Who Are We?
Obol Labs is a remote-first research and software development team focused on Proof of Stake infrastructure for public blockchain networks. Specific topics of focus are Internet Bonds, Distributed Validator Technology, and Multi-Operator Validation. The core team includes +30 members spread across +15 countries.
The core team is building the Obol Network, a protocol to foster trust-minimized staking through multi-operator validation. This will enable low-trust access to Ethereum staking yield, which can be used as a core building block in various Web3 products.
The Network
The network can be best visualized as a work layer that sits directly on top of the base layer consensus. This work layer is designed to provide the base layer with more resiliency and decentralization as it scales. In this chapter of Ethereum, we will move on to the next great scaling challenge, which is stake centralization. Layers like Obol are critical to the long-term viability and resiliency of public networks, especially networks like Ethereum.
Obol as a layer is focused on scaling main chain staking by providing permissionless access to Distributed Validators. The network utilizes a middleware implementation of Distributed Validator Technology (DVT), to enable the operation of distributed validator clusters that can preserve validators' current client and remote signing configurations.
Similar to how roll-up technology laid the foundation for L2 scaling implementations, we believe DVT will do the same for scaling the consensus layer while preserving decentralization. Staking infrastructure is entering its protocol phase of evolution, which must include trust-minimized staking networks that can be plugged into at scale. We believe DVT will evolve into a widely used primitive and will ensure the security, resiliency, and decentralization of public networks.
The Obol Network develops and maintains three core public goods that will eventually work together through circular economics:
The DV Launchpad, a User Interface for bootstrapping and managing Distributed Validators
Charon, a Golang based middleware client that enables validators to run in a fault-tolerant, distributed manner.
Obol Splits, a set of solidity contracts for the formation of Distributed Validators tailored to different use cases such as DeFi, Liquid Staking, and Fractionalized Deposits
Sustainable Public Goods
Obol is inspired by previous work on Ethereum public goods and experimenting with circular economics. We believe that to unlock innovation in staking use cases, a credibly neutral layer must exist for innovation to flow and evolve vertically. Without this layer, highly available uptime will continue to be a moat.
The Obol Network will become an open, community-governed, self-sustaining project over the coming months and years. Together we will incentivize, build, and maintain distributed validator technology that makes public networks a more secure and resilient foundation to build on top of.
Mission of the role
We are looking for a Chief Product Officer that can, with the support of the executive team, define and drive Obol´s product strategy.
Responsible for the Product Vision, Direction, Roadmap and Communication of DV Labs. The next phase of GTM execution should be a collective effort between Product, Business, and Growth to capture the market that we have created.
ResponsibilitiesOwn and drive Obol's product vision & strategy to enable growth & success. Scale and lead our product & design organization while maintaining a high-performing culture.Oversee the company’s entire product suite Act as a counterpart for our CTO and provide the Roadmap definition. Define “what are we building” and “why are we building it”.Focus on the software products and services offered by DV Labs. Translate the product roadmap and the steps taken by the product team into board-level appropriate communication.Lead the design of node operator tooling and its accompanying developer experience to enable the deployment of DVs across retail to enterprise deployment environments. (E.g. Terraform, Helm, Kubernetes, Ansible and Docker based products).Refine and further develop our Solidity products to facilitate the seamless incorporation of DVs into existing Ethereum protocols. Develop best-in-class onboarding flows for UI and programmatic creation of distributed validators (e.g. DV Launchpad, Obol SDK, Obol API).Develop editable distributed validator clusters, including specifying and overseeing the changes that need to ripple through the rest of the Obol Product Suite to enable such mutability.Analyze product performance and iterate on the product suite's design to solve challenges that arise when using Obol's products.Push the distributed validator vision with external clients and public facing outlets. Take ownership of and be accountable for the integration process, ensuring seamless coordination and implementation.Executive Duties: Manage and progress the operations of DV Labs by working closely with the Executive team to define strategies to grow and differentiate our product. You will also need to be informed of our competitor’s developments.Ensure products are aligned to the company strategy and to verify that the product team is resourced appropriately.Contribute with the recruiting processes of the Product team to ensure we add qualified and talented team members.RequirementsThe ideal Chief Product Officer (CPO) should have a deeply technical background, with mandatory expertise in Solidity smart contract design.In addition, the CPO should be knowledgeable in the following areas: Protocol design and development, REST API and SDK development, Front-end DApp development, Ethereum validator tech stacks, Ethereum clients, Ethereum Layer 2s, DevOps/Running production-grade infrastructure.Preferred time zone: GMT-5 to GMT+3.BenefitsCompetitive compensationAnnual Global Off-siteAnnual opportunity to attend DevCon (or a blockchain conference of choice)Generous paid time offBudget for personal equipmentBudget for training or educationThank you for your interest. Looking forward to building amazing stuff together!
