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Staff Smart Contracts Engineer

XMTP

XMTP

Multiple locations · Remote
USD 235k-275k / year + Equity
Posted on Aug 28, 2025

Location

Remote (North/South America)

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

Remote

Department

Engineering

Compensation

  • $235K – $275K

Join Ephemera, Build the Future of Onchain Messaging

We are seeking an experienced Staff-level Smart Contracts Engineer to lead the design, development, and maintenance of mission-critical blockchain systems with a focus on tokenomics. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of smart contracts - from architecture and implementation to audits, deployment, and upgrades.

What You’ll Be Working On

  • Writing and deploying smart contracts that govern the economics of the XMTP protocol

  • Working with the team to design novel incentive models to reward offchain node operators and collect messaging fees

  • Design & Implement Tokenomics Contracts: Lead the development of complex token contracts (ERC-20, staking, governance, vesting, distribution, liquidity management) tailored to evolving protocol needs

  • Upgradability & Governance: Architect upgradeable contracts (e.g., via OpenZeppelin proxy patterns) ensuring safe, controlled, and transparent change management

  • Security & Audits: Champion security best practices, lead internal reviews, coordinate with third-party auditors, and implement continuous monitoring of deployed contracts

  • Production-Grade Operations: Manage large-scale funds in production environments, ensuring availability, integrity, and protection of treasury and user assets

  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with economics, product, and legal teams to translate tokenomics know-how into practical, deployable smart contract systems

  • Mentorship & Standards: Establish engineering best practices for smart contract development, mentor other engineers, and raise the bar for security, efficiency, and maintainability

Your Experience

  • Minimum of 7+ years of professional experience as a software engineer, staff level

  • Extensive experience designing, building, and maintaining cryptoeconomic systems

    • Architected and designed complex protocols onchain

    • Experience working with auditors to find vulnerabilities

    • Writing well-tested Solidity code

Qualifications

Technical Expertise

  • 5+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 3 years focused on Solidity / EVM-based smart contracts

  • Proven track record of deploying and maintaining production-grade contracts managing significant funds

  • Deep familiarity with tokenomics mechanisms: staking, bonding curves, vesting, emissions schedules, treasury management

  • Strong understanding of EVM internals, gas optimization, and advanced contract design patterns

  • Hands-on experience with upgradable contracts, proxy patterns, and governance-controlled upgrade systems

Security Focus

  • Prior experience working with formal verification, fuzzing, or static analysis tools

  • Contributions to audits, incident response, or security-critical systems

Leadership

  • Ability to balance long-term protocol sustainability with near-term delivery needs

Nice-to-Haves

  • Experienced simulating economic systems using deterministic and/or stochastic modeling techniques

  • Experience working in open source and communicating with the public

  • Experience working as an auditor

About You

  • You are passionate about decentralized technology and believe in an onchain future

  • You love to win and are fueled by solving hard problems

  • You are self-directed, see opportunities and are inspired by challenges and helping solve them

  • You have a small team mindset and are focused on where you can have the greatest impact

  • You love to learn, are not afraid of changing your opinion or being wrong

Benefits

  • Competitive compensation package, Base + Equity

  • Salary range between $235k–$275k base (depending on experience + location)

  • Remote-first environment with semi-yearly gatherings to connect IRL

  • Fully paid Medical, Dental, Vision insurance in the US

  • Parental Leave

  • IT Equipment and WFH setup

  • Monthly Wellness and Lifestyle stipend

  • Personal assistant

  • Unlimited time off

Compensation Range: $235K - $275K