Research Cryptographer & Mathematician

Full-time/Company: Heliax

Heliax is a remote-first research and engineering organisation that develops open-source protocols and vertically integrated products, including the Anoma intent-centric distributed OS and Namada, a privacy-focused proof-of-stake L1 for interchain private assets.

Applicants must be based in Europe (including the UK) and willing to travel to Berlin for initial onboarding.

Responsibilities:

- Design new cryptographic protocols (e.g. shielded state sync) to meet specified information flow, security, and performance goals.
- Evaluate and analyse zkSNARK/zkSTARK systems and other cryptographic constructions for security, expressivity, and performance.
- Update, reimplement, and combine existing cryptographic protocols for proofs-of-concept and production use-cases.
- Produce comprehensive technical specifications and collaborate with engineers on implementations.
- Implement, review, and test cryptographic operations and protocols, primarily in Rust.

Requirements:

- Strong mathematical and/or cryptographic background (complexity theory, abstract algebra, protocol design).
- Expertise in constructive protocol design and analysis of distributed cryptographic protocols.
- Experience designing or detailing protocols in research papers, experimental projects, or thorough write-ups.
- Comfortable implementing and evaluating cryptographic code (Rust experience emphasized).

Nice to have:

- Published papers in mathematics, theoretical CS, or cryptography.
- Experience with distributed systems or OS architecture/design.
- Familiarity with Zerocash/Zexe/VeriZexe and related architectures.
- Academic qualifications in cryptography or mathematics.

Stack:

Rust, zkSNARKs, zkSTARKs, Halo2, ProtoStar, Risc0 zkVM, Arkworks, elliptic curves, hash functions

Benefits:

- Relocation and visa assistance to Germany (e.g. Berlin).
- Support for travel to Berlin for initial onboarding.

📩 Apply