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Tech Lead with CTO scope, reporting to the founder. You would lead the protocol engineering team and carry the external technical voice — protocol reviews, technical due diligence, integration conversations with investors, ecosystem partners and counterparties, the audiences that test whether you can defend the architecture under questioning.
A European DeFi venture studio. The firm builds and operates multiple consumer-facing protocols on a high-throughput chain. Engineering- and design-heavy, around 25 staff. The studio's flagship protocol is live in production; two further protocols are in pre-launch build. Backed by DeFi-native investors.
We name a client on the mandate page only where the firm has approved publication. Where not named, the description above is intended to be enough for a senior candidate to recognise whether their pattern fits the brief.
Tech Lead with CTO scope, reporting to the founder. The seat owns the studio's technical agenda across the protocol portfolio.
Direct line management of around eight senior engineers spread across protocol engineering, smart-contract security, and on-chain infrastructure. Hiring two further senior engineers in the first six months.
Sets the technical bar for protocol audits, on-chain risk parameters, and the studio's relationship with its external security partners. The seat is the named technical owner the studio's investors and ecosystem partners speak to.
Europe-based with quarterly off-sites in Lisbon. Light travel to ecosystem events expected; most work is remote-first and asynchronous.
You would lead the protocol engineering team and carry the external technical voice — protocol reviews, technical due diligence, integration conversations with investors, ecosystem partners and counterparties, the audiences that test whether you can defend the architecture under questioning. Part of the work is still in code. A mishire here would cost the studio roughly a year of roadmap, and the founder is prepared for a multi-month process.
— Peter Wood, Partner & Chief Strategy Officer
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