The Director of Engineering will build engineering operations, set quality standards, manage release processes, mentor engineers, and foster collaboration while ensuring efficiency and quality in scaling the team.
Jito Labs is architecting the future of high-performance distributed systems on Solana. We're the team behind Jito-Solana, the leading MEV Solana client, and the Jito Block Engine, which has revolutionized block building on Solana. The Block-Engine has generated roughly 4.5 million SOL for validators and stakers over the past year. However, markets, incentives and tech evolves at a rapid rate on Solana and this requires cutting edge innovation from the Jito team.
At Jito Labs, you'll work alongside a small, nimble group of engineers and operators who are passionate about solving complex technical challenges at the cutting edge of Solana trading and infrastructure. As a small, profitable company with product-market-fit, we're in a unique position to tackle ambitious technical challenges while maintaining our startup speed.
Our team culture emphasizes:
- High ownership: Every team member drives significant technical decisions and shapes our product roadmap.
- Fast execution: We ship rapidly and iterate based on real-world feedback. Progress, not motion.
- Technical excellence: We tackle complex problems with elegant, scalable solutions.
- Sustainable growth: Strong financials and proven market fit enable us to focus on long-term impact.
If you're excited about:
- Solving complex distributed systems challenges
- Working with cutting-edge MEV and trading infrastructure
- Contributing to open-source blockchain technology
- Making a tangible impact on one of the fastest-growing L1 blockchains
...then we want to hear from you.
We're not just building tools - we're architecting the future of high-performance distributed systems. Our work directly impacts Solana's ecosystem, enabling a faster network, better capital efficiency, and more robust DeFi applications for millions of users.
We offer competitive compensation, significant equity, and the opportunity to work on problems that matter. Don't just watch the future of blockchain unfold—help us build it.
The Opportunity
We have exceptional engineers building mission-critical infrastructure for Solana. As we've grown, we've reached the inflection point where we need to level up our engineering operations to match the caliber of our team and the scale of our ambitions.
We're looking for a Director of Engineering to build the operational foundation that will let us scale efficiently while maintaining the speed and quality our users expect.
What You'll Do
Build world-class engineering operations (80% of your focus)
Set engineering standards: Define and implement standards for code quality, documentation, testing coverage, and architectural review
Create clarity and alignment: Establish sprint planning, roadmap processes, and priority-setting frameworks so the team operates with clear direction
Own the release process: Design deployment procedures with proper testing, monitoring, and incident response protocols
Enable leadership focus: Take ownership of day-to-day technical decision-making and engineering operations, allowing company leadership to focus on strategic initiatives
Lead and scale the team (20% of your focus)
Mentor engineers and help them grow their skills and impact
Build team culture and rituals that support high performance
Foster collaboration between product, operations, and engineering
Eventually recruit and hire as we scale beyond our current team
Who You Are
Must-haves
Proven operator: You've built and run engineering teams of 10-50+ people at high-growth startups or infrastructure companies.
First principles thinker: You adapt best practices from previous roles rather than copy-paste them. You understand the "why" behind processes and tailor solutions to our stage, team size, and needs - not implement a FAANG engineering playbook at a 20-person startup.
Process builder: You've shipped processes for software development from scratch—CI/CD, testing frameworks, deployment pipelines, on-call rotations, metrics, and more.
Technical credibility: You can review code, debug production issues, and earn respect from strong engineers. You've written production code in the last 3-5 years and are not afraid to dive into challenge issues.
Startup velocity: You move fast, prioritize ruthlessly, and aren't afraid to get your hands dirty.
Low ego: You're here to solve problems, not collect a title. You'll write code, fix bugs, and do whatever it takes.
Nice-to-haves
Experience with Rust, distributed systems, or high-performance infrastructure
Background in crypto/blockchain infrastructure
Previously scaled engineering from chaos to order at a fast-growing startup
Operated in extremely high-stakes environments where downtime costs millions
Benefits
- Above market compensation and multiple forms of equity
- All-expenses-paid team retreats and conferences
- Unlimited PTO
- Weekly meal voucher
- Salary based on experience
Top Skills
Blockchain
Distributed Systems
Rust
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