely appreciate your interest and wish you the best in your job search. Commitment to Equality and Accessibility: At MLabs, we are committed to offer equal opportunities to all candidates. We ensure no discrimination, accessible job adverts, and providing information in accessible formats. Our goal is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for all. If you need any reasonable adjustments during any part of the hiring process or you would like to see the job-advert in an accessible format please let us know at the earliest opportunity by View email address on click.appcast.io. 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