Remote Distributed Systems Engineer - Axiom ZK — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Axiom explicitly states that while their office is in NYC, they are open to remote candidates — making this a viable role for location-independent engineers, though NYC in-person is the strong preference. This suggests the role is remote-tolerant rather than remote-first, and async flexibility may be limited.
Timezone considerations: No explicit timezone requirement is stated, but collaborating with a NYC-based team (ET) will likely require significant overlap during US Eastern business hours (roughly 9am–6pm ET). Digital nomads in Lisbon (GMT+1) or Medellín (GMT-5) would face a manageable 5-hour or near-identical offset respectively. Bangkok (GMT+7) would be challenging due to a 12-hour gap.
Visa considerations: The job is US-focused and likely pays a US-market salary. Popular nomad destinations relevant to a US-salary earner include:
- Lisbon, Portugal: Portugal's Digital Nomad Visa supports remote workers with non-PT income. Cost of living is moderate (~$2,500–3,500/mo for a comfortable lifestyle).
- Medellín, Colombia: No dedicated nomad visa; tourist visas allow 90–180 days/year. Very low cost of living (~$1,500–2,500/mo).
- Mexico City, Mexico: Temporary resident visa available; similar time zone to US East Coast (CT/ET). ~$2,000–3,000/mo.
No specific travel perks (coworking stipend, meetup budget) are mentioned, which is worth clarifying at the interview stage.
About Us
Axiom is using zero-knowledge proofs to enable new types of verifiable and private software applications, starting with crypto and fintech. We are a small but incredibly strong team backed by the best investors in crypto. We're looking for exceptional people who are excited to work on challenging and impactful problems in a fast-paced environment. Our office is in NYC and working in person in NY is our strong preference, but we're open to remote candidates as well.
We recently released OpenVM, a performant and modular zkVM framework built for customization and extensibility. OpenVM allows developers to verify the correct execution of arbitrary computer programs in a flexible and performant way. We are building ZK-enabled products using OpenVM and supporting teams building on OpenVM.
The Role
We are looking for a distributed systems engineer to join a startup using zero-knowledge proofs to scale smart contract applications. You will be responsible for building Rust-based rollup nodes and sequencers to deliver zero-knowledge proof based products on-chain. Your work will require designing secure and efficient systems and making design choices to enable rapid development without sacrificing security.
We are looking for someone with strong engineering design skills, a security mindset, and the ability to design and implement blockchain protocols. We also value the ability to make pragmatic technology choices which empower our small team.
Who You Are
- You are fluent in Rust, C++, or a similarly performant backend language. We work primarily in Rust.
- You have experience deploying and monitoring high uptime applications to production in the cloud using orchestration and containerization (Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes).
- You have experience working within a large production codebase.
- You are extremely detail oriented and have a security mindset.
- You're a clear communicator and value collaboration.
- You have a bias towards action and an extremely strong work ethic.
Bonuses
- You have experience working with blockchain nodes like Geth, Reth, or similar.
- You have experience with low-level details of Ethereum.
- You have experience working in an adversarial or security-critical environment.
Why Work With Us
- You'll be working on groundbreaking tech that has the potential to be a key piece of infrastructure for the crypto industry.
- You'll receive a competitive salary with equity.
- You will work with and receive mentorship from an exceptional team.
Our Team
Our founders Yi Sun and Jonathan Wang met while studying math at Harvard and have been working on ZK since 2021. Together, they wrote some of the most performant ZK circuits for elliptic curve cryptography and Ethereum data reads before starting Axiom.
Before Axiom, Yi was a professor at UChicago Statistics and did a math PhD at MIT. He was previously an advisor for Gauntlet and worked at an HFT startup from inception to profitable trading. Jonathan published number theory research in top math journals and did a math PhD at UChicago.
The rest of our small but incredibly strong team includes alums of Applied Intuition, Coinbase, Color, Neon, Google, and Perplexity as well as math/CS PhDs and IMO/IPhO/Codeforces winners. We look forward to working with you!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this role fully remote or is in-person required?
What programming language does Axiom primarily use?
Is prior blockchain or ZK experience required?
Does Axiom offer equity as part of compensation?
What kind of team will I be joining at Axiom?
