About Vac

Vac builds public good protocols for the decentralised web. We do applied research based on which we build protocols, libraries and publications.

The role

We are seeking an experienced Distributed Systems Evaluation Engineer to join the Vac DST team. This role focuses on rigorously assessing the performance and reliability of IFT projects at scale. You’ll be responsible for designing and executing comprehensive evaluation strategies, leveraging both large-scale lab deployments and protocol behaviour modelling scripts. Your expertise will be crucial in analysing these complex distributed systems, automating intricate test scenarios, and providing in-depth insights into system behaviours.

Working closely with cross-functional teams, you’ll troubleshoot complex issues and translate technical data into actionable recommendations. Proficiency in containerisation, cloud technologies, and distributed systems principles is essential.

This position offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on the robustness and scalability of IFT projects, contributing to the development of next-generation decentralised technologies.

Key responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain sophisticated tools for analysing distributed systems at scale, ensuring robust and efficient testing processes.
• Orchestrate and automate large-scale deployments to rigorously validate the functionality, performance, and scalability of complex distributed systems.
• Identify, document, reproduce, and troubleshoot intricate issues in distributed environments, collaborating closely with IFT project teams to resolve challenges.
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of IFT project protocols and components to provide insightful analyses that drive improvements and inform decision-making.
• Create and maintain scripts that model protocol behaviour, utilising these models to validate and sanity-check large-scale deployment runs.
• Work with Docker, Kubernetes, and POSIX-like systems
• You ideally will have
• Solid experience with scripting languages like Python.
• Experience with statistical analysis tools, like pandas, seaborn.
• Experience with systems programming languages like Nim, Go, Rust.
• Understanding of network behaviours (libp2p, gossipsub, p2p networks).
• Working knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and POSIX-like systems.
• Excellent written and conversational communication skills.
• Alignment with our core values and principles.

Bonus points

• Experience with off-the-shelf networking stacks such as libp2p.
• Experience in blockchain technology.
• Experience working for an open-source organisation.
• Hiring process
• Interview with our POps team
• Interview with team member from the Vac DST team
• Take home assignment & interview with team member from the Vac DST team
• Interview with Vac team lead

Compensation

The expected compensation range for this role is negotiable, dependent on how we assess your skills and experience throughout our interview process. We are happy to pay in any mix of fiat/crypto.

About Vac:

Vac builds public good protocols for the decentralised web. We do applied research based on which we build protocols, libraries and publications.

Vac’s R&D Service Units are integral to supporting IFT (The Institute of Free Technology) projects by researching and developing base components and secure, unbiased protocols.

The Vac Security service unit provides comprehensive support to IFT projects by conducting security audits and helping develop robust security plans. In addition to assisting IFT projects, the security team also supports other IFT services by offering expert guidance on security best practices and risk management strategies. This collaborative approach ensures that all aspects of the IFT ecosystem benefit from enhanced security measures.

By identifying potential vulnerabilities, assessing risks, and implementing effective security solutions tailored to specific needs, the Vac Security service unit plays a crucial role in strengthening the overall security posture of IFT.

The role:

We are looking for an Application Security Engineer to join our security service unit. In this role, you’ll perform in-depth reviews of critical code (with a focus on low-level languages like Rust, Nim, and C++), identify both code-level and protocol-level vulnerabilities, and support incident response efforts.

You’ll collaborate closely with development teams to remediate security issues and ensure best practices are followed. You’ll also play a key role in preparing for external security audits—defining audit scope, organising technical documentation, and working directly with auditors to ensure valuable and actionable results.

This is a hands-on position for someone passionate about secure software development and proactive risk mitigation.

Key responsibilities:

• Perform in-depth manual and automated reviews of source code (with a focus on low-level languages such as Rust, Nim, and C++) to identify security vulnerabilities and logic flaws.
• Analyse and review critical code paths for potential weaknesses.
• Identify and assess both code-level vulnerabilities (e.g., buffer overflows, injection flaws) and protocol-level issues (e.g., insecure cryptographic implementations, protocol misconfigurations).
• Execute incident response activities, including detection, analysis, containment, and recovery, while documenting findings and lessons learned for continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with development and product teams to remediate identified vulnerabilities, provide security guidance, and ensure secure coding practices are followed.
• Define clear audit objectives and scope for external audits, focusing on the most critical components and protocols.
• Prepare and organise all relevant documentation (architecture diagrams, codebase, threat models, protocol specifications) to facilitate an efficient and valuable external audit process.
• Engage with external auditors early to clarify expectations and provide necessary context, ensuring the audit delivers actionable results.
• Address and remediate issues identified in previous audits, and document improvements to demonstrate ongoing security maturity.

