Senior Cryptography Engineer

What We're Building

Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are critical to the future of blockchain scaling, interoperability, and privacy, but are too complex for most developers today. Succinct’s mission is to make ZKPs simple and accessible for all builders.

Our core product is SP1, a breakthrough zkVM (zero-knowledge virtual machine) that enables developers to generate ZK proofs from normal code (like Rust) with state-of-the-art performance.

To support SP1, we’ve built the Succinct Prover Network -- a protocol on Ethereum that coordinates a decentralized network of provers for universal ZK proof generation. This lets developers outsource proving to a global, competitive marketplace of provers.

Our infrastructure is already in production with many of the best teams in crypto:

• Polygon is using SP1 to build AggLayer and Katana

• Celestia and Avail use our network to secure Ethereum bridges

• Mantle ($2B TVL) is using it to become the world’s largest ZK Layer 2

• And many more, including Celo, Interchain (IBC V2), Hibachi, Lido, Galxe, Taiko, Sovereign, and others

zkVMs are now a key part of Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, and Succinct is at the forefront -- delivering real-world impact, meaningful revenue, and some of the most technically ambitious work in ZK.

We’ve raised $55M across Seed and Series A from Paradigm, and we're a small, high-performing team focused on building deeply technical products with real-world adoption.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced cryptography research engineer to join our team to continually improve SP1 and maintain its position as the most performant zkVM. In this role you will:

• Identify and improve any performance bottlenecks in SP1 (at the software or proof system level)

• Design new algorithms and arguments at the proof system level that improve performance

• Keep up to date with the latest advances in proof systems (reading papers) and analyze their tradeoffs with SP1 in mind.

You will spend some of your time reading the latest research and producing new research, and some time coding and prototyping ideas alongside the rest of the ZK team. We are looking for someone with a deep understanding of cryptography as well as sufficient coding ability. Check out SP1 here: https://github.com/succinctlabs/sp1

Qualifications

• Deep experience developing ZK proving systems and/or zkVMs

• Strong mathematical and cryptography background and deep knowledge of different proof system families (especially STARKs/FRI)

• Basic familiarity with Rust and/or another programming language used in implementation of new ZK proving systems

• Operate with high agency and an ownership mindset

• Strong communication and collaboration skills

Nice to have

• Familiarity with optimized systems programming and VMs

• Strong proficiency with Rust

Location

Everyone on our team is located in San Francisco and works together in-person. Ideally, we’re looking for someone who enjoys in-person work and is already in San Francisco or willing to relocate (we can cover relocation costs). For senior candidates who are an exceptional fit, we’d consider a remote position as long as you’re available to onboard in-person for the first few months.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and equity package

• Full health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

• Daily lunch and dinner at the office

• Travel to industry events and conferences (company-paid)

Not Sure You’re 100% Qualified?

That’s okay -- if you’re passionate about ZK, love to learn fast, and are excited by our mission, we’d love to hear from you.