What Is a ZK / Cryptography Engineer?
As of 2026-10-16, ChainJobs lists 3 live roles matching ZK / Cryptography Engineer, 0 posted in the last seven days and 1 remote. Definition, skills, pay and live demand — every figure from the board. Updated 2026-10-16.
ZK and cryptography engineers build the proving systems, circuits and cryptographic primitives behind rollups, privacy protocols, bridges and identity systems — some of the most mathematically demanding engineering in the industry. The work ranges from implementing proof systems in Rust to designing circuits and optimising provers.
Live demand right now
ChainJobs currently lists 3 live roles whose title matches this role, 0 of them posted in the last seven days, and 1 (33%) remote. By function they fall mostly into Engineering 3. Every count comes from the employer's own careers page, re-verified daily.
What it pays
Fewer than five live matching roles currently publish a USD annual band, so we do not quote a median for this function — we never estimate pay. The salary explorer shows every published band board-wide.
Who is hiring for it
| Company | Live roles |
|---|---|
| Trail of Bits | 1 |
| Binance | 1 |
| Axiom | 1 |
What the role is actually called
The most common titles on live listings that match this role: Senior Security Engineer Cryptography 1 · Binance Accelerator Program 1 · ZK Proof Engineer 1. Titles vary by company; the job titles reference ranks every common title on the board.
Skills and the path in
A strong mathematics or cryptography background, Rust, and familiarity with the major proof systems and circuit frameworks. Paths in are academic (research groups), through open-source ZK tooling, or from adjacent cryptography work. The pool is small and the roles are among the best-paid engineering jobs on the board.
Open roles
- Senior Security Engineer Cryptography at Trail of Bits — $165k–220k
- ZK Proof Engineer at Axiom — $125k–250k
- Binance Accelerator Program - Software Engineer (Cryptography) at Binance
Full live set: the related jobs page, or the board with the search term above. For candidates, the how to get a crypto job guide covers the process; for employers, the hiring guides cover what this market costs and how to write the listing.
Frequently asked questions
What does a ZK do?
ZK and cryptography engineers build the proving systems, circuits and cryptographic primitives behind rollups, privacy protocols, bridges and identity systems — some of the most mathematically demanding engineering in the industry. The work ranges from implementing proof systems in Rust to designing circuits and optimising provers.
How much does a ZK earn in crypto?
Fewer than five live matching roles publish a USD band, so no median is quoted for this role — ChainJobs never estimates pay.
How many ZK jobs are open in crypto right now?
3 live roles on ChainJobs match this role today, 0 posted in the last seven days and 1 (33%) remote — counted from employers' own careers pages and refreshed daily.
What skills does a ZK need?
A strong mathematics or cryptography background, Rust, and familiarity with the major proof systems and circuit frameworks. Paths in are academic (research groups), through open-source ZK tooling, or from adjacent cryptography work. The pool is small and the roles are among the best-paid engineering jobs on the board.
Browse 3,315 live roles
Every one on the employer's own careers page, re-verified daily. Open the board →
238 new this week
Roles first seen in the last seven days, newest first. See what's new →
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Role matching is by job title (word-boundary patterns), so counts are indicative of the role, not exhaustive. Figures computed from ChainJobs' live board on 2026-10-16; salary only from employer-published bands. How we source data →