Zero Knowledge Researcher

Summary

Join Vac, a builder of public good protocols for the decentralized web, and contribute to the development of Nescience A, a zkVM leveraging hiding properties. This role within the Vac Nescience unit focuses on in-depth research and analysis of ZK argument systems. You will design zero-knowledge circuits, write specifications, and communicate research findings. The ideal candidate possesses a strong academic or engineering background with expertise in zero-knowledge circuits and related technologies. We value keen communication skills and a passion for blockchain technology. Compensation is negotiable and can be paid in fiat or crypto.

Requirements

• Very strong academic or engineering background (PhD-level or equivalent in industry); relevant research experience
• Deep understanding of Zero-Knowledge argument systems and related technologies (Nova, Plonk/Halo2, zk-STARK, zk-SNARK, circom), elliptic curve cryptography, and circuit design
• Keen communicator, eager to share your work in a wide variety of contexts, like internal and public presentations, blog posts and academic papers
• Experience in, and passion for, blockchain technology
• A strong alignment to our principles: https://status.im/about/#our-principles

Responsibilities

• Research, analyze and design ZK argument systems and architectures for private computation
• Write specifications and communicate research findings through write-ups
• Analyze and give feedback for zero-knowledge circuits written in Rust
• Break down complex problems, and know what can and what can’t be dealt with later
• Perform security analysis, measure performance of and debug circuits

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with low level / strongly typed languages (C++/Go/Rust)
• Experience with Open Source software

Benefits

The expected compensation range for this role is negotiable, dependent on how we assess your skills and experience throughout our interview process. We are happy to pay in any mix of fiat/crypto