Staff Software Engineer, Blockchain Protocols

Build to Protect Civilization

TRM is a blockchain intelligence company that’s on a mission to build a safer world for billions of people. We’re a lean, high-impact team tackling some of the world’s most critical challenges, ranging from human trafficking and financial fraud to terrorist financing. We are builders who power governments, financial institutions, and crypto companies when the clock is running and the consequences are real. This is why every TRMer is a bet on our future and has the power to change our trajectory.

We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join our Blockchain Protocol team — a group that builds systems to analyze and instrument blockchain peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. The systems you build will surface hidden insights about how blockchain nodes communicate, propagate transactions, and behave under real-world network conditions.

You’ll work across network protocols, distributed systems, and large-scale data ingestion, designing software that collects, analyzes, and transforms node-level data into actionable intelligence.

The impact you’ll have here

• •Operate and scale blockchain nodes across multiple chains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, BSC) to enable deep network visibility
• •Research and instrument blockchain and network protocols to extract proprietary telemetry data.
• •Build and maintain distributed data-collection systems and ingestion pipelines (Python, Airflow, GCP).
• •Design and optimize message propagation, peer discovery, and re-org detection pipelines.
• •Collaborate with researchers and data engineers to turn raw network data into high-impact intelligence for TRM’s products.

What we’re looking for

• •Proven experience in distributed systems, data ingestion, or protocol engineering.
• •Strong programming skills in Python and at least one systems language (Rust, C++, or Go).
• •Experience working with network protocols (TCP/IP, libp2p, gRPC, RPCs) or operating large-scale data systems.
• •Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and orchestration tools (GCP, Kubernetes, Terraform, Airflow).
• •Understanding of network-level behaviors such as message propagation or synchronization.
• •Excellent verbal and written communication skills; clear documentation and succinct communication are very important.
• •Ability to work independently, be proactive, prioritize, communicate, and set and meet goals
• •Flexibility to coordinate across global time zones and an ability to work independently with minimal oversight
• •A passion for solving complex network and protocol challenges at scale, and building systems that are robust, performant, and secure

Bonus Points

• •Experience running or instrumenting blockchain nodes (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.).
• •Prior work with network observability or telemetry systems (Kafka, Arrow, gRPC).
• •Contributions to open-source networking or blockchain infrastructure projects.

Why TRM Labs

You’ll sit at the intersection of research, data, and engineering — designing systems that extract insights no public API exposes. Our team operates blockchain nodes at scale, instruments network behavior, and partners with data scientists to turn raw network telemetry into intelligence that helps build a safer financial system.

About TRM's Engineering Levels

Engineer: Responsible for helping to define project milestones and executing small decision independently with the appropriate tradeoffs between simplicity, readability, and performance. Provides mentorship to junior engineers, and enhances operational excellence through tech debt reduction and knowledge sharing.

Senior Engineer: Successfully designs and documents system improvements and features for an OKR/project from the ground up. Consistently delivers efficient and reusable systems, optimizes team throughput with appropriate tradeoffs, mentors team members, and enhances cross-team collaboration through documentation and knowledge sharing.

Staff Engineer: Drives scoping and execution of one or more OKRs/projects that impact multiple teams. Partners with stakeholders to set the team vision and technical roadmaps for one or more products. Is a role model and mentor to the entire engineering organization. Ensures system health and quality with operational reviews, testing strategies, and monitoring rigor.

Life at TRM

We build to protect civilization. That promise shows up in how we work every day.

TRM runs fast. Really fast. We’re a high-velocity team that expects ownership, clarity, and follow-through. People who thrive here are inspired by hard problems, experimentation, direct feedback. If it takes months elsewhere, it often ships here in days. If you are optimizing primarily for consistent work-life balance, use the interview process to pressure-test fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here.

We coach directly, assume positive intent, and play for the front of the jersey.

Leadership Principles

• •Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first, driving for speed, focus, and adaptability.
• •Master Craftsperson: We prioritize speed, high standards, and distributed ownership.
• •Inspiring Colleague: We value humility, candor, and a one-team mindset.

Want to learn more about how we interview at TRM Labs? Check out more about our leadership principles and hiring process here.

What You’ll Do Here

This work has teeth. At TRM, your week might include

• •Driving critical investigations that can’t wait for typical business hours.
• •Shipping products in days when others would schedule quarters.
• •Partnering with teams across time zones to deliver insights while the story is still unfolding.
• •Building new solutions from first principles when the playbook doesn’t yet exist.
• •Protecting victims and customers by tracing illicit activity and disrupting criminal networks.

Join our Mission

We look for people who want their work to matter, who build with speed and rigor, and who take pride in protecting others through their craft. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, apply anyway. We hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast.

Build to protect civilization. Let’s do it together.

Recruitment agencies

TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.

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