Senior Software Engineer, Systems

What We're Building

ZK proofs are one of the most critical technologies to blockchain scaling, interoperability and privacy, but are too complex for most developers today. Succinct’s mission is to make zero knowledge proofs accessible to any developer.

SP1 is a state of the art, 100% open-source zkVM with performance that rivals custom ZK circuits and is up to 30x faster than any existing zkVM. SP1 is a turning point for ZKP adoption: it makes it easy for any developer to use ZKPs by writing normal code in Rust (instead of complex circuits). The Succinct Prover Network, under active development, is a hosted infrastructure layer for any application to outsource proof-generation for open-source proof systems.

Today, top teams in the space, including Polygon, Sovereign, Celestia, Wormhole, Lido, Taiko, EigenLayer, Avail, Near, and Gnosis are using Succinct’s infrastructure to build with ZKPs. We have a track record of shipping excellent products and cutting-edge technical work in ZK and have generated significant revenue already.

We recently announced our $55 million raise across our Seed and Series A led by Paradigm, the best investor in crypto. Our team is still small but incredibly strong, and we are looking for exceptional people who are excited to work hard on challenging and impactful problems in a fast-paced environment. Our office is located in San Francisco and we have a strong preference for candidates based there for this role, but are open to exceptional remote candidates.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Systems Engineer who specializes in Rust development to join our team to architect and develop low-level backend systems. You’ll drive performance-oriented greenfield projects to produce code that is highly optimized for zkVMs and be an active open-source contributor to our GitHub repos working on the frontier of ZK. In this role you will:

• Develop and maintain APIs for SP1

• Contribute to Succinct GitHub repositories

• Architect and develop Rust system libraries

• Understand bytecode coming from SP1 & build integrations with low-level Rust libraries

• Have the ability to dive into compiler and OS development if needed

• Constantly look to innovate and think strategically about how to improve systems

Qualifications

• Expertise in low-level Rust development

• Strong understanding of computer architecture and systems

• Experience with industry-standard compiler technologies

• Ownership mindset

• Strong communication and collaboration skills

Nice to have

• Experience with one of LLVM or Cranelift

• Familiarity with performance-oriented systems

• Familiarity with embedded Rust systems

• Familiarity with cryptography

Location

Everyone on our team is located in San Francisco and works together in-person. Ideally, we’re looking for someone who enjoys in-person work and is already in San Francisco or willing to relocate (we can cover relocation costs). For senior candidates who are an exceptional fit, we’d consider a remote position as long as you’re available to onboard in-person for the first few months.

Benefits

• Above-market salary and generous equity compensation

• Health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their dependents

• Lunch and dinner provided at the office

• Optional, company-paid travel to events and conferences

Even if the listed qualifications don't seem like an exact match, passionate and enthusiastic people who love to quickly learn are always welcome! Feel free to reach out or apply regardless and we would love to chat.