Programming Language Developer

Blockstream is the leading Bitcoin company, providing cutting-edge infrastructure solutions for enterprises, institutions, and individual Bitcoin users. We develop industry-leading Bitcoin self-custody solutions, Bitcoin-based financial products, second-layer scaling technologies, and enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure.

Simplicity is our next-generation, functional, low-level programming language for blockchain applications, designed for provable security and formal verification. SimplicityHL is the high-level layer built on top of it, intended to make Simplicity more accessible for real-world application developers.

We’re looking for a Programming Language Developer to focus on non-core language design areas for SimplicityHL — building the developer experience, tooling, and infrastructure that make the language productive and maintainable at scale.

You’ll work alongside the Simplicity language researchers developing the developer-focused aspects of the language that turn SimplicityHL into a complete, usable platform. This means designing and implementing unit testing frameworks, module/package systems, versioning and upgrade paths, documentation tooling, build pipelines, and other ecosystem infrastructure.

• Your work will directly impact every developer building with SimplicityHL, making it easier to test, organize, share, and evolve their smart contracts.
• What You’ll Be Doing (Responsibilities):
• Testing Infrastructure: Design and implement a robust unit testing and integration testing framework for SimplicityHL programs.
• Module & Package Systems: Develop tooling for modular code organization, dependency management, and distribution of SimplicityHL libraries.
• Versioning & Upgrade Path: Define and implement versioning schemes for SimplicityHL code, with clear migration and compatibility strategies.Developer Tooling: Build command-line tools, editors/IDE integrations, and build scripts to improve the developer experience.
• Documentation Systems: Create automated documentation generators and guidelines for language/library docs.
• Release Management: Work with the research team to plan and manage releases of the SimplicityHL toolchain and associated libraries.

What We Look For In You (Required Qualifications):

• Proficiency in Rust, Haskell, or other statically-typed systems programming languages.
• Strong understanding of software architecture for modular systems (package managers, dependency graphs, build pipelines).
• Experience designing unit testing frameworks or automated testing tools.
• Solid understanding of versioning strategies (e.g., semver, language evolution policies).
• Strong communication skills and ability to work in a distributed team.

Nice To Haves (Preferred Qualifications):

• Familiarity with functional programming languages and blockchain/cryptographic concepts.
• Prior experience building developer tooling or compiler infrastructure.
• Prior experience with smart contract platforms or domain-specific language tooling.
• Contributions to programming language ecosystems, open-source developer tools, or CI/CD systems.

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