Plasma

www.plasma.to

1 Job

46 Employees

About the Company

Plasma is a purpose-built blockchain for stablecoin payments.

Listed Jobs

Company Name: Plasma
Job Title: Research Engineer
Job Description: **Job Title** Research Engineer **Role Summary** Lead research initiatives that optimize the Plasma blockchain for stablecoin payments. Convert ambiguous challenges into executable plans, evaluate cryptographic solutions, produce design specifications, build prototypes, and drive protocol improvements in areas such as zero‑knowledge, consensus, networking, and performance tuning. Collaborate across product, engineering, and leadership to align technical direction with business goals. **Expectations** - Translate ill‑defined problems into clear objectives, constraints, and success metrics. - Conduct build vs. buy assessments for cryptographic and privacy components. - Generate rigorous, production‑ready design documents (threat models, protocol sketches, interface specs). - Build and test proofs‑of‑concept to validate feasibility and integration risks. - Research and recommend enhancements in zero‑knowledge, block propagation, consensus trade‑offs, latency, and throughput. - Communicate trade‑offs effectively to cross‑functional teams and leadership. - Operate within a 2–3 member research group, focusing on high‑impact investigations and unblocking engineering. - Maintain strict rigor on security and correctness while prioritizing deployability. **Key Responsibilities** - Define and scope research projects from concept to deliverable. - Evaluate existing crypto primitives and privacy mechanisms for suitability. - Draft threat models and performance assumptions for new protocols. - Develop small‑scale implementations to test feasibility. - Benchmark protocol performance and propose optimizations. - Produce clear artefacts that guide engineering implementation. - Collaborate with product, engineering, and platform teams to set realistic roadmaps. - Share findings in concise reports and presentations to executive stakeholders. **Required Skills** - Strong background in applied cryptography and blockchain protocols. - Proficiency with zero‑knowledge proof systems, circuit design, and verifier constraints. - Experience in consensus design, block propagation, and network‑level latency optimization. - Ability to build prototypes (coding relevant but not primary) and validate concepts. - Excellent written and verbal communication; can translate technical trade‑offs for non‑technical audiences. - Analytical mindset with adversarial thinking and rigorous security assumptions. - Comfortable operating in ambiguity and prioritizing high‑impact work. - Proven collaborative abilities across product, engineering, and leadership. **Required Education & Certifications** - Bachelor’s (or higher) degree in Computer Science, Cryptography, Electrical Engineering, or a related field. - Master’s or Ph.D. preferred, especially with research focus on security, cryptography, or distributed systems. - No specific certifications required; familiarity with industry‑standard cryptographic libraries or blockchain protocols is a plus.

London, United kingdom

On site

10-12-2025