Product Lead, Storage & Retrieval - Web3 Protocols

About Protocol Labs
Protocol Labs drives breakthroughs in computing to push humanity forward. Protocol Labs is a product-development lab, but behind the protocols and tools we build, behind the research and implementations, are passionate people, teammates, and community members. Most teams in the Protocol Labs Network are fully distributed and work remotely around the world. Engineers, researchers, and operators work in the open to improve the internet — humanity's most important technology — as we explore new advances at the intersection of many exciting fields (web3, cryptography, networks, distributed systems) and cultures (startups, research, open-source, distributed work).
We are looking for a Senior Product Lead to join the PL Engineering and Research team (EngRes), helping to grow and evolve our stack of web3 protocols, including IPFS, Filecoin, libp2p, and IPLD.
Web3 is the next generation of the internet, with the goal of creating a fairer and more decentralized web. Our mission at PL EngRes is to scale & unlock new opportunities for IPFS, Filecoin + libp2p by onboarding the best developers and contributors in the world, unlocking breakthroughs in protocol utility & capability that drive large-scale adoption, and scaling network-native research & development across the PL Network. 
One of our core priorities is to understand and improve the core IPFS/Filecoin adoption flywheel. In other words, we want to make strategic investments in improving the core factors that influence organic adoption of IPFS & Filecoin, leading to increased adoption of these technologies overall. PL EngRes is actively hiring a Senior Product Lead for our EngRes team who can fully own and drive the adoption flywheel for the joint IPFS and Filecoin stack. The Senior Product Lead would lead a large and growing team of product managers, engineers, and teams in the broader Protocol Labs ecosystem to build critical components for the adoption flywheel and increase adoption of IPFS/Filecoin overall. The Senior Product Lead should be able to inspire and lead a significant technical team, think creatively about business and ecosystem development, provide guidance and feedback on technical roadmaps, and attract new contributors to the Protocol Labs stack.

As a Senior Product Lead for PL Starfleet EngRes, you will…

 
Own the adoption flywheel for the IPFS/Filecoin stack
 
Deeply understand how the flywheel works and what’s needed in order for it to turn
 
Identify components, systems, products, and programs that are needed to turn and grow the adoption flywheel
 
Work with and lead the existing product and technical teams building core flywheel components, and provide guidance on their roadmaps to ensure that these systems land and achieve their core objectives
 
Steward business development and solutions engineering teams that support large petabyte-scale storage and enterprise clients
 
Build out new teams as needed to achieve adoption objectives
 
Steward and leverage network-native development principles and mechanisms to achieve flywheel objectives, such as leaning into ecosystem bounties/grants, outsourced work, public roadmaps, open-source development principles, and more
 
Ensure that every user of the PL stack – developers, storage clients, storage providers, retrieval providers, notaries, community governance members, etc. – has an exceptional experience with the stack of protocols
 
Mentor and grow product and technical leaders within the EngRes organization


You may be a fit for this role if you…

 
Have led engineering teams to build complex technical systems at scale
 
Have led large product and engineering teams (20+ teammates) in the past, and have had multiple direct reports
 
Have experience working with enterprise storage and software systems, as well as enterprise clients
 
Have had some experience with enterprise business development efforts in the past
 
Have worked on or led open-source projects or engineering organizations in the past
 
Have experience working with cross-functional stakeholders to align multi-year roadmaps for product/engineering organizations – e.g. company leadership, technical leads, product leads
 
Are hyper detail-oriented, extremely organized, and pride yourself on your ability to structure large, ambiguous systems into sensible, tractable ones
 
Have strong written and verbal communication skills with a talent for precise articulations of customer problems
 
Enjoy working closely with engineering teams, and are able to earn the respect of technical leaders and product leaders alike
 
Will do whatever it takes to make your team successful, and are not afraid to roll up your sleeves to get the job done
 
Have a computer science, math, or science degree, or software engineering experience


Bonus Points: 

 
Product management with crypto projects or networks
 
Experience working with and/or contributions to open-source software projects
 
Are self-taught in some field, and consider yourself a voracious learner
 
10+ years professional experience


What’s it like to work at Protocol Labs?
Protocol Labs' mission is to improve humanity’s most important technology, the Internet. We build protocols, systems, and tools to improve how it works. Today, we are focused on how we store, locate, and move information. Our projects include IPFS, Filecoin, libp2p, and more.
 
As a distributed team, we hire anywhere in the world, and at various levels of experience (entry, senior, staff). We look for people with unique perspectives and diverse backgrounds.
 
The base pay for this position currently ranges from $270,000 to $312,000, plus cryptocurrency, equity, and opportunities for upside through performance rewards in cryptocurrency and equity.  The base pay is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, experience, skills, abilities, training, and education.  We also have a great benefits package, including parental and other forms of leave, contributions to your retirement, and unlimited time off. For U.S.-based employees, we also provide competitive health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family.