You ideally will have:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in Web3 security engineering, with proven experience securing blockchain protocols, smart contracts, or cryptographic systems.
• Proficiency in low-level programming languages (Rust, Nim, C++).
• Expertise in secure coding practices, including identification of code/protocol-level vulnerabilities (e.g., buffer overflows, injection attacks) and code analysis/debugging.
• Experience with manual/automated code review techniques and penetration testing in Web3 ecosystems.
• Familiarity with cryptographic protocols, secure protocol design, and blockchain/distributed systems security.
• Incident response capabilities (detection, analysis, containment, recovery).
• Experience collaborating with development/product teams to remediate vulnerabilities, including SSDLC processes and external audit preparation.
• Strong documentation and communication skills for technical materials and stakeholder interactions (internal teams, auditors).
• Deep interest in blockchain technology and decentralisation.

Bonus points:

• Experience with static and dynamic analysis tools (e.g. CodeQL, Valgrind).
• Knowledge of formal verification methods and tools.
• Background in penetration testing or red teaming.
• Ability to educate and train others on security best practices. Contributions to open-source security projects or published security research.

Hiring process:

• Interview with our POps team.
• Interview with the Vac Security unit lead.
• Take home assignment + discussion with a team member from the Vac Security unit.
• Interview with a Vac team lead.

Compensation:

We are happy to pay in any mix of fiat/crypto.

Logos is a movement supporting the development of the decentralised web. Logos technologies lay the foundations for a freer internet upon which communities can evolve into network states. Each protocol in the Logos stack seeks to empower its users while upholding civil liberties and fundamental freedoms.   About Vac Vac builds public good protocols for the decentralized web. We do applied research based on which we build protocols, libraries and publications. Vac’s R&D Service Units are integral to supporting IFT projects by researching and developing base components and secure, unbiased protocols. With the IFT’s extensive use of the Nim ecosystem, the Vac Nim Service Unit focuses on the development and maintenance of Nim tooling and core libraries essential for IFT projects.The Nim unit works on critical tools in the Nim ecosystem, including the Nim compiler, Nimble (package manager), and nim-suggest, ensuring they are efficient, reliable, and up-to-date.The Nim unit further plans to maintain core libraries developed by IFT, such as Chronos.The mandate of the Nim unit also includes providing support to IFT projects regarding the use of Nim, identifying and addressing specific project needs and demands related to the Nim ecosystem. The role We’re looking for a skilled Nim developer to help drive the development and maintenance of Nimble, the Nim language server, and core Nim libraries across a range of IFT projects.In this role, you’ll work closely with project teams to consolidate, report, and resolve Nim-related issues and bugs, while also contributing to the ongoing improvement of developer tooling and the Nim ecosystem.The ideal candidate has strong experience with Nim, a solid grasp of language tooling and core programming concepts, and enjoys collaborating across teams to deliver robust solutions.If you’re passionate about open-source development, enjoy tackling complex technical challenges, and want to help shape the future of Nim at IFT, we’d love to hear from you. Key responsibilities

Contribute to the ongoing development and maintenance of Nimble, the official package manager for Nim, ensuring robust dependency management and a smooth developer experience. Address feature requests, resolve bugs, and improve documentation for Nimble to support the Nim ecosystem. Develop, maintain, and extend the Nim language server to improve IDE integration, code completion, error diagnostics, and overall tooling for Nim developers. Help maintain and evolve Nim core libraries. Collaborate with users and contributors to identify and implement enhancements that streamline the developer workflow Monitor, collect, and consolidate Nim-related issues and bugs arising in various IFT projects, and either report or directly address and resolve these issues as appropriate. Act as a liaison between IFT project teams and the Nim core development community, ensuring that feedback and requirements are clearly communicated and tracked.

