Principal Economist

role overview

The ideal candidate is an experienced economist with an extensive background in economic research who is also a highly experienced DeFi native. As the Principal Economist at Element, you will drive the direction of the Element Protocol. Your work will be fundamental to ensure that the Element protocol avoids problems that have already been solved in the traditional finance fixed income markets, and improves upon them.

responsibilities

• Do fundamental research to improve the design of the AMM, incentive-compatible fees, and token economics
• Lead research on new or improved DeFi primitives

requirements

• A Ph.D. in Economics with a thesis or research focused on or related to fixed income markets
• An understanding of the DeFi ecosystem and a passion for the potential of DeFi to improve the financial markets of the world
• Strong enough background to design the mathematics of novel AMMs that improve the efficiency of decentralized exchanges for fixed rate assets

Preferred qualifications:

• Previous experience working with DeFi or cryptocurrency protocols on economic design
• Work experience in the traditional financial ecosystem, ideally in large institutional investment firms with significant fixed income positions
• Understanding of and experience in the process of translating your ideas to code, with the support of engineers

culture & perks

From the beginning, Element has been designed to be an open, self-sustaining, community-governed protocol so that we can all build better, more stable, and efficient financial systems that stay true to the principles of decentralization that make DeFi so powerful.

• Immediate Decentralization
• Dedication to Research and Experimentation
• An Additive vs. Extractive Approach
• Continuous Improvements
• Driving DeFi Adoption
• Building a Smart Community that Governs (and lasts)

If you join our core team you will play an important role in fostering and supporting the Element ecosystem and protocol as it develops, and your work will directly contribute to a new type of organization that will make finance more open, fairer, and better for the world!

about us

Element Finance is building the Element Protocol and is focused on launching novel fixed rate decentralized finance (DeFi) primitives and aiming to become a backbone of the DeFi ecosystem. Our core team was founded by a pair of serious Eth 2.0 researchers who have built out a team focused on research and solving the hard problems in Ethereum. Working with us would also mean working with people who contributed to top DeFi projects such as MakerDAO, 0x, and Keep Network who are all leveling up their skills together.

The Element Protocol will evolve past the core team on launch to become a community-run and lead protocol. If you join now you will have the opportunity to work in a new type of decentralized community-oriented organization. The core team is aiming to infuse the network and community with our values: strong decentralization, free and open access to financial protocols and code, and the desire to make the world a better place. Unlike other startups which have to evolve into organizations that purely pursue the profit of shareholders, the Element Protocol as a decentralized network has the potential to deliver on the promise that your work will make the world a better place.

location

New York City, San Francisco, Berlin - Remote