Security Engineer

Tempo is a layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoins and real-world payments, born from Stripe’s experience in global payments and Paradigm’s expertise in crypto tech.

 

Tempo’s payment-first design provides a scalable, low-cost predictable backbone that meets the needs of high-volume payment use cases. Our goal is to move money reliably, cheaply, and at scale. Our north star is simplicity for users: fintechs, traditional banks, merchants, platforms, and anyone else looking to move their payments into the 21st century.

 

We're building Tempo with design partners who are global leaders in AI, e-commerce, and financial services: Anthropic, Coupang, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Mercury, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, Visa, and more.

 

We’re a team of crypto-optimists, building the infrastructure needed to bring real, substantial economic flows onchain. We like to move fast and swing for the fences — join us!

The Role

We are building a full-time internal Red Team to continuously stress-test our own infrastructure. As a security engineer, you won't just be ticking compliance boxes; you will be writing Rust fuzzers, simulating economic attacks on our testnet, and dissecting the EVM to find edge cases in our execution client. We are looking for a builder who understands that the best way to secure a protocol is to try to break it continuously. If you have a history of topping CTF leaderboards, submitting high-severity bug bounties, or building your own security tooling because the standard ones weren't good enough—this role is for you.

Responsibilities

• Proactively hunt for vulnerabilities in the Tempo protocol, consensus engine, and bridge architecture, treating our mainnet like a continuous CTF challenge.

• Design and implement security tooling and automation in liaison with the Foundry team to catch logic errors and edge cases.

• Partner with engineering teams to review critical architecture across our codebase.

• Analyze incentives and game-theoretic risks within the protocol, such as MEV and staking dynamics, to prevent economic exploits.

Qualifications

• Fluency in reading and writing production-level code in systems languages, with a strong preference for Rust.

• Deep expertise in EVM internals, including intimate knowledge of opcodes, storage slots, gas metering, and precompiles.

• Proven track record of offensive security, such as high rankings in CTFs (e.g., Paradigm CTF), high-severity bug bounty submissions, or published research.

• Experience building custom security automation or tooling rather than relying solely on off-the-shelf scanners.

• Bleeding-edge knowledge of the latest blockchain security research, including recent hacks and how these could have been mitigated.

Attributes

• High motor

• Razor-sharp thinker with precise command of language

• Concise, evidence-based communicator

• Excellent organizational and logistical skills

• Intense curiosity and open-mindedness

• Scrappiness; willingness to roll up sleeves

• Growth mindset