Who are we?
IOG, is a technology company focused on Blockchain research and development. We are renowned for our scientific approach to blockchain development, emphasizing peer-reviewed research and formal methods to ensure security, scalability, and sustainability. Our projects include decentralized finance (DeFi), governance, and identity management, aiming to advance the capabilities and adoption of blockchain technology globally.
What the role involves:
As an Applied Cryptographer, you must have advanced experience with cryptographic applications in real world settings as well as the ability to efficiently implement advanced cryptographic schemes. You have the exciting challenge of working on bleeding-edge research and technology, always with a focus on the market's needs. You will work side by side with architects and engineers implementing novel cryptographic primitives that you may have also designed yourself. The scope is everything from Post-Quantum prototypes to hand-optimisation of existing primitives to completely new systems. To support you on this challenge, we have cryptography researchers, software architects, product managers, project managers, formal methods specialists and QA test engineers, with whom you will have high bandwidth communications.
You must possess a pragmatic mindset for building secure, scalable systems, knowing how to balance features, compromise, technical debt and effort, in order to get products shipped whilst their market impact is high.
- Extract requirements from product and engineering regarding cryptographic primitives such as parameters, resource constraints, etc.
- Lead and contribute to novel cryptographic research aligning solutions with product and engineering needs.
- Translate research output into rigorous engineering specifications & implementations.
- Prototype, benchmark, and implement cryptographic systems and primitives.
- Meticulously review cryptographic protocols and proposed primitives.
- Contribute to peer-reviewed publications.
- Collaborate in weekly innovation, engineering, and research meetings to share insights and drive progress.
- Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives to enhance team-wide understanding and the application of cryptographic technologies.
Who you are:
- PhD in Computer Science/Engineering or Applied Mathematics.
- A minimum of 4-5 years development experience in the field
- Experience working with Git and version control
- Expert knowledge of applied cryptography & best practices
- Expert knowledge of elliptic curve cryptography and ZK protocols (e.g., PlonK and IPA commitment schemes)
- Expert knowledge of post quantum security technologies
- Familiarity with blockchain cryptography, consensus protocols and constructions
- Practical experience with implementation of cryptographic primitives
- Expertise in low-level programming languages such as C++ or Rust
- Expertise in rigorous design of cryptographic protocols
- Good understanding of implementation and engineering constraints
- Excellent technical communication and team collaboration skills, enabling effective cross-functional work between research, innovation, and engineering teams.
- Security sensibility related to cryptographic implementation
- Excellent theoretical cryptography and mathematical knowledge
- Ability to read, interpret, and explain cryptographic papers, guiding their practical implementation.
Are you an IOGer?
Do you find yourself questioning the status quo? Do you tinker with ideas and long to turn those ideas into solutions? Are you able to spark thoughtful debates, bringing out the inquisitiveness in others? Does the promise of continuously growing excite you? Then get ready to reimagine everything you thought wasn’t possible because that’s what it means to be an IOGer - we don’t set limits, we break them.
- Remote work
- Laptop reimbursement
- New starter package to buy hardware essentials (headphones, monitor, etc)
- Learning & Development opportunities
- Competitive PTO
At IOG, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
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What We Do
Founded in 2015, IOHK is one of the world’s pre-eminent blockchain research and engineering companies, best known for the Cardano blockchain platform We are a fully decentralized, remote-working organization committed to the highest principles of academic rigour and evidence-based software development. The company builds high-assurance blockchain products for public and private sector clients. Our goal is simple – to fuel our drive to be best in class by giving you the opportunity, resources and support to deliver your finest work to date. You’ll work with some exceptionally talented and friendly individuals who are always open to new ideas and ways of working. IOHK is an advocate of decentralized remote working, with over 300 people working in more than 50 countries. Everyone has a different skill set, a different culture, and is at a different stage in their life. We aim to make collaboration between diverse people fun, exciting, and always rewarding. Many companies say they ‘think outside the box’ – for IOHK it’s more, ‘we think outside the geography’.
