[Merkl] R&D Engineer
Paris · Full time · Posted 4H AGO
Join Merkl as a Research engineer – Help Shape the Future of Onchain Incentives
💼 Job Title
Research engineer (Merkl)
🥨 About Merkl
Merkl is the infrastructure for onchain money streaming and distribution. Stablecoin issuers, fintechs, neobanks, tokenized funds, and DeFi protocols use Merkl to calculate and send yield, dividends, rewards, and payouts across 60+ chains. Since launching in July 2023, we've distributed over $1.8B, work with 1000+ companies, and have sent rewards to 5M+ unique wallets.
We power distributions for leading names in crypto and fintech, including Coinbase, PayPal, Robinhood, Kraken, MetaMask, Uniswap, Aave, Morpho, Ethena, Sky, Euler, 1inch, and Trezor, and run chain-wide programs for Plasma, World Chain, Optimism, Robinhood Chain, and more. Many of our clients, like Morpho, initially built their own reward systems in-house before switching to Merkl, because we're faster, cheaper, and more flexible.
You may have already used Merkl without knowing it: we power products like Robinhood Earn and provide white-label solutions embedded in major frontends like Uniswap and Trust Wallet.
In short, we enable the seamless distribution of value to any onchain behavior, while giving 200K+ monthly active users access to the best opportunities across 20,000+ campaigns through the Merkl App. We move fast, integrate in days, and with exciting announcements on the horizon, we're looking for a Research Engineer to help us maintain that momentum and reinforce our team of superbuilders 💪🛠️
We are waiting for you to build the next phase of Merkl!
💪Team
Merkl is a small team of 20 people. So if you were to join the team, you will not only be learning with and from us but you will also be deeply involved in the product design and in the research we are conducting.
📍 Location
🥖 Paris (Hybrid)
🛠 Missions & Responsibilities
As a Research Engineer at Merkl, you will be at the forefront of exploring and prototyping new use cases built on top of our powerful indexing and incentive engine. What started as a high-resolution, yield distribution platform has evolved into a rich data and protocol layer with untapped potential. Your mission will be to help Merkl go beyond incentive distribution by ideating, designing, and validating new applications—ranging from marketing intelligence tools and asset management dashboards to tax reporting solutions and much more.
You will work closely with the Head of Research to assess feasibility, performance, and scalability of new concepts and collaborate tightly with the Engine team to fully understand the technical foundations, while continuously exploring new concepts and validating their potential through hands-on prototyping.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Deeply understanding Merkl’s data model, protocol integrations, and incentive engine mechanics.
- Designing and building proof-of-concepts (PoCs) for new features or products using Merkl’s onchain and offchain data layers.
- Proposing and leading your own research tracks, identifying opportunities based on emerging trends in DeFi, AI, finance, payments and blockchain analytics.
- Helping shape the evolution of Merkl’s core engine
- Engaging with partners and early users to gather feedback and iterate quickly on concepts.
- Documenting research findings and sharing them internally to inform strategic decisions.
🎁 What we offer
By joining the Merkl team, you will be part of one of the most innovative and fast-growing teams in DeFi. We offer the opportunity to work with an ambitious team, shipping quickly and making an impact in the industry. For full-time positions, we provide:
- 🧠 A highly stimulating intellectual environment: You’ll collaborate with some of the best researchers and engineers in the DeFi space, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. You’ll also gain exposure to Merkl’s solid web2 tech stack, providing valuable learning opportunities as you work on bridging traditional and decentralized technology.
- 👑 Growth and future opportunities: Be part of a rapidly scaling company, working on cutting-edge projects that shape the future of DeFi.
- 💰 Competitive salary: We offer a competitive compensation package with flexible working hours and the option to work remotely, ensuring a healthy work-life balance.
- 🖥️ Equipment Stipend: We provide you with the tools and devices you need to optimize your work environment and fit your working style.
- 🍻 Team Retreats: Every year, you’ll have the chance to join the team on retreats to reflect on our journey, plan for the future, and bond while having fun in exciting locations.
🧙♂️ You are
You’re a skilled and passionate engineer who thrives in fast-paced, innovative environments. We’re looking for someone who is:
- A fast learner and problem-solver: You are intellectually curious, can quickly grasp new technologies and concepts, and have a knack for finding innovative solutions to complex technical issues.
- Curious with a deep technical mindset: You have a strong passion for crypto and thrive on understanding how things work at a fundamental level, especially within DeFi protocols. You enjoy digging into the technical details to solve complex problems and optimize systems.
- Driven by data and startup values: You iterate quickly, love testing new ideas (even the most unconventional ones), and are excited to implement them.
- Collaborative: You work well in a small, agile team where everyone’s contributions are valued.
- Ownership-focused: You take responsibility for your tasks and see projects through to completion.
- Passionate about innovation and impact: You are driven by pushing new ideas, concepts, and products to broad market adoption.
- Excited about DeFi: You are enthusiastic about the potential of decentralized finance and eager to push its boundaries.
📖 You have
- Very good abstraction skills and the ability to learn fast
- Ability to work autonomously, handle multiple priorities, and take ownership of tasks from start to finish.
- Solid programming experience (Rust, Python,…) and the ability to rapidly prototype ideas.
- Good understanding of DeFi protocols and the broader blockchain ecosystem.
- Strong enthusiasm for AI, autonomous agents, and LLM-powered tooling—eager to explore and build AI-native products and workflows.
- Curiosity-driven mindset with the ability to independently design and pursue research directions.
- Hands-on approach with strong analytical thinking—comfortable moving between code, data, and product thinking.
- Comfort with rapid iteration, backtesting, and prototype validation using live or historical blockchain data.
- Bonus: Experience building internal research tools or working in a lab/startup environment.
- Bonus: Prior experience in asset management, fintech, or blockchain analytics platforms.
- Bonus: A proven track record of solving complex mathematical tasks
📩 Ready to Apply?
If you're excited about joining Merkl as an Research Engineer, click the link below to submit your application through our form. We can’t wait to hear from you!
If you have a question about the position, you can contact us directly at pveyrat@merkl.xyz
Process
Our hiring process is structured around 5 different steps:
- Screening [30 mins]: interview with team member, deep dive into your background
- Take-home technical case [at most 2hr]: screening technical assessment for the position
- Technical interview [1 hr]: discussion on the case, brainteasers, interview on job-specific skills
- Cultural-fit interview [1 hr]: interview with potential future team members
- Final interview [45 mins]: conversation with co-founders
