Protocol Security Engineer at MatterLabs

About Matter Labs

Matter Labs builds zkSync, a credibly neutral, open source scaling stack and network on top of Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs to scale Ethereum without compromising security or decentralization. The team is mission driven, supported by a large community and significant funding, and focuses on advanced cryptography and scalable, secure blockchain infrastructure.

Role Overview

As a Protocol Security Engineer on the Security Team, you will blend hands-on security engineering with strategic influence on protocol design and implementation. You will help safeguard ZKsync core components including smart contracts, ZK circuits, and blockchain nodes, while contributing to security research, threat modeling, incident response, and embedding secure design practices across engineering teams.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Conduct threat modeling and internal reviews of Solidity contracts, blockchain state transition functions written in Rust, and other critical protocol components.
• Actively research and track the latest hacks, exploits, and attack vectors in the blockchain space, translating findings into actionable security improvements.
• Embed security best practices across development teams and influence secure design and implementation decisions.
• Take ownership of protocol components with a focus on secure architecture, implementation, and ongoing hardening.
• Participate in security investigations and incident response under time-sensitive, high-pressure conditions.

What We’re Looking For

• Curiosity and a hacker mindset - you want to understand how things break and how to prevent it.
• Strong security instincts and the ability to anticipate adversarial behaviors and attack surfaces.
• Familiarity with recent security incidents in the blockchain space and knowledge of mitigation and prevention techniques.
• Practical experience or familiarity with Solidity smart contracts, ZK circuits, or core blockchain protocol implementations is preferred.
• Comfort with protocol-level debugging and root-cause analysis.
• Proficiency or experience with strongly typed languages such as C++, Go, or Rust is valuable. Rust and Solidity are primary languages used across the codebase.
• Deep understanding of algorithms, data structures, and computational and memory complexity, with experience implementing data structures and algorithms from scratch.
• Fluent written and spoken English and strong communication skills for cross-team collaboration.

Nice to Haves

• Hands-on experience with Solidity smart contract security, ZK circuit design, or blockchain node internals.
• Experience contributing to protocol security, audits, or security tooling for blockchain systems.

Work Location

Global Remote - this role is open to remote applicants around the world.

How to Apply

Apply via the job listing on Matter Labs careers. The posting includes additional site protections and application details.