Senior Cryptography Researcher

Hyper-Accelerating the Internet of Value.

We champion the builders of tomorrow by providing the infrastructure, tools, services, programs and support for creation on one of the world’s fastest, most sustainable and consistently reliable public blockchain - XRPL. By supporting an open community of developers, they can advance the solutions and innovation needed to allow businesses, consumers, institutions and governments to fuel the engine of a new digital economy.

RippleX operates on the belief that realizing the Internet of Value hinges on how easily new technology works for more people, and how effectively we can change the way the world operates today.

RippleX is helping more people participate in the digital economy through:

• Practical support and capabilities to develop applications that move digital value faster and more easily
• Empowering a community that’s democratizing the digital economy 
• The expertise of a technology company that is known for vision and pragmatism 
• Blockchain infrastructure that is supported by RippleX and owned by everyone

We have a big vision and the ambition to match. We are seeking the same in engineers. You also see the huge potential of this technology and have the entrepreneurial spirit and technical excellence to realize the vision we have. There is a lot of work to get there but we are committed to building out the best team to achieve this.

For this role, we are looking for motivated individuals with expertise in the latest blockchain cryptography and security. As one of the foundational members of our research team, this high-impact role gives you a great opportunity to shape the vision for the team & its future.

This role can be full time remote.

Key Responsibilities

• Explore the next generation of cryptographic algorithms and protocols to support the latest advancements required to further the state-of-art of XRPL and more broadly the crypto ecosystem
• Collaborate with engineers and product teams to drive critical projects into a tangible roadmap
• Design & write technical specifications and academic papers for innovative projects and independently develop proof of concepts to validate your research
• Closely collaborate with the engineering team and own the implementation of your research
• Provide expert review and guidance to the leadership to ensure business & strategic alignment
• Set milestones for timely and on-budget completion of high-quality deliverables
• Be a representative of Ripple research in the community via active participation in standards bodies, academic conferences, social media, organizing and participating in workshops, hackathons, etc.
• Work with the teams across the broader organization, including engineering, product, legal, compliance, finance, and business development to think beyond the technical design in delivering the best experience for our developers’ community

Requirements

• Strong familiarity of latest blockchain cryptography and security
• Deep understanding of elliptic curve and pairing based cryptography, Multi-party computation and threshold cryptography
• Familiarity with privacy enhancing technologies such as Homomorphic encryption, differential privacy, federated learning and zero-knowledge primitive
• Skilled in Python, C/C++, Rust or Go and familiarity with cryptographic libraries
• A passion for and knowledge of decentralized technologies
• An open-minded research approach and genuine intellectual curiosity with a mindset of continuous learning
• Strong communicator, well versed in communicating to varied audiences
• Attention to detail and a commitment to excellence
• You thrive on autonomy, responsibility and owning your work, end to end
• A positive attitude and a passion for sharing knowledge within your team, organization and broader community
• 1-2 years of relevant research & development experience in academic and/or industry settings
• A degree in a technical area (Cryptography, Computer Security, Computer Science, Mathematics).

Nice-to-have

• Direct experience working in the crypto industry.

WHO WE ARE:

Ripple is doing for value what the internet did for information: enabling its instant and seamless flow around the world. We call this the Internet of Value (IoV). Using blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, Ripple is dedicated to creating powerful gains in financial efficiency, equity and inclusion. In addition, Ripple is developing and enabling the future use cases that will catalyze the new digital economy for governments, businesses and consumers.

Ripple has offices in San Francisco (HQ), New York, London, Mumbai, Singapore, São Paulo, Toronto, Reykjavík, Washington D.C. and Dubai.

WHAT WE OFFER – The resources and support to be your best at work and beyond:

Do Your Best Work

• The opportunity to build in a fast-paced start-up environment with experienced industry leaders
• A learning environment where you can dive deep into the latest technologies and make an impact.  A professional development budget to support other modes of learning.
• Thrive in an environment where no matter what race, ethnicity, gender, origin, or culture they identify with, every employee is a respected, valued, and empowered part of the team.
• Ripple is Flexible First: you have the option to work remotely, from our offices, or a combination of the two within the 11 countries we are located around the world.
• Weekly all-company meeting - business updates and ask me anything style discussion with our Leadership Team
• We come together for moments that matter which include team off-sites, team bonding activities, happy hours and more!

Take Control of Your Finances

• Competitive salary, bonuses, and equity
• Bonus Flexibility Program: Participants in the Corporate Bonus Plan have the option to elect to receive their annual bonus in cash, equity or XRP, or a combination.
• 100% paid medical and dental and 95% paid vision insurance for employees starting on your first day
• 401k (with match) 
• Commuter benefits
• Employee giving match
• Mobile phone stipend

Take Care of Yourself

• Twice a quarter R&R days so you can rest and recharge
• Generous wellness reimbursement and weekly onsite & virtual programming
• Flexible vacation policy - work with your manager to take time off when you need it
• Industry-leading parental leave policies. Family planning benefits.
• Catered lunches, fully-stocked kitchens with premium snacks/beverages, and plenty of fun events

Benefits listed above are for full-time employees. Interns - please discuss benefits with your recruiter.