Senior Protocol Engineer
Squads
Location
Anywhere
Employment Type
Full time
Location Type
Remote
Department
Grid
About Squads
Squads is a financial technology company building products and APIs for the stablecoin economy. We build on open infrastructure, global money and internet capital markets to deliver better financial services to every business, individual and developer.
Our Products
Squads Multisig: The premier multisig platform for Solana.
Altitude: A global business account to save, earn and move money.
Fuse: A personal finance app for stablecoins and tokenized assets.
These three products are powered by our stablecoin infrastructure and developer platform: Grid.
Our investors include Haun Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Electric Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Toly, Mert, and others.
Grid is our stablecoin API for accounts, payments, cards, policies, and yield. It powers our first-party products and provides developers with the tools to launch stablecoin products 10x faster, with infrastructure that scales from MVP to managing billions in deposits.
Grid combines programmable policies with key management, payment orchestration, card issuance, and yield providers in a single integration point to offer a complete solution for building a fintech app.
About the Role
We're hiring a Senior Protocol Engineer to help design and build the core programs that power our smart account infrastructure. You'll work on protocol primitives, state-efficient program architecture, and account abstraction patterns that need to be secure, composable, and production-grade.
What you will be doing
Design and implement Solana programs using framework-based or native approaches
Build CU-efficient programs with state compression, PDA optimization, and advanced runtime features
Shape protocol architecture: account abstraction primitives, transaction execution models, and multi-program composability
Integrate with external protocols and payment systems while maintaining security invariants
Participate in security reviews and establish best practices for high-value program development
Contribute to SDKs and testing frameworks
Qualifications
2+ years production Rust experience with systems programming background
2+ years building Solana programs (Anchor/native/equivalent frameworks)
Deep understanding of the Solana runtime, its unique constraints, the account model, and nested transaction execution mechanics
Experience designing multi-program systems, functional & efficient state, and overall protocol architecture
Track record optimizing for compute units, storage costs, and around runtime limits
Strong security mindset: familiar with defensive patterns and natural preference towards simplicity over complexity
You care about the details — CUs, account sizes, rent optimization. You can navigate complex protocol interactions and debug subtle CPI edge cases.
You write clear, well-tested code and stay current with Solana runtime developments.
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You'll be working on infrastructure that secures billions in value and shapes how developers build smart accounts on Solana.
Nice to Have
Experience building Rust REST APIs with Axum
Familiarity with Pinocchio or low-level Solana syscall libraries
Open-source contributions to Solana tooling or protocols
Background in account abstraction or intent-based systems
Prior work on payments infrastructure or stablecoin protocols
Why Squads
Build the future of open finance. You’ll help accelerate adoption of stablecoin‑powered APIs at a time when finance is shifting to programmable, borderless rails
Broaden your impact. Drive alignment, innovation, and results across teams and initiatives.
Modern tools and culture. Operate with high agency in a mission‑driven team that ships relentlessly and values craftsmanship.
Mission Focus. We don't hire people that need to be managed, we hire people that want to be led
Benefits
We’re offering competitive and generous compensation, with meaningful equity and upside.
Unlimited, flexible PTO
Flexible work schedule
Company laptop and allowance for any necessary home equipment
Two company-paid off-sites per year
Our Values
Kindness Matters. We show kindness and respect to all users, customers, and team members in every interaction (internal and external). Being kind compounds and strengthens our relationships.
Craftsmanship Excellence. We deeply care about the quality of everything we create. Every contribution, regardless of size, must meet our high standards for excellence.
Radical Transparency. We communicate openly and honestly with each other. Respectful candor is valued over comfortable silence, as we can't afford to miss insights due to fear of speaking up.
Bias for Action. We believe action produces information. At no more than 20% completion of a project we must have a working prototype to test and iterate on.
Speed with Purpose. We move with urgency and focus. Slow and expensive usually go together. Good, fast, and cheap outcomes are perfectly achievable through disciplined execution.
Professional Integrity. We never speak negatively about competitors, partners, vendors, or others. Such behavior reflects insecurity and provides no value.
Creative Problem-Solving. We value innovative thinking that challenges conventions. The best solution aligns with the task at hand, not necessarily with how things have always been done.
Team Over Ego. We share both successes and failures collectively. No individual's ego should surpass our commitment to the product and its impact.
Results Over Hierarchy. We do not care about titles in this company. No politics, no hierarchy. All we care about is winning together.
If you’re excited to help businesses access modern money rails and believe that stablecoins will democratize finance, we’d love to talk. Reach out to us