You ideally will have

Proficiency in Nim programming language, with hands-on experience developing and maintaining Nim projects. Experience with C, C++, Rust, or similar, especially in systems or embedded programming contexts. Solid understanding of data structures and algorithms. Experience with concepts such as parsing, lexing, and semantic analysis, especially as they relate to compilers or language tooling. Familiarity with Nim’s standard library and ecosystem, including asynchronous programming, networking, and multi-threaded programming. Experience maintaining or contributing to package managers or similar developer tooling (e.g., Nimble). Understanding of language server protocols and experience working with or developing language servers. Proficiency in Git. Strong debugging and testing skills, with the ability to identify, report, and resolve issues across multiple projects. Effective communication skills for collaborating across teams and reporting on bugs and issues. Problem-solving ability and attention to detail

Bonus points

Experience working for an open-source organization. Knowledge of type theory and programming language foundations. Experience with peer-to-peer technologies, blockchain, or cryptography. Background in IDE tooling, language tooling, or developer experience improvements

Hiring process

Interview with our POps team Interview with team member from the Vac team Pair programming with team member from the Vac Nim unit Interview with Vac team lead

Compensation The expected compensation range for this role is $100,000 - $150,000 USD annually (negotiable, dependent on how we assess your skills and experience throughout our interview process). We are happy to pay in any mix of fiat/crypto.

Apply Now:

About Vac

Vac builds public good protocols for the decentralized web. We do applied research based on which we build protocols, libraries and publications.

Vac’s R&D Service Units are integral to supporting IFT projects by researching and developing base components and secure, unbiased protocols.

With the IFT’s extensive use of the Nim ecosystem, the Vac Nim Service Unit focuses on the development and maintenance of Nim tooling and core libraries essential for IFT projects. The Nim unit works on critical tools in the Nim ecosystem, including the Nim compiler, Nimble (package manager), and nim-suggest, ensuring they are efficient, reliable, and up-to-date.

The Nim unit further plans to maintain core libraries developed by IFT, such as Chronos.

The mandate of the Nim unit also includes providing support to IFT projects regarding the use of Nim, identifying and addressing specific project needs and demands related to the Nim ecosystem.

The role

We’re looking for a skilled Nim developer to help drive the development and maintenance of Nimble, the Nim language server, and core Nim libraries across a range of IFT projects. In this role, you’ll work closely with project teams to consolidate, report, and resolve Nim-related issues and bugs, while also contributing to the ongoing improvement of developer tooling and the Nim ecosystem.

The ideal candidate has strong experience with Nim, a solid grasp of language tooling and core programming concepts, and enjoys collaborating across teams to deliver robust solutions. If you’re passionate about open-source development, enjoy tackling complex technical challenges, and want to help shape the future of Nim at IFT, we’d love to hear from you.

Key responsibilities

• Contribute to the ongoing development and maintenance of Nimble, the official package manager for Nim, ensuring robust dependency management and a smooth developer experience.
• Address feature requests, resolve bugs, and improve documentation for Nimble to support the Nim ecosystem.
• Develop, maintain, and extend the Nim language server to improve IDE integration, code completion, error diagnostics, and overall tooling for Nim developers.
• Help maintain and evolve Nim core libraries.
• Collaborate with users and contributors to identify and implement enhancements that streamline the developer workflow
• Monitor, collect, and consolidate Nim-related issues and bugs arising in various IFT projects, and either report or directly address and resolve these issues as appropriate.
• Act as a liaison between IFT project teams and the Nim core development community, ensuring that feedback and requirements are clearly communicated and tracked.

You ideally will have

• Proficiency in Nim programming language, with hands-on experience developing and maintaining Nim projects.
• Experience with C, C++, Rust, or similar, especially in systems or embedded programming contexts.
• Solid understanding of data structures and algorithms.
• Experience with concepts such as parsing, lexing, and semantic analysis, especially as they relate to compilers or language tooling.
• Familiarity with Nim’s standard library and ecosystem, including asynchronous programming, networking, and multi-threaded programming.
• Experience maintaining or contributing to package managers or similar developer tooling (e.g., Nimble).
• Understanding of language server protocols and experience working with or developing language servers.
• Proficiency in Git.
• Strong debugging and testing skills, with the ability to identify, report, and resolve issues across multiple projects.
• Effective communication skills for collaborating across teams and reporting on bugs and issues.
• Problem-solving ability and attention to detail

Bonus points

• Experience working for an open-source organization.
• Knowledge of type theory and programming language foundations.
• Experience with peer-to-peer technologies, blockchain, or cryptography.
• Background in IDE tooling, language tooling, or developer experience improvements

Hiring process

• Interview with our POps team
• Interview with team member from the Vac team
• Pair programming with team member from the Vac Nim unit
• Interview with Vac team lead

Compensation

The expected compensation range for this role is $100,000 - $150,000 USD annually (negotiable, dependent on how we assess your skills and experience throughout our interview process). We are happy to pay in any mix of fiat/crypto.