VP of Engineering

Ephemera is building the future of messaging—secure, decentralized, and private.

Our open protocol (XMTP) powers the next generation of communication, while

Convos brings that vision to life as a privacy first chat app.

We’re hiring a Vice President of Engineering to build and lead our engineering

organization from the ground up. This is a foundational leadership role responsible

for driving organizational structure, technical strategy, and team performance

across both the XMTP protocol and Convos app.

We're looking for a seasoned technical leader who can think strategically about

how to structure teams for speed and quality, make smart architectural decisions,

and hold a high bar for execution and accountability. You should have deep

experience navigating technical trade-offs, leading protocol or infrastructure

teams, and inspiring engineers through clarity, mentorship, and decisiveness.

You’ll report directly to the CEO and be a key partner in shaping product direction,

culture, and roadmap execution.

Strategic Planning and Vision

Define and evolve our engineering strategy in alignment with company goals

Shape and execute on technical product roadmap

Champion technical excellence while making pragmatic decisions for velocity and scale

Organizational Leadership

Design and grow the engineering org from early stage through intentional growth

Hire and manage top-tier engineering talent across protocol and app

Develop a culture of ownership, quality, and high performance

Execution and Delivery

Ensure consistent, high-velocity delivery of complex projects

Oversee technical roadmap execution with a focus on resilience, speed and quality

Build and enforce strong QA and testing practices

Technical Leadership

Provide architectural direction, particularly on protocol and backend infrastructure

Guide trade-off discussions, balancing short-term needs with long-term maintainability

Be the voice of engineering in product and company strategy conversations

Communication and Collaboration

Act as the primary liaison between engineering and executive leadership

Communicate priorities, progress, and blockers with clarity and transparency

Foster cross-functional collaboration across Product, Design, Protocol, and Ops

• Minimum of 10+ years of engineering experience, including 5+ years leading and scaling high-performing teams

  Experience building and growing an engineering org from early stage to 50+ people

  Deep understanding of technical trade-offs, protocol design, and system architecture

  Strong preference for leaders with experience in developer infrastructure, developer tools, or protocols (e.g., Cloudflare, Datadog, GitHub, Vercel, Buf, etc.)

  Comfortable overseeing both protocol-level complexity and consumer app execution

  Proven track record of shipping production-grade software in complex environments

  Skilled at creating clarity from ambiguity and driving execution across teams

  High EQ leadership style with a focus on mentorship, accountability, and alignment

   

  Nice-to-Haves

  • Experience with secure messaging, cryptography, or open-source protocol development

    Contributions to open-source developer platforms or infrastructure

    Background as a founder or early technical leader in a fast-growing startup

    Familiarity with React Native, Swift, Go, Rust, or Kotlin

     

    Why This Role Matters

    You’ll be responsible for architecting how our entire engineering function operates - from how we hire and onboard, to how we plan and execute.

    You’ll work on technologies that touch millions of users and help define what privacy and interoperability look like in the next era of communication. Your leadership will shape the standards others adopt and the team culture that drives us forward.

     

    You Might Be a Fit If...

    • You’ve led protocol, infrastructure, or developer tool teams through growth and change

      You care deeply about high-quality engineering practices and user trust

      You understand how to structure teams for speed and scale

      You can operate in ambiguity and make confident, high-leverage decisions

      You’re passionate about privacy, open systems, and durable architecture

       

      Compensation & Benefits

      • Base Salary: $280–300K USD

        Equity: Competitive ownership in a high-conviction, early-stage company

        Benefits:

        Fully paid Medical, Dental, and Vision

        Parental Leave

        Monthly wellness + lifestyle stipend

        IT equipment + WFH setup

        Personal assistant support

        Unlimited time off

        Remote-first team, with semi-annual IRL gatherings

         

        Our Stack

        • React Native, Swift, Kotlin

          Typescript, Go, Rust

          XMTP Protocol

          Onchain identity + wallet-based auth

          Secure messaging, E2E encryption