Research Engineer

Tempo is a layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoins and real-world payments, born from Stripe’s experience in global payments and Paradigm’s expertise in crypto tech.

Tempo’s payment-first design provides a scalable, low-cost predictable backbone that meets the needs of high-volume payment use cases. Our goal is to move money reliably, cheaply, and at scale. Our north star is simplicity for users: fintechs, traditional banks, merchants, platforms, and anyone else looking to move their payments into the 21st century.

We're building Tempo with design partners who are global leaders in AI, e-commerce, and financial services: Anthropic, Coupang, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Mercury, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, Visa, and more.

We’re a team of crypto-optimists, building the infrastructure needed to bring real, substantial economic flows onchain. Our team primarily works in-person out of our San Francisco and NYC offices. We like to move fast and swing for the fences — join us!

The Role

This person would work closely with researchers at Tempo, Paradigm, Stripe, and our design partners to invent the future of the Tempo protocol.

Responsibilities

• Design new protocol-level features to solve problems like privacy, capital efficiency, and scaling

• Pressure-test ideas with the rest of the team and the community

• Prototype reference implementation into new features and ship into production

• Explain novel inventions to users, partners, and the world

Qualifications

• Experience with protocol research on topics like consensus, scaling, cryptography, liquidity, and MEV

• Demonstrated experience shipping production-level features for DEXs, L1s, L2s, or other onchain products.

• Ability to write, test, and optimize Solidity code.

• Deep understanding of EVM blockchains, including features like account abstraction and gas metering

• Interest in using crypto to solve real-world problems around payments

Attributes

• Razor-sharp thinker with precise command of language

• Concise, evidence-based storytelling ability

• Excellent organizational and logistical skills

• Intense curiosity and open-mindedness

• Scrappiness; willingness to roll up sleeves

• Growth mindset