The Company is seeking a Head of Protocol Engineering to play a pivotal role in the design, build, and scaling of a unique blockchain architecture. This senior position involves owning the core protocol stack, leading a small but highly capable engineering team, and driving the development of on-chain data accessibility solutions. The successful candidate will be responsible for all aspects of protocol engineering, including nodes, storage systems, smart contracts, SDKs, and L2/L3 integrations. A key focus is on leading the development of modified execution clients and queryable storage systems, as well as driving performance optimization across high-throughput distributed systems and database workloads. Applicants for the Head of Protocol Engineering role at the company should have a strong background in systems programming, particularly with Rust, and deep knowledge of distributed systems, including consensus, replication, and failure modes. Experience in blockchain nodes, execution clients, or protocol-level systems is essential, as is a strong understanding of databases, storage engines, and query optimization under load. The role also requires previous leadership experience in managing and growing engineering teams, an hands-on mindset, and excellent communication skills to operate in a fast-moving environment. The ideal candidate will be passionate about shaping the technology and engineering culture of a next-generation blockchain and will work closely with the CTO on technical strategy, hiring plans, and roadmap execution.