Solana Program Engineer at Solana

Solana Program Engineer

The Solana Foundation is a non-profit based in Zug, Switzerland, dedicated to accelerating adoption, decentralization, and security of the Solana network. Solana is a high-performance blockchain that delivers fast, low-cost user experiences while preserving security. The Foundation partners with internal contributors and ecosystem teams to advance core infrastructure, developer tooling, and open source standards across the Solana ecosystem.

The opportunity

We are seeking Solana Program Engineers to join high-impact teams across the ecosystem, with an emphasis on developers who have built or want to build cutting-edge DeFi protocols on Solana. This is an open application to express interest in one of several project teams. Selected candidates will be matched to projects that fit their skills and interests, with opportunities ranging from full-time roles to grant-based collaborations.

Areas of focus

• Advanced DeFi protocols - work on CLOBs, AMMs, lending markets, margin and perps, bonding curves, structured products, liquidation engines, and oracle integrations.
• Core infrastructure and tooling - contribute to indexers, custom RPCs, Anchor or Pinocchio tooling, and protocol-level improvements such as state compression and account metering.
• On-chain applications and middleware - build smart contract wallets, programmable access, gasless relayers, session keys, token launch frameworks, real-world asset registries, DePIN coordination systems, and payment rails.

What you will do

• Build high-performance, production-grade Solana programs in Rust, using Anchor or native approaches.
• Design and implement DeFi protocol primitives, integrations, and on-chain logic that meet real user needs.
• Collaborate with product and ecosystem teams to iterate quickly from 0 to 1 and gather feedback from real users.
• Contribute to open source, improve developer tooling, and help raise the standards of Solana development across the ecosystem.

Who you are

• 2+ years of experience building and shipping Solana programs, with hands-on familiarity with Solana's runtime (SVM), SPL tokens, program-derived addresses, and Anchor.
• Proven track record building or contributing to DeFi protocols, on-chain mechanics, or other production on-chain systems.
• Good understanding of performance trade-offs on Solana, including state compression, account metering, and program optimization.
• Enjoy working in fast, startup-like environments, and comfortable taking ownership and iterating quickly.
• Passion for DeFi, open source collaboration, and improving developer experiences for the ecosystem.

Desired background

• Experience with Solana-native DeFi projects such as OpenBook, Jupiter, MarginFi, Orca, or Meteora is a plus.
• Prior contributions to client-side tooling, Anchor frameworks, or protocol-level libraries are valued.

Who we welcome

If you are a Rust engineer excited to work on the bleeding edge of Solana, whether you have already deployed programs or are looking to level up, we want to hear from you. Submit your information and the Foundation will reach out as suitable opportunities arise across the ecosystem.

How to express interest

Submit the application information on the job page. Candidates who match project needs will be contacted for next steps. The Solana Foundation may engage candidates for full-time or grant-based work depending on team requirements and alignment.

Notes

This posting reflects multiple possible engagements across the Solana ecosystem and is intended to discover talented engineers for future projects. The Foundation supports open collaboration, and many roles will involve community interaction and open source contributions.