Ritual is hiring a Core Protocol Engineer in Engineering — Remote. The overview below is synthesized from the employer posting on job-boards.greenhouse.io: factual requirements and scope are preserved, but prose is rewritten with editorial context. Verify details and apply via the employer link.
About Ritual
Company context from the listing:
Ritual is building a sovereign, execution layer for AI, with our private testnet already live and running. The Ritual chain is the first blockchain custom-built to support AI-native operations, designed from the ground up to enable a new class of applications at the intersection of crypto and AI.
About the role
Day-to-day scope for the Core Protocol Engineer as described in the posting:
We're seeking a Core Protocol Engineer with deep expertise with Ethereum execution clients to help us extend the EVM for next-generation compute capabilities. You'll work on expanding the execution layer to support novel precompiles, implement parallel execution patterns, and design systems for heterogeneous compute orchestration.
- Design and implement extensions to EVM clients (Geth/Reth) for supporting stateful precompiles
- Implement novel mechanism design primitives, collaborating with our research team, into the execution layer
- Develop and optimize transaction processing pipelines for heterogeneous workloads
- Research and implement solutions for state access conflicts
- Contribute to core protocol development and EIP implementations
- Collaborate with the research team on protocol specifications and mechanism design improvements
- Design and implement robust testing frameworks for execution client modifications
About you
Company context from the listing:
- Deep understanding of EVM internals and Ethereum execution clients (Geth/Reth)
- Strong experience implementing and optimizing precompiles
- Expertise in Go and/or Rust for systems programming, and Solidity
- Thorough knowledge of Ethereum's roadmap and active participation in protocol discussions
- Experience with parallel execution patterns in blockchain systems
- Strong understanding of consensus mechanisms and blockchain architecture
- Ability to read, understand, and implement EIPs and protocol specifications
- Proven track record of shipping production-grade blockchain systems
- Ability to act quickly under high pressure scenarios and context switch at a high frequency
- A high level of end-to-end ownership and self-direction, with excellent communication skills
- Hungry, high-energy and ability to work within and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
Nice to have
Additional experience noted as a plus:
- Knowledge of mempool dynamics, transaction ordering and the mev-boost implementation
- Background in mechanism design or market systems
- Deep knowledge of proof systems and their trade-offs around prover time, verifier time, and proof size
- Experience optimizing proof generation and verification pipelines
- Experience with cross-chain bridges or interoperability protocols
- Contributions to Ethereum client codebases
- Background in distributed systems and concurrent programming
Why join us
What the posting highlights about the offer:
- Join a passionate group of engineers, researchers, and operators on a mission to build the next generation of AI infrastructure
- Highly competitive compensation package, including annual discretionary bonus & optimized tax structure compared to the vast majority of web3 startups
- Top 1% of benefits across the web3 startup space
- 100% of premiums covered on highest quality healthcare
- Aggressive company 401k match
- Fully remote and/or hybrid, up to you!
- Participate in virtual and in-person events
- Much much more!