Protocol Architecture Researcher

Summary

Join the Robust Incentives Group (RIG) at the Ethereum Foundation as a Protocol Architecture research scientist. This permanently open position offers high agency in defining and pursuing research directly improving Ethereum. You will collaborate with researchers, core developers, and experts on topics like fee mechanisms and PoS economics. The role demands an interdisciplinary mindset, strong communication skills, and research excellence. RIG offers competitive compensation, flexible PTO, remote work options, travel opportunities, and the possibility to join the Protocol Guild.

Requirements

• High agency & autonomy: You thrive in an environment that trusts you to identify and deliver high-impact work. You take initiative, own your projects, and are able to navigate ambiguity. You are motivated to design new mechanisms and see them through to their deployment in the Ethereum protocol
• Interdisciplinary mindset: You excel at the intersection of multiple disciplines and collaborate with experts across fields, drawing insights from economics, computer science, cryptography, distributed systems, and other relevant areas. While you value rigorous research, you are driven by its practical application and the tangible progress it brings to Ethereum
• Clear communicator: You revel in peeling back layers and communicating your findings clearly and widely to both technical and non-technical audiences—whether in writing, discussions, or presentations
• Research excellence: You have a strong research background, whether in academia or applied research. Ideally, your experience includes economics, distributed systems, cryptography, computer science, mathematics, or related fields. A PhD is welcome but not required if you have a track record of exploring new fields with an interdisciplinary mindset
• Passion: You care deeply about harnessing decentralized economic systems and are passionate about solving the types of intellectual challenges Ethereum is facing. You are excited to join a group of research collaborators working in the open to advancing technology

Responsibilities

• Explore foundational and applied research questions—through theoretical or empirical analysis—that shape Ethereum’s protocol architecture, such as auction mechanisms, staking incentives, or rational consensus
• Conduct rigorous research and transform insights into proposals to improve Ethereum
• Collaborate with research peers, Ethereum coredevs, industry experts, academics, and the wider Ethereum community—discussing findings in open forums, co-authoring papers, or writing EIPs
• Communicate your findings clearly with different audiences in mind: from academic, to less formal but highly technical, to wider Ethereum community

Benefits

• Impact: You will join a small, impactful team where you can very quickly help shape the future of Ethereum. You will work at the very frontier of blockchain technology and contribute to foundational infrastructure for economic exchange
• High trust environment: With minimal hierarchy and a culture of autonomy, you will have many degrees of freedom to define your research agenda to deliver high-impact work
• Collaborations: Access to leading collaborators across industry and academia, with the ability to award grants
• Compensation & benefits: Competitive compensation, flexible PTO, and possibility to join Protocol Guild after six months, subject to contributing to public participation in Ethereum core protocol research
• Remote first: Our team is distributed across the globe and remote work from anywhere is possible—with most synchronous time from 2pm UTC onwards. However, we have offices in Berlin or Boulder, and if suitable we can help to facilitate relocation
• Travel: Highly encouraged travel with occasions throughout the year: e.g., conferences, research workshops, offsites. Ample opportunities to share your work with different audiences and whiteboard with your colleagues