Software Engineer - Low-Latency C++ - New Grad

Monad Labs is a venture-backed tech startup using low-latency optimization and distributed systems engineering to build the Monad blockchain, an ultra-high-performance smart contract platform with throughput that is orders of magnitude higher than any existing blockchain.

Founded by Jump Trading alums, our team works to build an optimal stack-based virtual machine that supports multithreaded computation, as well as an efficient Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) algorithm for maintaining consistent state across a distributed network.  The result is a blockchain with unparalleled performance, paving the way for much cheaper on-chain computation and much broader adoption of decentralized apps.

The Role

We are looking for software engineer new graduates with strong experience in performance engineering, low-level (especially kernel-level) programming, and/or distributed systems. Experience with crypto is not expected.

You will work closely with the rest of our team to design, build, and test innovations on different parts of the distributed system, such as mechanisms for transaction sequencing, propagation, and execution; signature verification; node recovery; historical state lookup, etc.

You'll be given a lot of responsibility, and you’ll work on high-impact problems that are core to our team’s mission. You will learn a lot by being part of a small, hyper-focused team with high engineering standards and coding practices. We think that you'll find the work very challenging and rewarding.

Note:  We use email for communications, please check your Spam filter for @monad.xyz or @greenhouse.io domains.

Who you are

You're graduating between December 2022 and June 2023 with a BS, masters, or doctorate (or equivalent) in computer science or a related field.

Required:

• You're fluent in C++ with excellent knowledge of lower-level details like memory management and multithreading
• You've challenged yourself to go beyond the required classes to take on courses where you felt you'd learn the most. Example topics (in our opinion): operating systems, compilers, cryptography, performance engineering, parallel computing, distributed algorithms
• You've worked on a large, challenging project
• You're resourceful and able to work fairly independently
• You value communication and collaboration
• You're interested in building high-value systems
• You’re excited about working in a startup, where you’ll wear many hats and be given significant responsibilities

Bonus:

• You’re experienced with kernel development
• You're experienced with fault-tolerant distributed systems
• You're experienced in compiler optimization
• You’ve contributed to open source projects
• You're interested in crypto

What you’ll be doing

• You'll be optimizing a high-performance multithreaded stack-based VM as well as ancillary functionality (data storage, computation metering, etc)
• You'll optimize a distributed system with a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus mechanism
• You'll identify bottlenecks through profiling and rigorous testing, and evaluate design choices for accelerating computation flow
• You'll design and implement architecture improvements
• You'll contributing to tools that help both our team and end users be more productive
• You'll use our tech stack: C++, go, clang, LLVM, gdb, perf, unix, git

Why work with us

Working at Monad Labs means doing challenging work on a high-impact problem with exceptional teammates.

Here are some of the people you’ll work with:

• James, performance engineering expert and system architect; previously designed and built ultra-low-latency systems for a top high-frequency trading team at Jump Trading;
• Ariq, expert at low-level firmware and software programming; previously a senior engineer at Arista Networks, where he served as lead maintainer on multiple linux kernel networking drivers for Arista EOS devices;
• Aashish, expert systems designer and hacker, previously the first engineer at Pattern Research, a leading crypto HFT firm, where he designed and built the entire trading stack from scratch; graduated from MIT at age 19

Why work with us?

• You’ll quickly develop your skills as a professional software engineer through meaningful and challenging responsibilities, combined with excellent mentorship from our team
• You’ll work on extremely challenging problems with massive potential impact
• You’ll work with and learn from a small, exceptional team
• You’ll receive a competitive compensation package with a competitive base salary and equity
• You’ll shape the culture as an early employee and make impactful contributions from day one
• You’ll be part of a flat, results-driven organization
• Your work will be deeply impactful, enabling much cheaper and more efficient decentralized computation and ultimately paving the way for new dapps that improve many people’s lives.