Principal Engineer

Who we’re looking for

• Experience with Rust, and with developing secure and reliable code in modern programming languages similar to Rust, Swift, Kotlin, and Go.
• Experience building reliable, secure backend or systems-level software
• Ability to work from technical specifications
• Solid understanding of security fundamentals
• Experience with testing, debugging, and performance optimization
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving startup environment
• Experience with cryptography libraries or blockchain systems
• Deep knowledge of cryptography is not required, but a willingness to learn and an appreciation for the importance of security are essential.
• Familiarity with Zcash concepts
• Experience with mobile-integrated backends or SDKs
• Open-source contributions

What you’ll do

• We are seeking a pragmatic, high-output Rust engineer to build and maintain ZODL’s core infrastructure and wallet stack. This role focuses on shipping secure, reliable systems while collaborating closely with protocol and cryptography experts.
• Build and maintain Zallet (our CLI wallet) and Zcash’s Rust-based core libraries
• Implement protocol features based on existing specifications and guidance
• Developing and maintaining specifications to enhance, document, and support security analysis of the Zcash protocol, either led by ZODL or in collaboration with third-party developers.
• Develop wallet infrastructure and features
• Improve performance, reliability, and developer ergonomics of core systems
• Support downstream teams (e.g. Zodl mobile) with developing features, and investigating issues
• Participate in code reviews, testing, and release processes
• Respond to bugs and security issues with urgency

About the position

ZODL (Zcash Open Development Lab) is building the software necessary to onboard billions of users to Zcash. Created by the original inventors and developers of the Zcash protocol, we deliver world-class UX for ZEC on top of our core protocol work. Our product suite includes Zodl mobile (iOS and Android) with built-in cross-chain swaps, and Zallet, a full-node Zcash wallet written in Rust, built as a replacement for the zcashd wallet. On the horizon: Zodl Vault (a desktop wallet for multisig, inheritance, and institutional use cases), web-based wallets, and headless/agentic wallet infrastructure.