Head of Security

Optimism • Full-time • Virginia, United States • $150k - $250k / year • 1d ago

About Us:

At OP Labs, we believe that Ethereum holds the key to solving some of the most critical coordination challenges facing humanity. From our early days as a research-focused group, we have been dedicated to scaling both Ethereum's technology and its core values.

Currently, the primary barrier to Ethereum's growth is its performance and scalability. We are committed to developing the most sophisticated solutions to overcome these challenges. Our work is conducted transparently under an MIT open-source license, as we firmly believe in the power of open-source innovation to drive progress.

As the creators of Optimism mainnet and the infrastructure that powers all OP-Stack chains, OP Labs is dedicated to enhancing Ethereum's performance exponentially. We operate as a Public Benefit Corporation, which allows us to align our mission with the greater public good, ensuring that the profits we generate contribute to funding Ethereum public goods. Our goal is to take meaningful steps toward a sustainable future for the internet.

Position Overview:

We are seeking a Head of Security who brings deep expertise in protocols, smart contracts, and the unique challenges of securing decentralized ecosystems. Reporting to the COO, this role will play a pivotal part in driving Optimism's security strategy. The ideal candidate will have strong ties to the crypto security community, potentially having worked with leading crypto audit firms, and will be comfortable navigating both strategic leadership and technical hands-on work.

What are the role responsibilities?

Strategy and Leadership: Oversee the security of the Optimism Collective and the entire Superchain security $XXB in assets.
Detection & Response: Develop robust threat detection and incident response capabilities, and stay up-to-date on emerging threats in the blockchain space.
Smart Contracts & Protocol Security: Lead security reviews of smart contracts, ensure protocols are secure, identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, and ensure compliance with evolving regulations.
Crypto Audit Expertise: Work with top crypto audit firms or internal audit teams to ensure the security of our systems, smart contracts, and infrastructure.
Decentralized Development: Build frameworks that help our open-source contributors ship secure code across the OP-Stack ecosystem.
Operations: Utilize runtime verification, static analysis, and other advanced tools to ensure security during both development and operational phases.

What skills do you bring?

Proven experience in security leadership roles, preferably in the blockchain or cryptocurrency industry.
Expertise in protocol design, smart contract security, and familiarity with formal verification techniques.
Experience working with or at top crypto audit firms, with a strong understanding of the audit process and security best practices.
Strong technical skills, including knowledge of automated security tools, fuzz testing, and other cutting-edge technologies.
Familiarity with Ethereum, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), and Layer 2 scaling solutions.
Understanding of cross-chain bridges and other critical decentralized infrastructure.
A track record of leading security teams in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, with excellent leadership and communication skills.

We are looking for a motivated security professional who is passionate about protecting the broader Ethereum ecosystem. The ideal candidate has a history of success in auditing smart contracts, working on protocol security, and building security teams in innovative, fast-moving environments.