Who Are We?

Obol Labs is a remote-first research and software development team focused on Proof of Stake infrastructure for public blockchain networks. Specific topics of focus are Internet Bonds, Distributed Validator Technology, and Multi-Operator Validation. The core team includes +30 members spread across +15 countries.

The core team is building the Obol Network, a protocol to foster trust-minimized staking through multi-operator validation. This will enable low-trust access to Ethereum staking yield, which can be used as a core building block in various Web3 products.

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The Network

The network can be best visualized as a work layer that sits directly on top of the base layer consensus. This work layer is designed to provide the base layer with more resiliency and decentralization as it scales. In this chapter of Ethereum, we will move on to the next great scaling challenge, which is stake centralization. Layers like Obol are critical to the long-term viability and resiliency of public networks, especially networks like Ethereum.

Obol as a layer is focused on scaling main chain staking by providing permissionless access to Distributed Validators. The network utilizes a middleware implementation of Distributed Validator Technology (DVT), to enable the operation of distributed validator clusters that can preserve validators’ current client and remote signing configurations.

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Similar to how roll-up technology laid the foundation for L2 scaling implementations, we believe DVT will do the same for scaling the consensus layer while preserving decentralization. Staking infrastructure is entering its protocol phase of evolution, which must include trust-minimized staking networks that can be plugged into at scale. We believe DVT will evolve into a widely used primitive and will ensure the security, resiliency, and decentralization of public networks.

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The Obol Network develops and maintains three core public goods that will eventually work together through circular economics:

• The DV Launchpad, a User Interface for bootstrapping and managing Distributed Validators
• Charon, a Golang based middleware client that enables validators to run in a fault-tolerant, distributed manner.
• Obol Splits, a set of solidity contracts for the formation of Distributed Validators tailored to different use cases such as DeFi, Liquid Staking, and Fractionalized Deposits

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Sustainable Public Goods

Obol is inspired by previous work on Ethereum public goods and experimenting with circular economics. We believe that to unlock innovation in staking use cases, a credibly neutral layer must exist for innovation to flow and evolve vertically. Without this layer, highly available uptime will continue to be a moat.

The Obol Network will become an open, community-governed, self-sustaining project over the coming months and years. Together we will incentivize, build, and maintain distributed validator technology that makes public networks a more secure and resilient foundation to build on top of.

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Obol Labs is seeking a Platform Engineer recognized as an expert in software platform engineering and testing automation domains related to decentralized systems, particularly Ethereum.

The primary role involves leading the design, development, and automation of Obol’s quality platform for Obol’s DV client, Charon, future compatible alternative implementations as part of a DV Protocol, and the DV Launchpad software stack. This includes designing comprehensive testing automation plans, provisioning internal and public testing infrastructure with IaC on public cloud and on-prem, and fostering a TDD (test-driven development) culture within the Engineering organization.

The Platform Engineer will also provide critical feedback and expert assessments on the resilience and reliability of Obol’s software to the founders and key stakeholders.

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Responsibilities

• As a member of Platform Engineering Circle, you will develop and enhance testing environments and infrastructure for Obol products.
• Develop and maintain quality automation frameworks for testing Charon, the DV Launchpad, Obol Splits smart contracts, and the Obol API & SDK.
• To safeguard the integrity of product releases, take ownership of the Obol releases, CICD pipelines, quality platform, quality processes, and tools.
• Conduct large-scale performance and chaos testing on Charon DV clusters to enhance reliability and optimize performance.
• Collaborate internally with the engineering teams and staking node operators to ensure Obol’s DVT optimal performance and seamless deployments and identify and fix issues.
• Participate in on-call rotations to ensure systems uptime and incident resolution.
• Apply platform engineering and cloud-native best practices and standards to the software you write.

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Requirements

• Experience in web3 and blockchain like Ethereum, particularly understanding how proof of stake works.
• Experience in one or more public cloud platforms, such as GCP, AWS, or Azure.
• Experience in containerization technologies with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience in developing infrastructure as code with Terraform.
• Development experience, preferably with bash, Python, or Golang.
• Experience building and scaling test automation frameworks such as Kurtosis and performing system integrations.
• Excellent communication skills, including providing actionable feedback and engaging effectively with technical teams and leadership.
• Ability to work with high-agency, using it to be maximally impactful with your work without strict direction.A passion for Ethereum and public, permissionless blockchains.
• Timezone between UTC-2 to UTC+3.

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Benefits

• Fully Remote Working and flexible hours.
• Meet the team at our Annual Offsites.
• Chance to attend crypto and staking conferences.
• Working to decentralize Ethereum.
• Generous paid time off.Budget for equipment.
• Budget for training or education.

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Thank you for your interest. Looking forward to building amazing stuff together!