Research Cryptographer & Mathematician at Heliax – Remote Europe

 

Company: Heliax
Position: Research Cryptographer & Mathematician
Employment Type: Full-time
Location: Remote – Europe, including the UK
Onboarding: Berlin, Germany
Industry: Cryptography, Blockchain, Privacy & Open-Source Technology

Heliax is hiring a Research Cryptographer & Mathematician to join its remote-first team and contribute to the research, design and implementation of advanced cryptographic protocols.

This is a highly specialized opportunity for professionals with strong backgrounds in mathematics, cryptography, distributed systems and protocol design.

The successful candidate will work on cryptographic protocols and proof systems that support Heliax's open-source technologies, including Anoma and Namada.

Applicants must be based in Europe, including the UK, and willing to travel to Berlin, Germany for initial onboarding.

About Heliax

Heliax is a remote-first company focused on researching, developing, deploying and maintaining open-source protocols and mechanisms designed to address everyday needs.

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The company develops vertically integrated open-source products and networks, including Anoma, an intent-centric distributed operating-system architecture, and Namada, a privacy-focused proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain.

Its work sits at the intersection of cryptography, privacy, distributed systems, blockchain infrastructure and open-source technology.

About the Role

The Research Cryptographer & Mathematician will contribute to the design and development of new cryptographic protocols.

This is not a conventional software-development position. It requires the ability to reason about mathematical structures, security assumptions, information flows and protocol behavior before translating those ideas into practical implementations.

The successful candidate will work closely with engineers and researchers to turn cryptographic designs into proofs of concept and production-ready systems.

Key Responsibilities

The Research Cryptographer & Mathematician will be responsible for several areas of cryptographic research and implementation.

Design New Cryptographic Protocols

The successful candidate will design new cryptographic protocols based on specific information-flow, security and performance requirements.

This includes:

• Understanding desired security properties.
• Designing protocols that satisfy defined information-flow requirements.
• Evaluating performance and scalability considerations.
• Identifying potential weaknesses and attack vectors.
• Developing practical approaches suitable for implementation.

Candidates should therefore be comfortable moving from theoretical requirements to concrete cryptographic constructions.

Evaluate Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems

A major part of the role involves researching and evaluating modern zero-knowledge proof technologies.

The candidate may work with systems such as:

• Halo2.
• ProtoStar.
• Risc0 zkVM.
• zkSNARKs.
• zkSTARKs.

The evaluation process will consider factors including:

• Security.
• Expressivity.
• Performance.
• Suitability for specific applications.
• Implementation complexity.

Experience with zero-knowledge proof systems will therefore be particularly valuable.

Develop and Combine Cryptographic Protocols

The role will also involve updating, reimplementing and combining existing cryptographic protocols.

These implementations may be used for:

• Proofs of concept.
• Research experiments.
• Protocol validation.
• Production applications.

The successful candidate will need to understand existing cryptographic constructions and determine how they can be adapted to solve new technical problems.

Technical Specifications

Research alone will not be the entire focus of the position.

The candidate will also produce detailed technical specifications describing protocol designs.

These specifications will help engineering teams understand:

• How the protocol works.
• What security assumptions it relies on.
• How different components interact.
• What implementation requirements need to be satisfied.
• How the system should be tested and evaluated.

The candidate will collaborate closely with engineers throughout the implementation process.

Cryptographic Implementation

The position includes hands-on programming and code review.

The successful candidate will:

• Implement cryptographic operations and protocols.
• Review cryptographic implementations.
• Test cryptographic code.
• Work primarily with Rust.
• Collaborate with engineers on production implementations.
• Help identify implementation-level security risks.

Strong programming skills are therefore important alongside theoretical knowledge.

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Requirements

Applicants should have a strong mathematical and/or cryptographic background.

Relevant areas may include:

• Complexity theory.
• Abstract algebra.
• Cryptographic protocol design.
• Mathematical cryptography.
• Distributed cryptographic protocols.

Candidates should also have:

• Expertise in constructive protocol design.
• Strong ability to analyze distributed cryptographic protocols.
• Demonstrable examples of protocol-design work.
• Experience represented through research papers, experiments, previous projects or detailed technical write-ups.
• Experience implementing or evaluating cryptographic code.
• Preferably, experience programming in Rust.

The role requires someone capable of both theoretical reasoning and practical implementation.

Preferred Qualifications

Heliax lists several additional qualifications that can strengthen an application.

These include:

• Published papers in mathematics, theoretical computer science or cryptography.
• Experience with distributed systems.
• Experience with operating-system architecture.
• Experience with Zerocash, Zexe, VeriZexe or related architectures.
• Academic qualifications in cryptography or mathematics.

Candidates with a combination of academic research and practical cryptographic engineering experience may be particularly well suited to the position.

Technology Stack

The role involves advanced cryptographic and blockchain technologies, including:

Rust | zkSNARKs | zkSTARKs | Halo2 | ProtoStar | Risc0 zkVM | Arkworks | Elliptic Curves

Applicants should highlight relevant experience with these technologies or closely related cryptographic systems.

Who Should Apply?

This opportunity is designed for highly specialized professionals rather than entry-level developers.

Potential candidates include:

• Research Cryptographers.
• Cryptography Engineers.
• Mathematical Cryptographers.
• Cryptographic Researchers.
• Zero-Knowledge Proof Researchers.
• Applied Cryptographers.
• Theoretical Computer Scientists.
• Blockchain Protocol Researchers.
• Security Researchers with cryptography expertise.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate their technical capabilities through research papers, academic work, open-source contributions, experiments, projects or detailed technical documentation.

Location Requirements

One of the most important requirements is the candidate's location.

Applicants must be based in Europe, including the United Kingdom.

Although Heliax operates as a remote-first company, successful candidates must also be willing to travel to Berlin, Germany for initial onboarding.

This means applicants based outside Europe, including candidates in Africa, Asia or North America, should not assume that the position is globally remote.

Benefits

Heliax offers relocation assistance to Germany, which may include visa assistance for eligible candidates.

The opportunity also provides the chance to work on open-source technologies involving advanced cryptography, privacy and decentralized systems.

For researchers and engineers interested in zero-knowledge proofs and privacy-preserving blockchain infrastructure, the role could provide exposure to highly specialized technical challenges.

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How to Apply

Interested candidates should review the requirements carefully and submit their application through Heliax's official careers page.

Official Application: 

Applicants should highlight relevant cryptography research, protocol-design projects, publications, open-source contributions and cryptographic software-development experience.

Candidates with Rust, zkSNARK, zkSTARK, elliptic-curve or zero-knowledge proof experience should make these qualifications clearly visible in their applications.

Conclusion

The Research Cryptographer & Mathematician position at Heliax is an advanced opportunity for professionals who want to work on cutting-edge cryptographic protocols and privacy-focused decentralized technologies.

The role combines mathematical research, cryptographic protocol design, zero-knowledge proof evaluation and hands-on Rust development, making it particularly suitable for candidates with both theoretical and practical expertise.

Because the position requires candidates to be based in Europe, including the UK, and to travel to Berlin for initial onboarding, eligible European cryptographers and mathematicians should carefully review the requirements before applying.

Qualified candidates with demonstrable protocol-design experience and a strong foundation in mathematics or cryptography are encouraged to apply.