Protocol Engineer, Smart Contracts & Oracle Data

About Chronicle Labs
Chronicle builds decentralized oracle infrastructure that delivers verifiable data to DeFi and tokenized asset applications. We started in 2017 as the oracle for MakerDAO, now Sky, and today our oracles secure more than $15 billion in collateral across major chains. Our work spans DeFi, tokenized assets, institutional oracle infrastructure, and Proof of Asset systems. We are scaling our engineering team to support new chains, new oracle products, and more demanding production use cases across both crypto-native and institutional environments.
The Role
We are looking for a Protocol Engineer with a strong smart contract focus.
This is not a narrow Solidity-only role. Smart contract work is central to the position, but in a startup oracle team, on-chain engineering also includes chain research, deployments, audits, protocol analysis, production support, off-chain data flows, and operational tooling. You will work on EVM smart contracts, oracle deployments, audit cycles, DeFi protocol analysis, and the data models that help turn protocol state into reliable oracle values.
Contract work comes in waves around new features, audits, deployments and security reviews. During those periods, on-chain work is the priority. Between those cycles, you will support DeFi protocol research, Proof of Asset methodology, data model design, deployment workflows and production investigations. This role is a good fit if you like smart contracts, but also enjoy understanding how protocols work end to end. It is not a good fit if you only want to write Solidity and avoid operational or off-chain context. This is an individual contributor role with meaningful ownership and close collaboration across engineering.
Location and Hours
We are a remote-first team. Candidates should be based in, or able to reliably work with, Central European working hours. Strong overlap with CET/CEST business hours is expected.
What You Will DoSmart Contracts and On-chain Engineering
Write, test, deploy, configure and maintain EVM smart contracts for Chronicle oracle systems
Support deployments and upgrades across EVM chains and L2 environments
Review smart contract changes for correctness, security, maintainability and operational impact
Support audit preparation, audit response, remediation and post-deployment checks
Research new chains, L2s, hard forks, EIPs and EVM changes
Build proof-of-concepts for new on-chain components and help move successful designs toward production
Optimize for safety, readability and gas efficiency, in that order
Document contract behavior, assumptions, deployment steps and operational risks
Protocol Analysis and Oracle Methodology
Analyze DeFi protocols, vaults, pools, lending markets, staking systems, collateral models and token accounting
Understand how protocol mechanics affect oracle correctness
Translate protocol behavior into data requirements, assumptions and calculation logic
Identify edge cases and failure modes before they become production issues
Support methodology design for Proof of Asset, reserves, balances, NAV, AUM and reconciliation use cases
Help keep oracle methodology clear, reviewable and maintainable
Off-chain and Operational Engineering
Work with Go-based services, Python tooling, deployment scripts and operational workflows where needed
Support data model implementation and source/origin integrations for oracle feeds
Help debug issues across contracts, APIs, data sources, transformation logic and oracle outputs
Support deployment registers, configuration tracking and production readiness checks
Work with WASM-based or modular execution environments where relevant
Help improve traceability between protocol research, implementation, deployment and production behavior
Security and Production Readiness
Apply a strong security mindset to smart contracts, cryptographic assumptions, data models and production systems
Use applied cryptography concepts in practical engineering work, including signatures, hashes, key management and common attack scenarios
Think about how systems fail, not only how they work
Support internal reviews, audit evidence, customer security reviews and institutional due diligence when needed
Make assumptions explicit before production use
Write clear technical documentation and keep it current
What We Are Looking For
Strong practical experience with Solidity and EVM smart contracts
Good understanding of EVM internals, including storage, gas, calldata, events and transaction execution
Experience with Foundry or comparable smart contract tooling
Strong CS fundamentals
Good applied cryptography fundamentals. You should understand signatures, hashing, key exchange, key management and common attack patterns at a practical level
Security-focused mindset and interest in smart contract review
Good understanding of DeFi mechanics, including pools, vaults, lending, staking, collateral and token accounting
Ability to reason from protocol mechanics to data requirements and calculation logic
Practical backend literacy, preferably with Go, Python, Rust or similar tooling
Ability to work independently, ask good questions early and deliver within agreed timelines
Clear written English and strong documentation habits
You Will Stand Out If
You have contributed to production smart contracts
You have audited or reviewed EVM contracts, including competitive audits or public security work
You know Solidity libraries such as OpenZeppelin, Solmate or Solady
You understand lower-level EVM concepts and can reason about gas, storage layout, calldata, bytecode-level behavior and contract optimization when needed
You follow current EVM topics such as L2 fragmentation, blobs, account abstraction, precompiles and recent hard forks
You have worked with oracle systems, DeFi integrations, Proof of Asset systems, reserves reporting or tokenized asset data flows
You have experience with Go services, Python tooling, WASM runtimes or modular execution environments
You have worked with deployment automation, deployment registers or production configuration tracking
You have worked with Solana or other non-EVM ecosystems
You can move at startup speed without cutting corners on production safety and security
What Success Looks Like After 12 Months
You have contributed to smart contract changes that reached production
You have supported at least one audit or security review cycle
You have helped with deployments or upgrades across EVM environments
You have built enough system knowledge to review and improve contract assumptions, deployment configuration and production readiness
You have contributed to DeFi protocol analysis or Proof of Asset methodology
You have worked effectively across on-chain and off-chain boundaries
You are trusted to own smaller protocol changes independently, with review
Hiring Process
CV review
Initial screening with our Operations team
Interview with Engineering leadership
Technical interview focused on on-chain experience, EVM knowledge and smart contract reasoning
Technical interview focused on security fundamentals, applied cryptography, operational experience and protocol analysis
Identity and location verification for final-stage candidates
Because we operate security-sensitive infrastructure, final-stage candidates complete identity and location verification as part of our standard hiring process
What We Offer
Production oracle infrastructure used across DeFi and tokenized asset ecosystems
Direct exposure to smart contract security, audits and deployments
Work across on-chain systems, oracle methodology and production data flows
An experienced, globally distributed engineering team
Competitive compensation package
Equity participation
Flexible payment options, including USD, EUR and USDC
6 weeks vacation
Remote-first environment
Flexible working schedule
Annual company offsites
How to Apply
We only consider applications sent directly by candidates, either through LinkedIn's Apply button or by email to careers@chroniclelabs.org. We don't accept CVs from agencies or third parties for this role.
Fake recruiter outreach is common in crypto, so if anyone contacts you about this role from anywhere other than LinkedIn or a @chroniclelabs.org address, don't download files or run code they send you.

Work arrangement
Yes