# Applied Cryptography Engineer at Matter Labs

At [Matter Labs](https://matter-labs.io/), we are building **ZK Sync**: technology for scalable smart contracts with privacy, secured by the latest generation of [zero-knowledge proofs](https://github.com/matter-labs/awesome-zero-knowledge-proofs).

The mission of ZK Sync is to scale public permissionless blockchains (such as Ethereum) to millions of users in a completely trustless manner -- relying on pure Math. Succinct zero-knowledge proofs are currently the only viable way to achieve this goal, and we are proud to be one of a few companies in the world with a strong expertise in this field.

This is an extremely ambitious and technologically challenging task with a lot of unknowns. However, if we succeed, in a few years it can have a similar impact on the global trade and finance as Skype had on the telecom industry.

You can learn more about ZK Sync [here](https://medium.com/matter-labs/introducing-zk-sync-the-missing-link-to-mass-adoption-of-ethereum-14c9cea83f58).

## The Role

We are looking for talented cryptographers or developers with strong math background to join our core team. Your task scope will include design and implementation of the latest zero-knowledge proof systems and cryptographic protocols (SNARKs, STARKs, Bulletproofs, etc).

You will have a chance to attend major cryptography conferences and work with the world's top scientists in the field.

Task complexity ranges from implementing [Poseidon hash function](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/458.pdf) to building a full ZK proof system like [RedShift](https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/1400.pdf).

## Your Profile

- Strong background in math / cryptography / information security (although most people in our crypto team hold a PhD in cryptography or physics, we do not strictly require a formal academic degree).
- Proficiency in Rust, C++, Golang or Python. We are working primarily with Rust, but prior experience with this language is not mandatory.
- Ownership- and results-driven mindset.

We expect you to independently conduct research in your area of ownership. Please only apply if you feel capable to implement protocols similar to the ones mentioned above on your own from analyzing the scientific papers.

## The Offer

We offer above-market compensation plus equity options.

There are options to work from our offices in Berlin/Kiev or remotely.

We have a small focused team. No time tracking, minimum bureaucracy, only results matter. We’ll provide you with anything you need to learn, grow and be more productive.

All our code is [open source](https://github.com/matter-labs).

## About us

Matter Labs was born out of values of freedom, self-ownership, privacy and decentralization, which the founding team is taking very seriously.

Our mid-term goal is to bring 100x to 1000x more transactions to Ethereum. The grand vision is to enable practical privacy for smart contracts and to scale crypto experience to millions of people -- all of it without compromises on security and censorship-resistance.

Our work was [awarded with a grant](https://medium.com/matter-labs/grant-from-the-ethereum-foundation-for-matter-labs-64338f3dd938) from the Ethereum Foundation. Recently we [raised a $2M seed round](https://www.coindesk.com/startup-bringing-zero-knowledge-proofs-to-ethereum-raises-2-million).

## Contact

Please shoot us your CV with a brief cover letter to [e-mail]