Senior Researcher, Systems at Category Labs

Category Labs (formerly known as Monad Labs) is a team of systems engineers and researchers on a mission to design and build at the frontier of decentralized technology. We strive to deliver significant improvements over existing blockchain solutions. After raising $225M in series A funding, led by Paradigm, we are growing our team. We’re the team behind Monad, a high-performance, EVM-compatible Layer 1 whose public mainnet is now live. We write the core software that runs it: a parallel-execution EVM , a custom state database, and a BFT consensus client , all developed in the open. The Role We are looking for systems researchers with a strong interest in databases and operating systems. Candidates with research experience in systems verification, operating systems, multi-core algorithms, or systems architecture, are an ideal match. You will be part of a small, deeply technical team, working on high-impact problems in a fast-paced environment. Although we are building a new blockchain, previous experience with crypto is not expected. What You Will Do Designing performant algorithms and architectures related to storage or recovery, in single-node or distributed environments. Researching new architectures Tech stack: C++, clang, LLVM, gdb, perf, unix, git Who You Are PhD in Computer Science or equivalent Significant research experience into databases or operating systems Experience writing performant algorithms Experience writing production-grade code Resourceful and self-motivated Collaborative Adaptive; able to make meaningful contributions in a fast-paced environment Curious about lower-level system details Interested in building high-value, performant and distributed systems Why Work with Us Challenging problems: You’ll work on extremely challenging problems with massive impact. See our Blogs and Publications & Talks for a flavor of the problems we are solving in the real world. Huge opportunity: The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) standard is ubiquitous, but existing EVM-compatible chains are very slow. Monad’s core innovations offer developers the best of both worlds (portability and performance) and are a game-changer for mass user adoption in crypto. The right team: You’ll be part of a small, exceptional team (engineers and researchers make up 90% of the team). Open by default: Our core software is public on GitHub. You’ll build in the open, and your work ships where the whole ecosystem can see it. Culture: We’re a lean team working together to achieve very ambitious goals. We are united in our culture of collaboration, low ego, and high-quality output. As an early member of our team, you’ll help to shape our culture. Compensation: You’ll receive a competitive salary and equity package. Resources and growth: We’re well-capitalized, with backing from leading venture funds like Paradigm, Electric Capital, Greenoaks, Dragonfly, and Coinbase Ventures. We keep a lean team, and this is a rare opportunity to join. You’ll learn a lot and grow as