Head of Security

Optimism is a Collective of companies, communities and citizens working together to build a more equitable internet. Our vision for this citizen-governed network: a composable, unified constellation of blockchains that can support internet-level activity; powered by the MIT-licensed open source OP Stack.

To date, the Optimism Collective is defined by its focus on scaling Ethereum and funding public goods. We’ve processed hundreds of millions of transactions and are responsible for the largest ongoing public goods funding program in existence.

The Optimism Foundation is looking for a Head of Security to take ownership of the Security landscape for the Optimism Collective. The ideal candidate will be crypto native and responsible for supervising all security matters across our Collective. Above all else, they will appreciate and be excited by the depth of security challenges such as this one at Optimism.

This Role Is Unique The Following Ways

• Decentralized governance: Our governance system is responsible for approving upgrades that affect OP Chains across the entire Superchain ecosystem. The Head of Security will work alongside our governance team to build processes and code to ensure that:
• Governance outcomes are credible, reliable, and lead to secure upgrades in production.
• Superchain security offerings are reliable and accessible to all customers. This includes features like the Superchain Defense Fund, a shared pool of funding to secure proof challenges across the superchain, or Emergency Pause procedures to respond to incidents with the shared Superchain bridge.
• Core dev accountability and empowerment: Optimism is not just one company – we are a Collective of teams and contributors. The Head of Security will be able to build their own team, but will also be expected to work across multiple companies to coordinate talent and resources towards building, securing, and maintaining a production system which manages billions in assets. This includes:
• Ensuring that the individual practices of each core dev can conform to the Optimism Collective’s world-class bar for security.
• Ensuring every feature merged into production meets Optimism’s requirements for safe code.
• Empowering functions within Optimism Governance such as the Developer Advisory Board, or Security Council to make easy, transparent assessments of the protocol upgrades and security practices.
  

What are the role responsibilities?

• Strategy: Oversee the security of the Optimism Collective and the entire Superchain, securing billions in assets.
• Leadership: Build a security culture for the Collective through in-depth risk modeling, audits, and the application of best-in-class practices.
• Shift Left Practices: Ensure ongoing and consistent secure code deployment using shift left practices to spot threats and potential issues ahead of time.
• Detection & Response: Develop robust threat detection and incident response capabilities, and stay up-to-date on emerging threats in the blockchain space.
• Secure Decentralized Development: Build and implement frameworks that help our external, open-source contributors ship secure code that meets our security guidelines.
• Crypto Audit Expertise: Work with top crypto audit firms or internal audit teams to ensure the security of our systems, smart contracts, and infrastructure.
• The Collective: Build and implement security protocols that support our Collective operating model, taking into account our governance systems, open-source collaborators and the need for ongoing proactive security forecasting and modelling for all new chain deployments.
  
  

What skills do you bring?

• Proven security leadership experience, preferably at the cutting edge of the blockchain or cryptocurrency industry.
• Deep expertise in security audit processes and best-in-class practices in the blockchain or cryptocurrency industry. Ideally with billions of dollars at stake.
• A strong knowledge of the audit landscape for crypto security, with extensive relevant security tool experience.
• Expertise in protocol design, smart contract security, and familiarity with formal verification techniques.
• Familiarity with Ethereum, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and Layer 2 scaling solutions and the security concerns they encounter now and are most likely to encounter in the future.
• Ability to own cross-functional projects from ideation to launch, collaborating with stakeholders across a variety of backgrounds and teams.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to a variety of audiences.
  
  

Security is at the forefront of our plans for the future of the Collective. Come help us build the global adoption of the Optimism protocol!

What You'll Like About Us

• We take care of our employees. Competitive compensation, fully paid medical, dental, and vision, and a 401K match.
• We take pride in the accomplishments of our teammates and support each other in doing the best work of our careers.
• Our team is a diverse group of people from varied backgrounds. We cherish our eclecticism and consider it a great strength.
• We’re fully remote, deeply engaged, highly skilled, and like to have fun.
• We think long-term. Our founders have been scaling Ethereum since 2015.