Category Labs (formerly known as Monad Labs) is a team of systems engineers and researchers on a mission to design and build at the frontier of decentralized technology. We strive to deliver significant improvements over existing blockchain solutions. After raising $225M in series A funding, led by Paradigm, we are growing our team.
We're the team behind Monad, a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 whose public mainnet is now live. We write the core software that runs it: a parallel-execution EVM, a custom state database, and a BFT consensus client, all developed in the open.
Key Responsibilities
We are looking for systems researchers with a strong interest in databases and operating systems. Candidates with research experience in systems verification, operating systems, multi-core algorithms, or systems architecture, are an ideal match. You will be part of a small, deeply technical team, working on high-impact problems in a fast-paced environment. Although we are building a new blockchain, previous experience with crypto is not expected.
- Designing performant algorithms and architectures related to storage or recovery, in single-node or distributed environments.
- Researching new architectures
- Tech stack: C++, clang, LLVM, gdb, perf, unix, git
Candidate Profile & Mindset
- PhD in Computer Science or equivalent
- Significant research experience into databases or operating systems
- Experience writing performant algorithms
- Experience writing production-grade code
- Resourceful and self-motivated
- Collaborative
- Adaptive; able to make meaningful contributions in a fast-paced environment
- Curious about lower-level system details
- Interested in building high-value, performant and distributed systems
Why Work with Us
- Challenging problems: You'll work on extremely challenging problems with massive impact. See our Blogs and Publications & Talks for a flavor of the problems we are solving in the real world.
- Huge opportunity: The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) standard is ubiquitous, but existing EVM-compatible chains are very slow. Monad's core innovations offer developers the best of both worlds (portability and performance) and are a game-changer for mass user adoption in crypto.
- The right team: You'll be part of a small, exceptional team (engineers and researchers make up 90% of the team).
- Open by default: Our core software is public on GitHub. You'll build in the open, and your work ships where the whole ecosystem can see it.
- Culture: We're a lean team working together to achieve very ambitious goals. We are united in our culture of collaboration, low ego, and high-quality output. As an early member of our team, you'll help to shape our culture.
- Compensation: You'll receive a competitive salary and equity package.
- Resources and growth: We're well-capitalized, with backing from leading venture funds like Paradigm, Electric Capital, Greenoaks, Dragonfly, and Coinbase Ventures. We keep a lean team, and this is a rare opportunity to join. You'll learn a lot and grow as our company scales.
How We Use AI
We're an AI-native team, and we expect engineers to use coding agents and keep up as the tooling evolves. A few things we believe:
- AI is leverage, not a crutch. Review what it generates with the same scrutiny you'd give a teammate's PR, and own every line you ship.
- Judgment is what matters, not how long you typed by hand. We won't ask for "N years of [tool]." The stack turns over every few months, so what matters is that you pick up new tools fast and know where and when they apply.
Salary and Benefits
The base salary range for this role is $180,000 - $250,000. This reflects the minimum and maximum range across US locations. It does not include benefits, token, or equity incentives. The final offer may vary based on factors such as relevant skills, experience, domain expertise, and work location. If you are based outside of the US, we have geographic considerations that may impact your final compensation.
Benefits for all Full-Time Employees
- Private health insurance options
- Flexible paid time off
- Monthly wellness reimbursement
- Paid parental leave
Perks & Compensation
- World-class benefits package with 100% paid medical, dental, and vision insurance including 75% coverage for dependents and HSA + FSA options
- 401(k) with company match
- Lunch and dinner stipend (in-office NYC) Benefits for employees hired through an EOR (outside of the US) will be based on EOR offerings and country-specific requirements.
About Category Labs
Category Labs, founded in 2022 by a small research collective with hubs in New York and San Francisco and closely associated with Monad ecosystem development, builds foundational research and tooling for high-performance blockchains. Operating as an early contributor group alongside Monad Labs, Category focuses on parallel execution, consensus optimization and formal verification for next-generation EVM networks. Headquartered with a distributed research team, Category contributes open-source libraries, testnet tooling and mechanism studies that inform Monad and broader EVM scaling efforts. The team blends academic research with shipping production chain upgrades. Governed as a builder collective rather than a custodial company, it emphasizes peer review and reproducible benchmarks. Expect a research-intensive culture that values distributed systems rigor, measured performance and collaborative advancement of scalable EVM infrastructure.