Job Title

Join to apply for the Cycles Cryptographer / Protocol Lead role at Informal Systems . About Cycles Cycles'''' mission is to clear the most debt, for the most people, with the least money. Were building a privacypreserving onchain protocol to enable arbitrary finance to occur in the most capitalefficient manner possible, by taking advantage of the liquidity saving effects of multilateral settlement. Cycles is an open clearing protocol that generalizes the capabilities of a clearing house while making them accessible to anyone. This requires solving challenging protocol design problems at the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, security, scalability, payment and financial system design. About the Role We are looking for a Cryptographer and Protocol Lead to own the design, specification, and security of our protocol development. We take modern Shielded Pools (ZCash, Penumbra, Aztec) as our jumping off point, and have designed a first version of our Shielded Graph on top, which extends privacy from assets to past and future debts. The Cycles Protocol will underpin a host of new products that make the capabilities of clearing accessible across diverse user groups, from SMEs to multinationals, trading firms to clearing houses, municipalities to central banks. These products aim to revolutionize how people and businesses interact with money, clearing, and payments. The ideal candidates will have deep expertise in cryptography and privacypreserving protocols, and a passion for elegant protocol design and security. You will work closely with crossfunctional teams to deliver a scalable and secure protocol that powers transformative new products. Responsibilities Own our cryptography, proving, and protocol stack endtoend Lead design and implementation of new primitives and protocols Write specs, develop security arguments, and apply formal methods (where applicable) to ensure soundness and security Review, audit, and improve existing designs and system implementations for security, performance, and scalability. Collaborate closely with product, engineering, and research teams: translate highlevel product requirements into rigorous protocol designs, and partner with engineering to bring them to life Research new and emerging cryptographic techniques to advance performance,, developer experience, and scalability Mentor the team by guiding engineers and running workshops and deep dives Engage with the broader community: publish specs/papers, participate in protocol review cycles, opensource contributions, and stay abreast of stateoftheart in cryptography and distributed systems. Qualifications Passion for bringing advanced cryptography to life through delightful products and elegant protocols Degree in Cryptography, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related fieldwith a strong publication track record in cryptographic protocols. Deep expertise in cryptographic primitives and protocols (e.g., zeroknowledge proofs, multiparty computation, shielded pool design, circuit design and optimization, etc.). Handson experience designing and implementing productiongrade cryptographic systems or protocols at scale, especially decentralized ones Strong programming background (Rust) and familiarity with cryptographic libraries. Strong ability to write clear specifications, define invariants, reason about correctness, and use formal specification tools where appropriate. Ability to think both abstractly (protocol design, mathematics) and concretely (engineering tradeoffs, performance, system integration). Excellent communication skills: youll articulate complex cryptographic ideas to diverse audiences (product, engineering, security, external partners). Passion for pushing the boundaries on what''''s possible in security, privacy, decentralisation, and the future of cryptographic infrastructure. Seniority level MidSenior level Employment type Fulltime Job function Engineering and Information Technology Industries Software Development #J-18808-Ljbffr