Protocol Security Engineer

Who we are → About Matter Labs

At Matter Labs, we believe freedom drives progress and prosperity. Our mission is to advance freedom for all — through mass adoption of crypto.

To make that real, we’re building ZKsync, a verifiable blockchain network secured by zero‑knowledge proofs. Backed by over $250 million in funding from some of the world’s smartest investors , we move fast, ship often, and judge ourselves by the results we create.

More than 20 teams already run or are building custom ZKsync chains on our network, from crypto leaders like Crypto.com, Abstract, and Lens, to global brands such as Deutsche Bank and Xsolla.

Protocol Security Engineer

We are seeking a Protocol Security Engineer to join our Security Team. This role blends hands-on security work with the opportunity to influence protocol security from the earliest stages of development. You’ll focus on safeguarding ZKsync’s core components—smart contracts, ZK circuits, and blockchain nodes—while staying at the forefront of security research and industry best practices.

This role is ideal for someone who is curious, thrives on breaking systems, and wants to apply that mindset ethically in a high-stakes environment.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Intentionally breaking things — conducting threat modeling and internal reviews of Solidity contracts, blockchain state transition functions (Rust), and other critical systems

• Tracking the latest hacks, exploits, and attack vectors across the industry, and translating lessons learned into actionable security improvements

• Embedding security best practices across development teams and influencing secure design

• Taking ownership of protocol components with a focus on secure architecture and implementation

• Participating in security investigations and incident response, often under time-sensitive and high-pressure conditions

What We’re Looking For

• Curiosity & hacker mindset — you want to know how things break, not just how they work

• Strong security instincts with the ability to anticipate adversarial behaviors

• Familiarity with recent security incidents in the blockchain space and knowledge of prevention techniques

• Practical experience with Solidity smart contracts, ZK circuits, or core blockchain protocols (preferred but not required)

• Comfort with protocol-level debugging and root-cause analysis

• Proficiency in strongly typed languages (e.g., C++, Scala, Go); Rust and Solidity are our primary languages, but prior experience with them is not mandatory

• Deep understanding of algorithms, data structures, and their computational/memory complexities

• Experience implementing data structures and algorithms from scratch

• Fluent written and spoken English

Work model & pay

• Remote‑first: work wherever you’re most effective; optional travel to team or industry events. Ideally East Coast or European time zone.

• Freedom & ownership culture: no time tracking, minimum bureaucracy—only results matter.

For more on how we work, check out our Team Handbook.

Benefits snapshot

• Competitive compensation, equity, and token package

• Premium health, dental, and vision coverage

• 16 weeks paid parental leave

• Flexible paid time off plus company‑wide closure weeks

• $2 000 equipment stipend & $300 monthly co‑working allowance

[See full benefits]