Senior Software Engineer

Category Labs • New York, NY

12d

About The Position

Category Labs (formerly known as Monad Labs) is a team of systems engineers and researchers focused on advancing decentralized technology. We are developing Monad, a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, with its public mainnet now live. The core software includes a parallel-execution EVM, a custom state database, and a BFT consensus client, all developed openly. This role involves researching, designing, and building core improvements to the Monad protocol, focusing on distributed algorithms, cryptography, and consensus mechanisms. The ideal candidate will leverage prior experience in distributed systems or blockchain engineering to contribute to a small, high-performing team.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of software engineering experience in Rust, C++, or C.
• Significant experience building performant systems from scratch, such as databases, device drivers, or embedded systems.
• Excellent instincts for software architecture, memory management, and performance optimization and profiling tools.
• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
• Value communication and collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement core improvements to the consensus mechanism, gossip protocol, state synchronization algorithm, leader election protocol, etc.
• Devise experiments to test worst-case scenarios, and iterate on designs based on results.
• Design components considering the behavior of other blockchain systems such as rollups, bridges, or staking systems.
• Build performant system components from scratch in C++ or Rust.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity package
• Private health insurance options
• Flexible paid time off
• Monthly wellness reimbursement
• Paid parental leave
• World-class benefits package with 100% paid medical, dental, and vision insurance including 75% coverage for dependents and HSA + FSA options (US employees)
• 401(k) with company match (US employees)
• Lunch and dinner stipend (in-office NYC)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior