Senior/Lead Smart Contract Engineer

Senior/Lead Smart Contract Engineer - Decentralized Perpetuals Exchange

Location: Remote - US or EU if willing to overlap 6+ hours with ET

Compensation: $250K - $500K

We are building the backbone of global decentralized finance (DeFi), operating the largest perpetual exchange on Arbitrum and processing over $20 billion in cumulative trading volume. Our platform enables leveraged trading of real-world assets (RWAs)—commodities, forex, indices, and stocks—alongside crypto, bringing global markets on-chain with full self-custody. Backed by General Catalyst and Susquehanna International Group, we are a small team providing institutional-grade reliability for a protocol handling billions in volume.

We are seeking an exceptional Senior or Lead Smart Contract Engineer to help scale our protocol as we expand to hundreds of markets and billions in daily volume. You will work directly with our founding team (backgrounds from Harvard, Bridgewater, and BlackRock) to architect and implement critical protocol upgrades and new market mechanisms for the next generation of on-chain derivatives.

This is not a junior role. We need an expert who has built and maintained perpetual Decentralized Exchange (DEX) smart contracts in production at scale.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architect and implement critical protocol upgrades, new market mechanisms, and infrastructure that enables the next generation of on-chain derivatives.
• Design and implement perpetual DEX smart contracts, focusing on core mechanics like funding rates, liquidations, margin management, and PnL calculations.
• Integrate and productionize oracle networks (Chainlink, Pyth, or custom) for reliable price feeds.
• Design and build highly optimized, gas-efficient Solidity code using advanced techniques.
• Ensure institutional-grade reliability and security for a protocol processing billions in volume.
• Own critical components of the protocol from initial design through mainnet deployment.
• Solve genuinely hard problems at the frontier of DeFi and Traditional Finance (TradFi) convergence, including novel problems around on-chain RWAs.

Must-Haves (Non-Negotiable):

• Solidity Experience: 3+ years building production smart contracts in Solidity.
• Perpetuals DEX: Direct experience building smart contracts for a perpetuals DEX.
• DeFi Mechanics: Deep understanding of perpetual futures mechanics: funding rates, margin systems, liquidation engines, and PnL calculations.
• Production TVL: Track record of contracts handling significant TVL ($10M+) in production.
• Oracle Integration: Production experience with oracle integration (Chainlink, Pyth, or custom oracles).
• Frameworks: Experience with Hardhat, Foundry, or similar development frameworks.

Technical Expertise:

• Advanced Solidity optimization techniques and gas efficiency patterns.
• Expertise in smart contract security best practices and common vulnerability patterns.
• Experience coordinating external security audits.
• Understanding of Layer 2 scaling solutions (Arbitrum, Optimism, etc.).
• Proficiency with automated testing and continuous integration for smart contracts.

Soft Skills & Logistics:

• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight in a remote environment.
• Strong written communication for technical documentation and code reviews.
• Must be available for 4 hours daily overlap with Eastern Time (9 AM – 6 PM ET).

• Impact & Ownership: Be one of a small team building a protocol processing billions in monthly volume. You will own critical components and directly influence product direction and technical architecture.
• Technical Challenge: Work with cutting-edge oracle infrastructure and Layer 2 technology, tackling novel problems at the frontier of DeFi and TradFi convergence.
• Growth Trajectory: Join during an explosive growth phase with clear product-market fit and sustained traction.
• Team & Culture: Work with founders from world-class financial institutions; benefit from a remote-first culture, open-source practices, and transparent collaboration.
• Compensation: Competitive compensation package including equity/tokens.

Due to the high volume of applications we anticipate, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback to all candidates. If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We genuinely appreciate your interest and wish you the best in your job search.

Commitment to Equality and Accessibility:

At MLabs, we are committed to offer equal opportunities to all candidates. We ensure no discrimination, accessible job adverts, and providing information in accessible formats. Our goal is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for all. If you need any reasonable adjustments during any part of the hiring process or you would like to see the job-advert in an accessible format please let us know at the earliest opportunity by emailing [email protected].

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