About Fermah

Every protocol you've used secretly depended on a human to keep running. We fixed it.

If you want to build infrastructure that gives protocols the ability to observe, decide, and act — without a human in the loop — you might be a fit for Fermah.

What We Do

Fermah is backed by a16z CSX, Lemniscap, and other Tier-1 VCs.

Our core infrastructure is Fermah Kernel — a composable, type-safe workflow engine built in Rust that lets protocols initiate actions, not just react to them. Workflows run in sandboxed containers, execute conditional logic, and deliver cryptographically verified results back onchain. No centralized servers. No keeper bots. No humans with private keys.

Fermah Kernel is live in production and powers everything we ship:

• Fermah Froben — our ZK proof generation marketplace autonomously orchestrates proofs for ZKsync and Abstract chain. 1.5M+ proofs delivered, zero human interventions.
• Flashcast — a prediction market where a tweeted question becomes a live market in 3 seconds, resolved onchain the moment an event occurs. No moderators, no committees. Currently in private beta.

We're not making existing things slightly faster. We're building categories of application that were never possible — because they required protocols to act, not just wait.

If you want to be part of a team shipping infrastructure for the machine economy, we'd like to talk.

About Our Founder

Fermah was founded by Dr. Vanishree Rao. She has been designing and building ZK for over 15 years and has a PhD in cryptography from UCLA.

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The Role

We're looking for a senior Rust backend generalist to build the infrastructure behind Fermah Kernel and Fermah Froben — proving orchestration, node software, networking, and the distributed systems that keep protocol agency running in production.

You'll co-lead implementation alongside the team, contribute to protocol design, and help onboard new engineers as we grow. Early team, high autonomy, complex problems, no hierarchy.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain backend systems: networking, node software, client software, and supporting infrastructure.
• Design and implement proving workload orchestration across distributed prover machines.
• Contribute to protocol design through the full SDLC.
• Provide technical co-leadership through hands-on implementation.

What You Bring

• Rust: proven production experience, strong command of async (Tokio).
• Backend blockchain: node/client software, supporting infrastructure.
• RPC protocols: HTTP, WebSocket APIs.
• EVM ecosystem: familiarity with leading Web3 tooling.
• Greenfield experience: demonstrated success launching projects from scratch.
• Track record on high-performance teams with strong execution culture.

Nice-To-Haves

• PostgreSQL + Rust ORMs (Diesel, SQLx, SeaORM).
• Docker, Kubernetes.
• gRPC APIs.
• Observability: OpenTelemetry, metrics aggregation.
• P2P networking (libp2p, DHTs).
• Cryptographic fundamentals (ECDSA, BLS, hash functions).
• AWS / GCP.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity.
• Driven, collaborative team that values excellence and delivery.
• Culture built on mutual respect, empathy, and impact.

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Apply to work with us

To apply, please fill out this form.