DeFi Specialist

Summary

Join the Ethereum Foundation's App Relations & Research team as a DeFi expert. You will be the primary point of contact for DeFi teams, staying current on protocol developments and analyzing economic models and risks. Your responsibilities include advising EF teams on strategy and risk, leading research on emerging trends, and supporting ecosystem engagement. This role requires deep DeFi expertise, a strong understanding of DeFi's history and evolution, and the ability to read smart contract code. You should possess curiosity, humility, and strong communication skills. The ideal candidate will be passionate about DeFi and actively involved in the community.

Requirements

• Someone who lives and breathes DeFi, loves reading the latest whitepapers and diving into new protocols
• Strong grasp of DeFi’s history and evolution
• Deep familiarity with DeFi designs and economic mechanisms
• Ability to read smart contract code to evaluate risk and understand protocol behavior
• Curiosity, humility, and a bias toward action
• Ability to collaborate across technical and non-technical teams
• Clear written and verbal communication

Responsibilities

• Act as a primary point of contact for DeFi teams building in the Ethereum ecosystem
• Stay up to date on the latest protocol developments, for example Uniswap v4, Aave v4, Morpho v2, and other emerging designs
• Analyze mechanisms, economic models, and onchain risks across lending, trading, and stablecoins, including projects like Pendle (yield trading), Contango (leveraged forwards), Ethena (delta-neutral synthetic dollar), Fluid (LP-backed programmable debt), Euler (hook-enabled isolated lending), Redstone (custom oracles) Maple (institutional lending), and more
• Advise EF teams on internal strategy, integration considerations, and risk analysis related to DeFi
• Lead actionable research on emerging DeFi trends and protocols — covering topics such as restaking risk, novel stablecoin mechanisms, and the DeFi mullet
• Support event planning and ecosystem engagement, including Devcon and other major gatherings