Founding Engineer

Founding Full-Stack Engineer About Lygos: We're Lygos, the team building the next new standard for Bitcoin collateral. Our mission is to unlock secure, transparent, and verifiable Bitcoin-backed credit markets. We’re starting by developing a fundamentally new platform for Bitcoin-collateralized lending, leveraging Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) to minimize counterparty risk and ensure borrowers maintain control of their Bitcoin. Our founding team brings deep expertise from Anchorage Digital, StarkWare, ConsenSys, Shopify, and JPMorgan, backed by industry-leading investors, including Initialized and ConsenSys. We’re an agile, highly motivated team seeking passionate builders ready to shape the future of Bitcoin finance. The Opportunity: As a Founding Full-Stack Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and building the Lygos platform and stack. It's a chance to be a core part of a foundational team, contribute to key architectural decisions, and grow with a company offering generous equity for early team members. You'll work directly with our experienced CTO and founding team to bring our innovative Bitcoin-native financial products to life. Job Type: Full-time, permanent role. Fully remote opportunity with flexible hours. (Optional: Office space available in Toronto for those who prefer hybrid work.) What You'll Do: Build & Innovate: Design, develop, and deploy core features for the Lygos platform, spanning our backend services, oracle infrastructure, and borrower-facing applications. Full-Stack Development: Work across our entire stack, including TypeScript/Node.js backend services, database management (SQL/NoSQL), and potentially contributing to our React Native mobile application. Bitcoin & DLC Integration: Implement and enhance functionality related to Bitcoin transactions, PSBTs, and the integration of Discreet Log Contracts. You'll be working with cutting-edge Bitcoin contract technology. Oracle & Watchtower Systems: Contribute to the development and maintenance of our oracle systems for price attestations and event monitoring, as well as related infrastructure like watchtowers and notification services. Architectural Input: Collaborate on platform architecture discussions, helping to design scalable, secure, and robust systems. Embrace the Challenge: Be ready to wear multiple hats, tackle diverse challenges, learn quickly, and contribute proactively in a fast-paced environment. What We're Looking For (Requirements): Hungry & Motivated: You are driven, proactive, and excited by the challenge of building something impactful from the ground up in a small, fast-moving team. Strong TypeScript & Node.js Experience: Proven ability to build robust backend services. Full-Stack Versatility: Comfortable working on both backend logic and potentially contributing to frontend components. Database Proficiency: Experience with SQL and/or NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB). Independent & Proactive: Ability to work independently, take ownership, and figure things out with minimal oversight. Quick Learner: Eagerness and ability to dive into an existing codebase and rapidly learn new technologies and concepts, especially around DLCs. Excellent Communicator & Team Player: You thrive in a collaborative environment. Nice-to-Haves (Bonus Points): Direct experience with Bitcoin development and advanced scripting. Good technical grasp of Bitcoin's blockchain architecture, the UTXO model, transactions, and ideally some familiarity with Bitcoin libraries (e.g., bitcoinjs-lib, working with PSBTs). Knowledge of Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) or other advanced Bitcoin contract types (big plus, but we will provide resources and training if you have a strong Bitcoin foundation). Experience with blockchain oracles or multi-signature setups. React Native experience. Familiarity with Rust or C++ (relevant to Bitcoin/DLC libraries). Experience with cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, GCP) and containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes). Experience at an early stage startup. Why Join Lygos? Founding Team Impact: As our first engineering hire, you'll have a direct, significant impact on the product, technology, and company culture. Generous Equity: We believe in aligning incentives and are offering a substantial equity stake for early, key team members. Your success is our success. Competitive Compensation: We offer highly competitive salaries to attract and retain the best talent in the industry. Cutting-Edge Technology: Work at the forefront of Bitcoin innovation with Discreet Log Contracts. Experienced Leadership: Learn from and collaborate with a founding team that has deep expertise in both institutional finance and pioneering DLC technology. Massive Market Opportunity: Help build a foundational layer for the future of Bitcoin finance. Remote & Flexible: Enjoy the benefits of a fully remote setup, with opportunities to collaborate in-person Our Typical Interview Process Initial Application. Fill out the short form so we can get to know you! 1-2 chats. Discuss our vision, check for culture fit, talk about your past experience, get to know each other more in-depth. Feel free to ask us questions as well! Complete a paid take-home assignment. We’ll have you work on a small project relevant to our infrastructure that we’ll review. 2-way reference check. You chat with our investors and team members. We chat with previous (or current) coworkers/managers. Offer. Ready to build the future of Bitcoin finance with us? Apply now and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!