Director, Research

You will define and grow a research agenda focused on distributed systems, cryptography, mechanism design, and the societal impact of decentralized technologies. You will work with academic and industry partners, guide a diverse research team, and translate research into product, standards, and protocol impact.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead a long-term scientific research agenda.
• Identify applied challenges and foundational open problems.
• Build partnerships with researchers, laboratories, and institutions.
• Support joint publications and open-source contributions.
• Oversee research across cryptography, distributed systems, and incentive design.
• Recruit and develop research scientists and applied researchers.
• Create a supportive and inclusive research environment.
• Ensure research informs product strategy, ecosystem standards, and protocol development.
• Represent SDF at conferences, workshops, and standards bodies.
• Contribute to publications, presentations, and thought leadership.

Requirements

• PhD in Computer Science, Cryptography, Distributed Systems, or a related field.
• 10+ years of research experience in academia or industry.
• Strong record of high-impact contributions, including publications, patents, open-source projects, or foundational technical work.
• Experience leading research programs or teams and managing multi-year initiatives.

Benefits

• Competitive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Flexible time off and 15 company holidays.
• Paid parental and pregnancy leave.
• Gym reimbursement.
• Life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage.
• 401(k) with 4% match.
• Health and dependent care FSAs.
• Commuter benefits.
• Health savings account contributions.
• Family-building benefits through Kindbody.
• Wellbeing benefits including One Medical, Rightway, and Headspace.
• $1,500 annual learning and development budget.
• Daily lunch and snacks in office.
• Company retreats.
• Lumen-denominated grants.