Organisation
At the KERI Foundation, you will be working in a cross-functional team on various internal and public-facing services that support the coding, testing and publication of the open-source KERI Suite codebase.
Established by founding members, the KERI Foundation is a not-for-profit organization created to support the implementation and use of the KERI Suite, a digital, decentralized, trust-spanning, open-source autonomic identifier system.
The KERI Foundation manages a network of board members, members, contributors, and donors and works with partners in business coopetively* to construct and maintain secure and authentic trusted services and authentic, reliable data for unique legal identification and credential issuance worldwide. The KERI Foundation services ensure the integrity and availability of the KERI Suite codebase and connected governance frameworks facilitated through GitHub and our website.
As a result, KERI is positioned to become the industry standard for the most secure identifier systems. It is best suited to providing authentic and reliable data for organizational IDs and decentralized data management. Learn more at www.keri.foundation.
Why us?
- A quick job entry
- A project-based assignment contract
- An attractive, performance-related fee model
- Flexible and mobile working environment
- Work directly with KERI’s inventor
- Regular to-the-point feedback meetings
- Staff leading with empathy in a maker mindset
- Short decision-making processes
- Comprehensive further training options
- Access to online learning Platforms (e.g. kerisse.org, GitHub.io)
Your freedom of choice
The KERI Foundation has no payroll, meaning all personnel are hired based on assignments and fees. This also implies that you bring your own (BYO) devices, which gives you freedom of choice. The KERI Foundation has market-conform requirements for those devices, which the Developer has to comply with. Furthermore, the KERI foundation has prerequisites for the software stack used for development.
About Our Team
We are a diverse team of developers who cover the end-to-end DevOps lifecycle of a wide range of internal and public-facing applications built in-house and self-hosted on the KERI Foundation infrastructure.
Our primary tech stack includes Python, LMDB, GitHub CI/CD. Knowledge
sharing, Test-driven development, documentation, and an agile mindset are core tenets of how we grow as a team and build maintainable, quality software. We are looking to expand the team’s expertise in the architecture, development, and implementation of the KERI protocol, adjacent specifications of the Suite, and downstream implementations for various verifiable organizational Identifier, such as vLEI.
The team covers the entire lifecycle of our applications, including requirement engineering, technical design & specification, planning, implementation, documentation, release/deployment, monitoring, and maintenance. Our applications are mostly built API-first and often don’t come with a front end or are limited to an internal dashboard written in Livewire or Vue.
We are a self-organizing team that does not compromise on quality, believes in continual learning, and takes shared ownership of what we create and the value it provides.
About you
We are seeking a seasoned senior developer to continue the architectural design and implementation of the KERI protocol and downstream implementations of the wallet, witness- and watcher services, the KERI web API, and an installation and configuration wizard. As a key leader in our team, you will leverage your extensive experience in software architecture, decentralized systems, and cryptographic technologies to shape the future of digital identity.
Key Responsibilities
Architectural Leadership: Learn and articulate the architectural blueprint for the KERI Suite, ensuring robustness, scalability, and alignment with industry standards within the existing KERI libraries. The KERI inventor has the final say in architecture and engineering, but teamwork will help us progress.
Technical Design: Lead the design and continued development of core components, including wallet, witness- and watcher services, the KERI web API, and an installation and configuration wizard.
Team Collaboration: Work closely with a talented team of developers and project managers to deliver a secure and efficient implementation of the KERI Suite ecosystem.
Code Review and Quality Assurance: Ensure the highest standards of code quality and security through rigorous code reviews and adherence to best practices.
Documentation: Create comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, design specifications, and user guides to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Community Engagement: Actively participate in the open-source community, providing technical guidance and fostering a collaborative environment.
Mentorship: Guide and mentor developers, cultivating a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.
- Experience and competencies for success 10+ years of senior experience in software architecture, with a proven track record in designing and deploying large-scale, decentralized systems.
- Extensive experience in open-source project management, including leading and contributing to
successful open-source projects. - Strong expertise in cryptography, particularly in the areas of public key infrastructure (PKI) and digital signatures.
- Outstanding proficiency in Python.
- Exceptional ability to design secure, scalable, and maintainable software architectures.
- Deep understanding of distributed systems, consensus algorithms, and decentralized identity standards.
- Strong problem-solving skills and meticulous attention to detail.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
- Demonstrated success in engaging with and contributing to open-source communities.
- Familiarity with self-sovereign identity principles and standards such as DID and Verifiable Credentials
Department: the KERI Foundation
Reports into: Software Developer – Deputy Team Lead
Management responsibility: No
Location Remote: US time zone is preferred but will consider EU time zones
Scope: Full-time, for at least half a year
All foreign applicants must be able to present complete and valid working documents for the jurisdiction they’re working from in Europe or the USA.
This is an opportunity to make an impact on the security and completeness of the open-source stack of KERI in a not-for-profit, stable foundation, work with the KERI inventor who is committed to investing in the foundation, its partner relationships, and its personnel. You will join a highly motivated team with the mission to successfully implement the KERI Suite.
We look forward to your application. Please send your résumé alongside a letter of interest to ssmith@keri.foundation.
coopetively* is a mixture of competitively and cooperatively.