Jr. Software Engineer

Location: Remote Workplace: Remote ABOUT OPTIMUM Optimum is building the world's first data acceleration network for any blockchain. Powered by Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC), Optimum scales network speed, robustness, and throughput by orders of magnitude. Co-founded by Muriel Medard, co-inventor of RLNC, and a team of industry experts, Optimum introduces a breakthrough in Web3 infrastructure. Our infrastructure enables high-speed data propagation, fast access, and secure updates, scaling the world computer. Backers include 1kx, Spartan, Robot Ventures, Finality Capital, Triton Capital (fka Kraken Ventures), CMT Digital, SNZ, and others. Learn more at getoptimum.xyz http://getoptimum.xyz ABOUT THE ROLE We're hiring a Jr. Software Engineer to join the Optimum team and turn product ideas into working prototypes. You'll work closely with our CTO and CPO to build, test and benchmark our solutions against the competition. This role is deliberately focused. Your job is product discovery through code: build it, measure it, learn from it, and help us find a good fit for our users. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Build working prototypes of new ideas alongside the engineering and product team. - Design and run benchmarks that compare our prototypes with competing solutions, and report results clearly. - Work with the product team to understand how our users operate, where performance matters most to them, and what they'd pay for. - Iterate quickly: ship a prototype, present findings and gather feedback, decide what to keep, and move on. - Use AI coding tools such as Claude Code and Cursor to prototype faster, so you spend your time on testing ideas rather than boilerplate. - Help shape the roadmap by bringing data and working demos, not just assumptions. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Strong hands-on software engineering skills and a track record of shipping, such as open-source work or side projects. - Strong hands-on full-stack engineering skills, from backend services and APIs to web front ends, with a record of shipping things such as open-source work or side projects. - A prototyping mindset: comfortable building something rough to answer a question, then refining what works. - A competitive streak and curiosity about how your work stacks up against alternatives. - Comfort with performance measurement and benchmarking. - Clear written communication and the ability to work with a distributed team. NICE TO HAVE - Experience with Go or another systems language on the backend, and React or TypeScript on the front end. - Familiarity with real-time data systems, latency-sensitive applications, or high-performance workloads. - Experience with blockchain networks, P2P networking, or trading and MEV workflows. - Experience working directly with product or business stakeholders. WHAT WE OFFER - Work on hard problems at the edge of networking, blockchain market structure, and decentralized systems. - Close collaboration with a small, senior, cross-functional team. - Competitive compensation, equity, and flexibility. - Flexible time off. - Fully remote. - Work from wherever you do your best thinking. Most of the team operates on ET or CET, so we look for meaningful overlap with those windows (at least 5 hours per day). This is a 4 month contract with the potential to extend.