Distributed Systems Engineer (Mid–Senior) — Rust/Go

Ritual is building a blockchain execution layer designed for AI-native operations, combining distributed systems, crypto infrastructure, and AI model access into a unified network. Their stack includes a live private testnet and products enabling both on-chain and off-chain AI execution.

This role sits at the core of scaling distributed infrastructure, working across peer-to-peer networking, consensus systems, and high-throughput compute environments. You will own critical components of a heterogeneous compute network, focusing on performance, reliability, and observability in a remote-first engineering setup. This position aligns with blockchain infrastructure roles, where distributed systems design directly impacts network scalability and execution efficiency

Supporting teams focused on scaling a web3 team and distributed infra reliability.

🔹 Responsibilities

• Design and implement distributed systems components for Ritual’s heterogeneous compute network
• Develop and optimize peer-to-peer networking protocols for AI model execution and blockchain consensus
• Build and maintain infrastructure for node monitoring, metrics collection, and system observability
• Architect solutions for efficient state management and synchronization across specialized nodes
• Collaborate with research teams to implement distributed systems algorithms
• Create and maintain testing frameworks for distributed system components

Supporting hiring efforts where teams need to hire rust engineers for protocol teams.

🔹 Requirements

• Strong experience in Go and/or Rust with production-grade distributed systems
• Deep understanding of peer-to-peer systems, networking, and messaging protocols
• Experience developing and operating blockchain nodes with knowledge of node architecture and consensus
• Proven ability to optimize high-throughput systems and improve performance at scale
• Advanced Linux expertise with strong command line and system administration skills
• Experience with infrastructure orchestration tools such as Kubernetes
• Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools including Grafana and Prometheus
• Experience building fault-tolerant, high-performance distributed applications
• Strong system design skills balancing scalability, reliability, and performance
• Ability to debug complex distributed systems issues
• Ability to operate effectively in high-pressure, fast-paced environments
• High ownership, self-direction, and strong communication skills

🔹 Nice to Have

• Familiarity with AI/ML systems and distributed compute requirements
• Knowledge of cryptography and secure systems design
• Contributions to open-source distributed systems projects

🔹 Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive compensation with annual discretionary bonus
• Optimized tax structure compared to typical web3 startups
• Top-tier benefits package in the web3 startup ecosystem
• 100% healthcare premium coverage
• Company 401k match
• Fully remote or hybrid flexibility
• Access to virtual and in-person events