Senior Software Engineer

Common Prefix is seeking a full-time Senior Software Engineer.

Common Prefix is a blockchain research & development company. Blockchain technologies enable large-scale economic coordination through shared, programmable ledgers. Our mission is to solve the foundational scientific and engineering challenges standing in the way of mainstream adoption, particularly around interoperability, scalability, and usability.

We combine formal scientific research with production-grade engineering. Our team publishes in top-tier peer-reviewed venues and builds open-source infrastructure used across major blockchain ecosystems. We have contributed to advanced systems including Axelar, XRPL, Sui, and Flashbots, and are trusted partners to protocols building critical infrastructure.

Description

This is a full-time position for a Senior Software Engineer (typically 5+ years of experience). You will play a leading role in the design, implementation, and deployment of production blockchain systems that secure and move real economic value.

This role is well-suited for experienced software engineers who want to work on security-critical, distributed systems. Prior blockchain experience is welcome but not required; we provide structured onboarding and direct collaboration with senior engineers and scientists.

You will work closely with experienced engineers and researchers through hands-on collaboration, technical design discussions, and internal knowledge sharing. We value engineers who can reason from first principles, communicate clearly, and take ownership of complex systems.

The vast majority of our work is open source. You will contribute to and help shape widely used infrastructure by working on some of the most pioneering open source tooling in the blockchain ecosystem.

Responsibilities

In this role, you will work across the following areas:

• Blockchain software development

  • Lead the design and implementation of complex blockchain software components and subsystems
  • Write high-quality, production-ready code in multiple languages (e.g. Rust, Go, TypeScript, Solidity, Python)
  • Establish testing strategies and ensure correctness through unit, integration, and end-to-end tests
  • Identify and resolve bugs, performance issues, and security vulnerabilities
  • Review code across the team and set engineering quality standards
  • Collaborate with auditors to address findings in mission-critical systems

• Software lifecycle management and DevOps

  • Design prototypes and evolve them into production-grade systems
  • Lead or oversee deployments to testnets and mainnets
  • Contribute to reliability engineering, monitoring, and incident response
  • Improve infrastructure to reduce operational risk and eliminate single points of failure
  • Participate in on-call rotations for production systems, always with shared ownership and senior support

• Product and technical leadership

  • Own major features, projects, or workstreams end to end
  • Communicate with partners and stakeholders to clarify requirements and guide technical decisions
  • Mentor less-experienced engineers through reviews, pairing, and technical guidance

• Other engineering work

  • Develop internal tools and open-source software to support company and community projects

Requirements

The requirements for this position are:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Experience designing and maintaining large, complex software systems
• Strong understanding of system architecture, reliability, and performance
• Experience with networked systems and APIs
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

The following skills are appreciated but not required:

• Experience with blockchain systems (e.g. Ethereum, Cosmos, Bitcoin, Sui)
• Familiarity with Layer 2s, rollups, light clients, bridges, and DeFi
• Formal education in Computer Science or equivalent professional experience
• Understanding of cryptography or distributed systems theory
• A strong open-source contribution history
• Experience with Rust, Go, JavaScript/TypeScript, Solidity, or Python
• Peer-to-peer networking experience (e.g. libp2p, torrent)
• Experience with modern web technologies and protocols (e.g. HTTP, APIs)

What we offer

• Base compensation ranges from $80,000 to $160,000 per year before tax, depending on experience and scope of responsibility, and is not adjusted by location
• Equity grants and performance-based bonuses in addition to base compensation
• Unlimited vacations (typically ~30 days per year including public holidays), with appropriate planning
• Fully remote work, or the option to work from our offices in Athens, Greece
• Optional work travel to conferences and partner locations 2–3 times per year
• The opportunity to work with experienced scientists and engineers active in blockchains, cryptography, and distributed systems
• A diverse set of technically deep projects across major blockchain ecosystems
• Significant open-source contributions with real-world adoption
• High impact in a fast-growing company building foundational infrastructure
• A small, senior team that values first-principles thinking, correctness, and sustainable work practices, with a collaborative, low-ego engineering culture