Distributed Systems Engineer - Interchain Stack
Full Time
Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, UK, USA, Remote
About Informal
Informal Systems is a remote-first company with offices in Toronto, Lausanne, Vienna and Berlin. We are structured like a worker's cooperative, where important corporate actions are subject to one-person-one-vote democratic control by the member-employees.
We envision a sustainable future of cooperatively owned and governed, open-source, distributed organizations running on reliable distributed systems and are excited to grow the team with amazing individuals who believe in making this future a reality.
Informal is a core contributor to Cosmos, where we develop interoperable blockchain systems by heavily relying on formal verification tools and techniques (formal specification in TLA+, symbolic model checker Apalache, Model Based Testing Framework, etc).
The Cosmos technology stack, including CometBFT, the Cosmos-SDK, IBC, and the Cosmos Proof of Stake modules, is an industry-leading toolkit for building, deploying, and running community-owned decentralized networks. This technology is used today to secure many billions of dollars in cryptocurrency market capitalization.
About the Role
As a Distributed Systems Engineer in the Informal's Interchain unit, you will have a substantial impact on the success of the CometBFT and IBC products developed in Informal Systems. You will also influence the team's culture and processes. You will operate product-first, going where the user problems are, and approach engineering tasks with resourcefulness, creativity, and swiftness. Taking ownership of tasks, working well in tight-knit squads, and adapting to ambiguous requirements that evolve rapidly are essential skills for success. The Interchain unit in Informal Systems has deep expertise in distributed systems, formal methods, blockchain protocols, and product engineering.
What your primary responsibilities will be:
- Develop complex software systems that address business needs in a dynamic environment
- Provide thoughtful, constructive guidance and feedback on software architecture/design and code (e.g. during synchronous discussions, in pull request reviews)
- Deploy and operate software in production
- Define and adapt technical architecture to meet business needs
- Mentor and/or coach junior team members
- Make use of shared processes, practices and tooling for effective synchronous and asynchronous collaboration
What we look for in a successful Distributed Systems Engineer:
- Extensive experience with Golang and/or Rust
- Ability to onboard fast into new complex domains
- Entrepreneurial spirit and/or team leadership experience
- Familiarity with Cosmos stack (CometBFT, IBC and CosmosSDK) is preferred
- Proven ability to work effectively in a diverse, remote-first, and international team environment
Some of our benefits include:
- A unique, caring and friendly culture (learn more about how we work here)
- 25 days (5 weeks) of paid vacation annually, plus 3 Spiritual Days
- Company closure from December 25th to January 1
- Annual Lifestyle benefits (reimbursements for gym memberships, fitness equipment, etc)
- A remote-first, flexible work environment
- A home-office stipend to set you up for success
- Annual company retreats
- Paid parental leave
- ….. and many more!
We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity in our organization. We are committed to equal employment opportunities and encourage applications from people of all race, religion, colour, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
remote work