Founding Engineer

Founding Engineer

We are building the next generation of professional newsrooms through a decentralized protocol for independent journalism aiming to reverse the trend of polarization in media and coordinate a human-centric journalistic process at global scale.

Our mission is to support and promote the efficient exchange of information and ideas, optimizing humanity's ability to collaborate effectively.

The Founding Engineer role is central to our ability to achieve our mission. As one of our first full-time hires, your contributions will have a direct and meaningful impact on our growth trajectory from day one. If successful, you will play a central role in shaping the future of the global information landscape.

You will own the development, deployment, and maintenance of Aemula's backend and onchain infrastructure that powers our decentralized protocol and serves our user-facing platform. This is a strategic and deeply hands-on role encompassing the scalability of onchain systems, the efficiency of peer-to-peer content delivery, the security of open-source and community-governed software, and the implementation of data pipelines for LLM training and retrieval.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop, deploy, and maintain backend infrastructure for Aemula's platform and protocol
• Write, test, and deploy UUPS Upgradeable EVM smart contracts in Solidity
• Integrate various Web3 protocols and layer-2 EVM chains to optimize transaction efficiency
• Utilize graph-based data structures and algorithms to seamlessly power search and curation
• Design content standardization, embedding, and vector retrieval pipelines for LLMs
• Coordinate authentication, USDC onramps, and payout pools using EVM smart accounts
• Architect, scale, and manage infrastructure to ensure high availability and efficient service
• Contribute to code reviews and best practices to minimize tech debt while shipping fast

We value effectiveness over titles or credentials. If you have the skills and conviction, do not self-reject.

What we look for:

• A passion for the future of journalism, information integrity, and decentralized systems
• Excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Experience with Web3 frameworks, layer-2 EVM chains, and transaction optimization
• Familiarity with graph and vector-based data structures and algorithms
• Knowledge of peer-to-peer CDNs, encrypted storage, and secure key management
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science or a related field
• Strong programming skills in JavaScript, TypeScript, and Solidity
• A bias towards action, experimentation, and prioritizing the needs of end users
• Confidence working in ambiguity and creating structure where none exists

Languages: JavaScript, TypeScript, Solidity

Backend: Node.js, Express.js, Next.js

Data: Neo4j (Cypher), DynamoDB, Redis (cache & vector search), Graph Protocol (GraphQL)

Blockchain: Base, EVM, account abstraction (ERC-4337), UUPS upgradeability (ERC-1822)

Infrastructure & Storage: AWS EC2, KMS, Amplify, CloudFront, S3, IPFS, Piñata

Tools: Alchemy, Privy, Coinbase Developer Platform, Hardhat, Viem, GitHub, Claude Code

Full-Time | New York, NY | In-Office

$100,000 base salary

Substantial equity

As an early-stage company, we intentionally offer a compensation package weighted more heavily towards equity than cash. The below-market base salary for this role is accompanied with a substantial equity grant designed to give our earliest team members meaningful ownership in the company. We also offer the flexibility to exchange a portion of prospective cash compensation for additional equity.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Aemula is unable to provide employment visa sponsorship at this time.

If this opportunity excites you, apply by sending your resume and any relevant prior work (GitHub, portfolio, links, etc.) to View email address on click.appcast.io.

Interview Process:

We value your time, and we can leverage our ability to move quickly in our early stage. This process can progress as fast as candidate availability allows.

1. Application — A real human reviews and responds to all submitted applications
2. Virtual Screening Interview (30 mins) — Decision to progress made on the call
3. Technical Interview (1 hr) — Decision to progress made on the spot
4. Paid Work Trial (1 week/flexible) — Mutual assessment through real paid work on Aemula
5. Offer & Onboarding