About me and why I am mentoring
Hey I’m Mark and I am the Systems Team Lead at Optimism PBC. Find me on Twitter at @tyneslol and on Github at https://github.com/tynes.
I’ve been in the blockchain space since 2018 where I was originally contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem. I then helped to launch a blockchain project called Handshake and then joined Optimism PBC in mid 2020. Blockchain is an incredibly multidisciplinary field and I hope to solve previously unsolvable coordination problems that leave us stuck in an “inadequate equilibrium”.
Training will be for Optimistic Ethereum
Optimistic Ethereum is a Layer Two scaling solution for Ethereum. This means that it is its own blockchain that is able to leverage the Layer One chain (Ethereum) for security and liquidity. This kind of work requires deep protocol knowledge and involves the implementation of cutting edge blockchain research.
Number of trainees: 1
Training will target a job position
The ideal outcome of the mentoring program will be to make you a core member of the Optimism team, joining the Systems Team as a Senior Software Engineer. You will be working on a variety of distributed systems and backend development related problems, from contributing to geth to speeding up the CI. You’ll have a chance to work with a world-class team developing a technically challenging protocol critical to scaling Ethereum.
Target position will be remote
Remote - ideally GMT-4 to GMT-7 (US time zones) but not required.
Minimum requirements for trainee candidates
You need to be a Senior developer. I will be onboarding you to Ethereum at a super accelerated pace. I will not be teaching you how to code.
- 5+ years of experience in a Software Engineering role
- 3+ years of experience with Go
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud engineering preferred, but not required
- Preferred: Knowledge of blockchain fundamentals, BFT, P2P, Cryptography
Mentoring hours per week
Mentoring will be at most 2-3 hours per week of pure call time. Mostly to explain the bizarre corners of the Ethereum virtual machine, ecosystem things, Solidity nuances etc. I.e. to give you the content that is not yet out there in written form, to unblock you, etc. We’ll share a communication channel for async questions and I’ll do my best to respond promptly.
Work hours per week expected
The idea will be to start with a few mentoring calls, and quickly come up with some sort of work test or hacking project. You can dedicate the amount of hours you like to this project (as well as learning), but I’ll expect you to be able to dedicate more and more hours a week as the program evolves positively.
By the end of the program, and by the time Optimism PBC considers bringing you on as an employee, I expect a a full-time commitment, 40 hours/week. This obviously depends on how well you’re doing, and how confident you feel about ultimately nailing the end goal.
The hours dedicated to the program will be compensated.
Duration of the program
About two months, but could be less, depending on how quickly you start contributing to the protocol, making PRs, etc.
Trainee contribution expected during the training program
Small PRs to the actual Optimism protocol like script improvements, tools, tidy ups, increased test coverage.
Salary Range
We pay competitive market salaries for the best candidates.
Protocol equity position
Optimism PBC has an equity budget that will be a part of the full-time offer. Equity allocation will also be competitive with rest of market.
