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# Lead Specialty Software Engineer (Protocol Engineer)

- **Company:** PTR Global
- **Location:** Concord, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $145,600.0 - $166,400.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Digital Assets, Distributed Systems, Payment Systems, High-Frequency Trading, PostgreSQL, Liquibase, Blockchain, Software Engineering, System Programming, State Machines, Backend, Low Latency, Golang
- **Published:** October 8, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.dice.com/job-detail/5a56b04d-a386-48f9-8df7-9c38c57e1110

## About the Role

* 5 plus years of Specialty Software Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education.
 * 3 plus years of experience in backend or systems programming, with expert-level proficiency in Go (Golang)
 * 6 plus months of experience with Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
 * 1 plus year of experience with BFT consensus algorithms, P2P networking, and state replication; reliable, distributed systems experience.

Desired Qualifications:

 * Blockchain Core: Deep experience with Cosmos SDK and CometBFT. Comfort building custom modules and modifying consensus logic, not just deploying smart contracts.
 * Pedersen Commitments (Homomorphic encryption properties)
 * Zero-Knowledge Proofs (specifically Bulletproofs or Sigma protocols)
 * Math-to-Code: Demonstrated ability to read academic whitepapers/preprints and translate mathematical specifications into functioning code.
 * Experience with MPC (Multi-Party Computation) or Verifiable Secret Sharing (VSS) schemes.
 * Familiarity with the Ristretto255 curve or libraries like gnark-crypto.
 * Background in FinTech, payment systems, or high-frequency trading platforms.
 * Understanding of the Account Model vs. UTXO Model trade-offs in privacy-preserving ledgers.

Top Skills:

 * YugaByte/Postgres and/or Liquibase, * 4 plus years of Specialty Software Engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work or consulting experience, training, military experience, education.

## Description

* Client is seeking a Lead Specialty Software Engineer (Protocol Engineer) to contribute to a next-generation Digital Asset Platform designed to solve the most critical challenge in institutional finance: achieving strict regulatory compliance without compromising transaction confidentiality.
 * As a Lead Protocol Engineer, candidates will be responsible for architecting the core settlement engine.
 * Candidates will work at the intersection of distributed systems and applied cryptography, translating complex mathematical proofs into high-performance, production-grade Go code.

Responsibilities:

 * Core Protocol Development: Architect and build a custom blockchain application using Go, Cosmos SDK, and CometBFT (Tendermint)
 * Cryptographic Implementation: Implement and optimize privacy-preserving primitives, specifically Pedersen Commitments and Bulletproofs (Range Proofs), ensuring no trusted setup is required
 * Consensus Customization: Engineer custom ABCI++ extensions (specifically PrepareProposal and Vote Extensions) to implement an on-chain Multi-Party Computation (MPC) mixing network
 * State Machine Design: Design a custom KVStore state machine that manages homomorphic encrypted balances (Elliptic Curve points) instead of plaintext integers
 * Performance Engineering: Optimize cryptographic operations (scalar multiplication, point addition) for low latency and high throughput in a distributed environment
 * Auditing Infrastructure: Build secure off-chain query layers and \"view key\" mechanisms that allow for granular, permissioned regulatory auditing, * Consult on or participate in moderately complex initiatives and deliverables within Specialty Software Engineering and contribute to large-scale planning related to Specialty Software Engineering deliverables.
 * Review and analyze moderately complex Specialty Software Engineering challenges that require an in-depth evaluation of variable factors.
 * Contribute to the resolution of moderately complex issues and consult with others to meet Specialty Software Engineering deliverables while leveraging solid understanding of the function, policies, procedures, and compliance requirements.
 * Collaborate with client personnel in Specialty Software Engineering.