Senior Cryptographic Engineer

Who We Are:

Horizen Labs is pioneering privacy-focused, zero-knowledge technology that powers a more secure and interconnected digital world. Founded in 2019, we're at the intersection of research, protocol development, and ecosystem growth, enabling scalable, verifiable solutions through platforms like zkVerify and Horizen. From high-impact projects like ApeChain to a specialized consulting arm in zero-knowledge ecosystems, we are a global team united in transforming the landscape of Web3 and digital trust. Join our team in New York, Milan, and remotely to help redefine what's possible in the decentralized world.

At Horizen Labs, our people are our greatest asset, and we are creating a culture of empowered individuals who are eager to bring their ideas to life. We believe diversity drives the innovation and engagement necessary to build a truly remarkable product. We operate on a hybrid model with a distributed global workforce who works in partnership with our satellite offices in New York City, NY and Milan, Italy. Are you ready to help us change the future with the next cutting-edge blockchain technology? Join us!

We are looking for a talented and motivated engineer who will contribute to building the cryptographic infrastructure of our Web 3.0-enabled blockchain ecosystem. You will be involved in the design and implementation of blockchain scaling solutions, primarily based on zero-knowledge cryptography, with the aim of dramatically reducing the costs that blockchain operators incur when deploying their products. Our international team works in a stimulating and innovative environment, where technical expertise and experience contribute to the development of cutting-edge blockchain technology. You will be joining a small, deeply driven team of highly technical minds in a culture of openness, pragmatism, and ownership of challenging problems that span software engineering, systems design, cryptography, and computing.

What You’ll Own

• Design and implementation of blockchain-based cryptographic solutions leveraging modern cryptography (ZK, MPC, FHE).
• Assume technical responsibility of novel systems while identifying areas for innovative research and development. 
• Writing reusable, testable, and efficient code with a focus on best practices and security. 
• Help shape the future of the company where you will be intimately involved in the strategic decision making process and immediately see the impact of your contributions.
• Attend conferences and find opportunities in the on-chain ecosystem.

Skills and Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering.
• Be passionate about secure, reliable, well-documented and fast software.
• Flexible to work within an agile environment.
• Experience in implementing cryptographic constructions (down to the low-level mathematics) and familiarity with various common attacks.
• Deep understanding of applied cryptography and passion for creating effective and pragmatic cryptographic solutions to be integrated in complex systems and/or to conceive innovative products solving real world problems.
• Propose new meaningful approaches based on novel cryptography research available in academia.
• Experience in technical writing and documentation.
• Clear communication and articulation of abstract ideas.
• Enjoy guiding more junior developers and sharing your expertise. 
• Work gracefully with cross-functional teams within engineering, marketing, and other support teams to provide the best-in-class solutions.
• Autonomous, self motivated, and low ego. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with system languages (C, C++, Go) and/or strongly typed programming (OCaml, Haskell, Rust).
• Theoretical and practical experience in state-of-the-art zero knowledge solutions such as Plonk (Plonky2, Plonky3, Halo2), STARKs, zk(E)VMs, recursive proof composition.
• Theoretical and practical experience in blockchain-based systems, with a particular focus on Ethereum and/or other EVM-based solutions.
• Experience with optimization of low-level mathematical operations, down to assembly level.
• Any experience with GPU/FPGA programming is welcomed.

In compliance with New York City's Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position should the applicant be based in NYC is USD $140,000.00 to USD $170,000.00. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position should it be based in NYC. Our salary ranges are determined by numerous factors, including, but not limited to, role, level, experience, and location.

Horizen Labs is an equal opportunity employer

Horizen Labs is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please send an email to recruiting@horizenlabs.io and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.