ZK Podcast

Miden VM is a core component of Polygon Miden, the upcoming STARK-based zk-rollup for Ethereum. Early prototype of the VM is available here. We are currently working on the next version of the VM, and our goal is to build the most developer-friendly, safe, and performant zero-knowledge virtual machine.

What will you do?

• Help design and implement core components of the VM.
• Help design and implement Miden assembly language.
• Help design and implement Miden standard library.
• Learn how STARKs work.

We are looking for someone with the following skills and knowledge:

• Deep familiarity with Rust including high comfort level with advanced concepts such as generics, lifetimes, memory management, concurrency etc.
• Some familiarity with advanced benchmarking and testing frameworks (prop-testing, fuzzing).
• Basic familiarity with cryptography - e.g., hash functions, finite fields.

It will be nice if you are:

• Interested in virtual machines, compilers, and programming language design.
• Have some familiarity with writing smart contracts, especially using Solidity.
• Passionate about building open-source software.

“It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! Magazine Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine…”

Is blockchain real or just a figment of people’s imagination? Come help us discover the next great technology revolution…

At Figment, our mission is to create an Internet that is truly decentralized where users can freely interact, share, collaborate, and exchange goods and services in a trustless environment. We offer staking, middleware, and application layer solutions for token holders and developers investing in and building on Web 3 technologies. Together, we can build a better Internet. 

At Figment, we are helping developers launch apps across the top Web 3 protocols. As a Protocol Engineer focused on the success of multi-chain deployments, you will work directly with developers to help them optimize their experience with DataHub. You will become our internal expert about dapp development on multiple protocols, run test cases before launching support for new protocols, and work through protocol issues customers might encounter. You will be directly responsible to guarantee a great experience for developers building on Web 3. 

Responsibilities/Duties

• Work with external teams to provide our customers the best possible experience developing on new protocols 
• Develop and own best practices for app development 
• Build infrastructure and APIs needed to support new blockchains
• Write stable, high coverage test cases for new protocol launches
• Debug production issues across services and multiple levels of the stack
• Collaborate with other engineers and PMs

Qualifications 

• 5+ years of relevant industry experience
• Experience designing, building, scaling and maintaining core backend software components (experience with API platforms a plus)
• Ability to solve complex design, scaling, latency, or performance problems in high-throughput, low-latency systems
• Experience with production distributed systems, web applications, and microservice architecture
• Proven track record building highly available and highly scalable systems
• Experience developing in Javascript, Golang, and/or Rust a plus
• Knowledge of smart contract development (Solidity, Substrate, or similar) a plus 
• A passion for blockchain technologies a plus

Benefits & Impact

• Series B stage startup where you’ll make a true impact on the product, customers, team and the larger blockchain/crypto space
• A culture of honesty, professionalism and risk taking in a “non corporate environment”
• Remote first teams working flexible hours
• Equity and bonus potential 

About Figment
Figment, a VC funded technology startup, is your key to Web 3: stake tokens, build applications, and participate in blockchain governance.

The founding team has over two+ decades started, built, and scaled four internet infrastructure related businesses. This deep experience in IP networking, data centers, cloud security, and databases combined with our passion for decentralization lead us to starting Figment Networks.

We want to build an organization that on the one hand provides needed infrastructure & software to blockchain networks/communities, and on the other hand serves the needs of institutional and large token holders. To do this we are focusing on operational best practices (including security), software tools, research, and legal/regulatory compliance.

Our data center and technical operations are based in Toronto, Canada and we are building a decentralized organization with team across North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia.

We are looking to hire an experienced Marketing Manager, with extensive experience hosting events, for the Zero Knowledge Podcast itself! Ideally applicants should have some minimal software and front-end technical skills to be able to manage the Zero Knowledge Podcast website, jobs board, community channels and various event pages. 

Requirements: 
* 2-3 years of marketing experience in a start-up context
* Experience organising & marketing virtual events
* Some front-end experience (or a proven aptitude for picking up technical skills) 

Nice to haves: 
* Knowledge of Blockchain & the decentralised space
* Writing and production skills
* Experience managing public social channels 

Heliax is looking for a cryptographer & researcher interested in zero-knowledge cryptographic protocols and their application to distributed ledger technology to work with us to design, evaluate, and implement zero-knowledge proof constructions such as zkSNARKs and zkSTARKs, distributed cryptographic protocols such as threshold encryption and distributed key generation, and cryptographic primitives such as elliptic curves and hash functions, then put this cryptography into practice in order to realise privacy and scalability capabilities required by the next generation of blockchain networks.

This role offers the chance to work closely with a small team on compelling cross-disciplinary problems in theoretical computer science, cryptography, game theory, economics, and systems design, and enjoy a high degree of independence in working conditions and task prioritization.

Responsibilities
- Evaluate and analyze existing zkSNARK and zkSTARK proof systems such as Groth '16, Ben-Sasson '18, and PLONK for security, expressivity, and performance; monitor the state of the research field for compelling new theoretical advances
- Update & alter existing cryptographic protocols, customize them for specific proof-of-concept and production use-cases
- Produce technical specifications for designs & instantiations of cryptographic protocols and assist with implementation in coordination with team members
- Implement, review, and test cryptographic operations & protocols, primarily in Rust, evaluate existing implementations

Example projects
- The Multi-Asset Shielded Pool (to be published soon)
- PLONK & plookup (in progress)
- The PLONK by hand series
- The Demystification series (Supersonic, Fractal)

Qualifications

- Prior experience with cryptographic protocols, especially zkSNARKS or zkSTARKs (though not specifically required)
- Prior experience in low-level systems programming, ideally in Rust
- Self-motivated & self-organized

Bonus Qualifications
- Academic research background in mathematics, computer science, economics, and/or game theory
- Prior experience with distributed ledger (blockchain) technology
- Experience in a functional programming language such as Haskell or Ocaml
- Experience with a proof assistance such as Idris, Coq, or Agda||

Misc
- Remote or local (Zürich/Zug, Berlin). When remote, preferred if mostly located within (+/- 7 hours) Central European time zones. North America is fine.
- Ideally someone who enjoys travel, nature and hiking. Often we find that protocols are best designed not in a meeting room but rather on a trail