Senior Systems Software Engineer

ABOUT UNTO LABS

Unto Labs is a team of low-level engineers pushing distributed systems to the physical limits of modern hardware. We’re reimagining blockchains, from core consensus primitives to performance-tuned networking stacks, in the service of global scale applications.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We're seeking a Senior Systems Software Engineer to take on the toughest challenges in distributed, high-performance computing. You'll be responsible for designing and building key parts of a base-layer blockchain, focused on juicing every last ounce of performance from commodity hardware. As a member of our fast-paced team, you'll work across the entire modern blockchain stack, including cryptography, consensus, distributed systems, and core kernels.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and implement system-level components for blockchain infrastructure using C, C++, and Rust.

• Maintain strong emphasis on computer systems analysis and implementation.

• Gather requirements for high-throughput, low-latency (≤ 200 ms p95) services; design distributed systems that meet 99.9 % availability SLAs.

• Perform benchmarking and performance profiling to enhance execution efficiency.

• Specify, version, and maintain public and internal APIs plus JSON-RPC/gRPC endpoints.

• Document interfaces and generate strongly typed client libraries.

• Collaborate on the development of secure, low-latency networking protocols and cryptographic primitives. Build fault-tolerant ETL pipelines that transform on-chain events into query optimized relational & NoSQL stores.

• Tune indexes for millisecond reads.

• Provision and scale commodity server fleets (on-prem & cloud).

• Automate with Terraform/Kubernetes, monitor health, capacity, and SLOs. Migrate legacy computing pipelines to modern CI/CD frameworks.

• Support the design of fault-tolerant systems with advanced debugging, logging, and error recovery functionality.

• Model token- economic incentives, auction fee markets, and validator/operator behaviors; prototype algorithms and run agent-based simulations.

• Leverage generative-AI coding agents, static analyzers, and self-healing runbooks to accelerate delivery and cut MTTR.

• Review performance metrics to refine software components for memory and process or efficiency.

• Profile CPU, I/O, and network paths; execute load-tests; instrument metrics/tracing/logs; drive post-mortems and capacity plans.

• Maintain and manage a performant suite of APIs, SDKs, and developer tools for consumption by external developers.

• Integrate cryptographic primitives, secure key management, vulnerability scanning, and incident response playbooks.

• Write RFCs, lead design reviews, mentor junior engineers, and coordinate cross-functional delivery with product, infra, and legal teams.

• 100% telecommuting/working from home permitted from various and unanticipated locations throughout the U.S.

QUALIFICATIONS

• This position requires a Master’s degree, or foreign equivalent, in Economics, Business Economics, Computer Science, or a related field.

• 10 years of experience as a Systems Engineer, Software Engineer, Software Developer, Information Technology Officer, or a related occupation

• Additionally, the applicant must have employment experience with:

  • Systems programming in C, C++, and Rust;

  • Low-level performance optimization and hardware interfacing;

  • Distributed systems and threading runtimes;

  • CI/CD pipeline design using GitHub Actions and on-prem infrastructure;

  • Work with multiple systems, including web development platforms, high-performance computing systems, core operating system kernels, developer tools, and systems related to economic applications;

  • Develop distributed ledger technologies or crypto economic distributed systems.

WHY JOIN US?

• Be at the forefront of blockchain technology, working on next-generation performance optimization, on a small, fast-moving, tight-knit team

• Work with a team of experts with deep expertise in high-frequency trading and scaling developer ecosystems

• Shape the architecture of a system designed to process millions of transactions per second

• Access to cutting-edge hardware and development tools

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• Competitive salary ($213,512 - $220,000 USD)

• Significant equity and upside potential

• Flexible work environment

• Unlimited vacation policy

• Health insurance

• Hardware and development tool allowance

• Conference and learning budget

Requisition ID: 245