Conduct original research on blockchain systems, collaborating with engineers, publishing papers, and influencing design decisions based on rigorous analysis.
About Sei
Sei Labs builds open sourced technology for the high-performance Sei Blockchain, the first parallelized EVM Layer 1 blockchain designed to scale with the industry. The unique optimizations built into Sei enable Web3 applications to reach Web2 level scale and performance, driving the mass adoption of digital assets.
The Sei Labs team is comprised of former Google, Goldman Sachs, Robinhood, Nvidia, and Databricks veterans dedicated to onboarding the next billion users onto a vibrant ecosystem of applications.
Sei Labs has raised over $30M from top investors including Jump Crypto, Multicoin Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, Hudson River Trading, and Flow Traders.
We're a globally distributed team with a fully remote workforce. Check out our website and docs for more details.
Position Overview
We’re looking for a Research Scientist to join our team at the frontier of blockchain research and engineering. This is an opportunity for an early-career researcher (postdocs also welcome) to work on novel, unsolved problems in distributed systems, cryptography, and mechanism design — and see their work directly shape the next generation of blockchain infrastructure.
This is a rare chance to work on problems that are unsolved both in academia and industry, and to see your research deployed at scale. You’ll be joining a small, ambitious team where researchers and engineers work side by side to invent the future of decentralized systems. Some of our current research streams include: Modelling MEV in a multi-concurrent proposer blockchain context. Designing improved encryption constructions for private data availability (DA), and Advancing consensus protocols to improve scalability and robustness.
What You’ll Do
- Conduct original research in blockchain systems — bridging theory, cryptography, and practical engineering constraints.
- Collaborate closely with engineers to translate research into systems that run at 5 gigagas/second scale.
- Publish papers and technical reports that advance both the academic and practitioner communities in web3.
- Partner with leading researchers at other blockchain companies and universities to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
- Influence the engineering direction of our blockchain by grounding design decisions in rigorous analysis.
What We're Looking For
- PhD in Cryptography, Computer Science, Mathematics, etc. with a strong interest and existing research in Blockchain adjacent technologies
- 0–2 years of post-PhD experience (Postdocs / upcoming PhD’s welcome to apply)
- Strong background in one or more of: cryptography, distributed systems, consensus, game theory, or applied mathematics
- Strong curiosity for blockchain/web3 research, with motivation to shape production systems and protocols, not just papers
Top Skills
Blockchain
Consensus
Cryptography
Distributed Systems
Game Theory
Similar Jobs
Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Natural Language Processing • Software • Generative AI
Drive independent, high-impact research on frontier AI topics, publish findings, collaborate widely, and mentor new researchers in the field.
Top Skills:
Artificial IntelligenceMachine LearningNatural Language ProcessingOptimizationStatistics
Big Data • Food • Hardware • Machine Learning • Retail • Automation • Manufacturing
The Full Stack Serverless Cloud Engineer will develop front-end components with ReactJS, create backend services with Python, and manage AWS infrastructure using Terraform.
Top Skills:
AWSDynamoDBLambdaPythonReactStorybookTailwind CssTerraformTypescript
Cloud • Security • Software • Cybersecurity • Automation
As a Staff Backend Engineer, you will enhance GitLab's Developer Experience by optimizing tooling, CI/CD pipelines, and testing frameworks, while collaborating with teams to identify pain points and drive improvements.
Top Skills:
GoRuby
What you need to know about the Los Angeles Tech Scene
Los Angeles is a global leader in entertainment, so it’s no surprise that many of the biggest players in streaming, digital media and game development call the city home. But the city boasts plenty of non-entertainment innovation as well, with tech companies spanning verticals like AI, fintech, e-commerce and biotech. With major universities like Caltech, UCLA, USC and the nearby UC Irvine, the city has a steady supply of top-flight tech and engineering talent — not counting the graduates flocking to Los Angeles from across the world to enjoy its beaches, culture and year-round temperate climate.
Key Facts About Los Angeles Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 375,800; 5.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Snap, Netflix, SpaceX, Disney, Google
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, adtech, media, software, game development
- Funding Landscape: $11.6 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Strong Ventures, Fifth Wall, Upfront Ventures, Mucker Capital, Kittyhawk Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: California Institute of Technology, UCLA, University of Southern California, UC Irvine, Pepperdine, California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering