Ava Labs
Senior Forward Deployed Engineer
Why it's interesting
An FDE function at the blockchain layer: the Avalanche team ships bespoke node/validator/custody solutions for a handful of regulated financial institutions — weeks of heads-down build between syncs, not a meeting-heavy CS cadence. $143K–$179K + token + equity, fully remote, and the JD openly scopes the hire as a future 'FDE #2,' signalling a small, still-forming field org.
The role
Senior IC in Ava Labs' Forward-Deployed Engineering function (Platform Engineering Group). Owns technical delivery across named institutional partners deploying on Avalanche — architecting node/validator setup, interchain messaging, KMS/HSM remote signing, restricted-peer networking and backup/restore for regulated finance — and maintains the FDE-owned developer tooling and SDK surface. Remote (global); Avalanche (or comparable L1/L2) stack fluency and enterprise/on-prem experience required. Sourced via the Plank FDE census (CC BY 4.0).
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