Blockchain Protocol Engineer Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

Do you want to be one of only a handful of people in the world able to programmatically detect and investigate complex on-chain criminal activity? Are you excited about deploying your data science skills at the cutting edge of cryptocurrency intelligence? Are you looking for a values-led company that trusts you to push the boundaries of what is possible in blockchain analytics?

Join Elliptic's Intelligence team at the intersection of data science and blockchain analytics. As a Senior Cryptocurrency Intelligence Scientist at IC4 (Senior) level, you will become a go-to authority on on-chain attribution and threat characterisation, developing deep expertise in identifying patterns associated with specific entities, complex laundering techniques, and emerging criminal typologies. Your work will directly strengthen the intelligence dataset that underpins Elliptic's products, guiding our intelligence collection strategy and helping hundreds of financial institutions, exchanges, and government agencies understand and manage crypto-related financial crime risk. You will coach colleagues, collaborate across functions, and help deliver actionable intelligence to public-sector partners and the wider crypto industry.

• Develop and own an expert understanding of identity and non-identity signals and data points necessary to characterise complex on-chain threats, going beyond wallet ownership to understand behavioural patterns, transactional rhythms, routing choices, bridge usage, and smart contract interaction patterns.

• Lead end-to-end complex research and investigation efforts, from scoping and data collection through to written output, presenting findings rigorously and confidently to clients, partners, and internal stakeholders.

• Evaluate Elliptic's attribution coverage across threat areas and lead projects that define and prioritise intelligence collection efforts, identifying where gaps are most material and driving durable remediation.

• Develop processes and tooling that empower analysts and data scientists to actively contribute to the development of straightforward heuristics, including documentation standards, peer review processes, and monitoring for drift or degradation.

• Maintain an opinionated, well-evidenced view of the future of cryptocurrency, the evolution of criminal typologies, and the emergence of new obfuscation techniques, and translate that into actionable intelligence priorities.

• Summarise conclusions from your work into reports, briefings, and marketing content, calibrating depth and framing to the target audience.

• Work closely with the Principal Cryptocurrency Intelligence Scientist and Professional Services team to deliver actionable intelligence to government partners and the broader crypto industry.

• Build and invest in strong working relationships across Elliptic and develop good external relationships within the blockchain intelligence and financial crime research community.

• Coach and mentor more junior colleagues, sharing technical and analytical expertise and contributing to a high standard of intelligence practice across the team.

• Establish deep familiarity with Elliptic's intelligence dataset and attribution methodology, and produce a documented assessment of the most material coverage gaps with a prioritised remediation roadmap.

• Lead or contribute significantly to at least one end-to-end research or investigation project, delivering a defensible written output to an agreed standard and timeline.

• Define and present a concrete proposal for improving how data scientists contribute to heuristic development, including documentation templates, review processes, and monitoring expectations.

• Build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across Intelligence, Product, Engineering, and Professional Services, and identify at least one cross-functional opportunity to translate your intelligence work into product or client value.

• You are mission-driven and share our passion for securing the future of cryptocurrency.

• You demonstrate a deep, active personal interest in the cryptocurrency space, staying current on developments across protocols, ecosystems, and criminal typologies.

• You are enthusiastic about deploying your data science skills to explore new domains and solve problems that do not yet have established solutions.

• You are familiar with OSINT techniques and understand the importance of operating safely, responsibly, and with rigorous attention to bias.

• You are a collaborative team player who enjoys mentoring others and can work productively across functional areas including product, marketing, and customer success.

• You take initiative and are comfortable operating with significant autonomy, owning your domain without waiting for direction.

• A strong understanding of data science fundamentals, with working knowledge of SQL and Python sufficient to conduct and automate analytical workflows independently.

• Expert, demonstrable proficiency across a variety of blockchains, including layer 1 and layer 2 networks, with direct personal experience bridging cryptocurrency between chains and self-custodying cryptocurrency.

• Competency as an intelligence professional: you understand the role of cognitive bias, can apply structured analytic techniques, and accurately communicate uncertainty in written and verbal outputs.

• Excellent communication skills: you can distil complex technical matters clearly for audiences with a wide range of technical understanding, from engineers to executives.

• Previous experience holding, or the ability to obtain, security clearance in the UK or US.

• AI fluency is essential for this role. You must be able to demonstrate your ability to effectively apply AI tools and approaches to intelligence analysis workflows, including using AI to accelerate data processing, pattern identification, heuristic development support, and the drafting of written outputs.

• Relevant postgraduate qualification in a technical or intelligence-adjacent discipline.

• Experience working in a formal intelligence setting, including law enforcement, government, or academic research.

• Commercial or research experience with cryptocurrencies, including complex transaction tracing, demixing, and cross-chain attribution.

• Experience working for or with public-sector entities, including law enforcement or regulatory bodies.

• Strong familiarity with key threat typologies, including thefts, scams, ransomware, nation-state activity, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion.

• Hybrid working: The option to work from almost anywhere for up to 90 days per year.

• Remote Work Budget: $650 budget to set up your home office space.

• L&D Budget: $1,000 annual Learning & Development budget to use on anything (agreed with your manager) that contributes to your growth and development.

• Holidays: 25 days of annual leave + 8 US Public Holidays.

• Birthday Leave: An extra day off for your birthday.

• Enhanced Parental Leave: We provide eligible employees, regardless of gender or whether they become a parent by birth or adoption, 16 weeks fully-paid leave.

• Healthcare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage through a range of providers (including Tufts, Kaiser, Aetna, UHC, and Blue Shield of CA) with generous premium contributions for you and your dependents.

• 401k: Company match included.

• Mental Health: Full access to Spill mental health support.

We know Diversity and Inclusion is much deeper than just hiring, but it’s important for us to mention it here. We welcome and embrace individuals of all backgrounds and identities at Elliptic, and this is an ongoing priority for us. We know incredible people don’t all think in the same way. We want to be challenged every day. We believe our diverse team of individuals underpins this by bringing creative thinking and innovation to Elliptic every day. We are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace, so we welcome applications from everyone, even if you may not think you fit all of the requirements of our roles. We foster an environment of psychological safety, where everyone feels comfortable to bring their whole self to work.