Smart Contract Engineer

Summary

Join Blockstream Research as a Research Engineer to build and deploy Simfony, a smart contract language for the Liquid Blockchain. You will own Simfony's Rust-based language development, implement smart contracts, and collaborate with a team to shape developer use of Simplicity. Responsibilities include developing, testing, and deploying Simfony contracts, optimizing for performance and security, and creating documentation and educational materials. This role requires expertise in Rust, a deep understanding of Bitcoin's scripting model, and experience with smart contract development. A builder's mindset, clear communication skills, and comfort with an education component are essential. The position offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge Bitcoin technology and contribute to the advancement of smart contracts.

Requirements

• Expertise in Rust
• Deep understanding of Bitcoin’s scripting model. You have a strong knowledge of Bitcoin Script, Taproot, Schnorr signatures, SegWit, Miniscript, and Confidential Transactions
• Experience with smart contract development, time-locked contracts (HTLCs, vaults, inheritance-based transfers), multi-signature setups, or covenant-based mechanisms
• Comfortable working with Bitcoin’s developer tooling. Experience with Bitcoin Core, CLI tools, test environments (Testnet, Regtest), and security testing tools like fuzz testing
• Problem solver. You enjoy tackling difficult programming challenges and designing creative solutions for complex problems
• A builder’s mindset. You don’t just write code, you design systems that solve real problems
• Clear communicator. You can explain complex technical ideas simply, write thorough documentation, and work well with a team
• Comfortable with an education component. At least X% of this role involves documentation, teaching, and developer advocacy, helping others understand and build with Simfony

Responsibilities

• Own Simfony’s Rust-based language development. You will work on building, improving, and refining Simfony as a smart contract language
• Implement smart contracts. You’ll recreate existing Bitcoin Script functionality in Simfony and extend functionality using Simplicity, making contracts more expressive and powerful
• Collaborate with a small team inside of Blockstream Research to help shape developer use of Simplicity, and its integration into Bitcoin sidechains
• Develop, test, and deploy Simfony contracts on Liquid. You’ll explore how Simfony integrates with Bitcoin’s Layer 2 solutions, including Elements and potential future platforms
• Work on security and efficiency. You’ll help optimize Simfony contracts for performance and security
• Write documentation and educational material. As Simfony grows, developers will need clear examples, tutorials, and best practices to build with confidence

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in a relevant field, such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field
• Strong grasp of WebAssembly (WASM). Experience working with low-level execution environments or blockchain virtual machines is helpful
• Familiarity with other blockchain ecosystems and smart contract platforms. You know about Ethereum (Solidity), Web3, DeFi, DAOs, Bridges, and Oracles, and understand the use cases people are seeking
• Experience using and deploying production-grade smart contracts. You’ve seen the challenges, MEV risks, DoS attacks, and syntax errors
• Experience in Haskell, or other functional languages is a plus
• Knowledge of alternative smart contract paradigms. Familiarity with ZK-proofs, rollups, or novel execution models is a plus
• Familiarity with low-level cryptographic libraries. Understanding elliptic curve cryptography, signature schemes, and hash-based cryptographic structures can be beneficial