Blockchain Research Engineer

The blockchain research group (BRG) is a newly formed group within the Strategic Technology Enablement team chartered with establishing expertise and opinions on emerging blockchain technologies and their potential uses within PayPal. As a research function, the BRG will seek to understand the current and near-future state of blockchain technologies, their relative advantages and disadvantages, and their applicability to PayPal’s core and adjacent businesses. BRG team members will be expected to gain hands-on knowledge of various blockchain technologies and toolchains and to create clear, timely, and well-researched documentation that expresses a point of view or suggested course of action suitable for presentation to senior management, to board members, partners, or the public. Specific research aims and expected outputs will be set and evaluated on a rolling, 3-6 month basis and used to determine whether to continue, increase, or decrease investment towards a particular goal. In the event that the BRG or senior leadership determines that there are no further relevant research objectives, the BRG may be repurposed for research directed towards other areas.

The ideal candidate for the BRG will be a technologist with a strong track record of innovation, with the ability to perform self-directed research, and with excellent verbal and written communication skills. He or she will have experience with prototyping and hypothesis driven development, along with a good understanding of business acumen and how technology applies to business needs and constraints. As much of the research will be open-ended, the ability to self-motivate and drive to results in the absence of specific timelines or deliverables is a must. Prior experience with blockchain technologies is preferred.

Job responsibilities may include:

• Leading discovery for use cases that can further PayPal’s understanding of blockchain and specific blockchain implementation
• Developing POCs and pilot projects that will evaluate a specific technology’s applicability, performance, and scalability
• Presenting findings and making recommendations to other teams and to leadership up to and including the senior executive or board level
• Working directly with development teams to share findings and best practices for the use of blockchain technologies
• Interact as a representative of PayPal Inc. with external entities including partners, vendors, media, and conferences on matters of blockchain technology
• Research, assess, and recommend third-party technologies and products for their applicability to complex project requirements, and contribute to the development of new company concepts

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PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected].