Engineering Functions in Bluejay
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A common misconception about engineers in DeFi companies, is that everyone is expected to write smart contracts. That is absolutely untrue! There are many ways that an engineer can contribute, that are not too dissimilar to a traditional technology company.
In this article we will talk about what is behind the scenes within the engineering team at Bluejay Finance, and how you can be part of it. You will get a glimpse into the expectations of each engineering function.
Engineering Functions
The engineering team at Bluejay serves up to six functions to support the protocol, namely:
- Smart Contracts
- Frontend Applications
- Data Science
- Simulation & Risk
- Trading Desk
- Business Support
For each of these engineering functions, we will talk about how they serve the protocol, as well as what is expected of an engineer to succeed.
Smart Contracts
Engineers serving the smart contract functions are responsible for building onto the core stablecoin protocol. The next focus, after the MainNet launch, is to create a safe protocol that is capable of aggregating liquidity of locally denominated stablecoins, as well as securing efficient swap pathways to major USD stablecoins.
As engineers working on smart contracts, they:
- research various protocols, especially stablecoins, AMMs & oracles
- research various financial instruments
- research various incentive schemes
- propose designs to meet different protocol objectives
- write safe and optimized smart contracts
- maintain and monitor performance of deployed contracts
Frontend Applications
Engineers working on the frontend applications aim to delight the different end users that interact with the protocol. These user may range from beginners who want to swap from a currency to another, to DeFi experts familiar with concepts of liquidity mining, bonding or staking. The goal is to present this user an interface that serves their needs.
As engineers working on the frontend applications, they:
- work with UXD and designers to deliver features on the frontend
- design reusable components for the applications
- build dashboards & tools for monitoring the protocol
- optimise the performance of the applications
Data Science
Engineers working on the data science functions help the protocol answer important questions using data that are available on chain. One example of this is how we validated our protocol design using Test Net data in a review published recently.
As engineers working on data science, they:
- maintain and update existing ETL infrastructure
- help the rest of the business answer questions about the protocol with data
- work with other tools like Dune, The Graph, Nansen, etc, when necessary
- design relevant events emission from smart contracts
Simulation & Risk
While the data science engineer approaches questions with existing data, the simulation and risk engineer approaches questions with models.
Internally, the Bluejay team maintains a model to simulate the protocol under different operational constraints and parameters. This allows us to gain deeper understanding of the protocol before deploying the parameters on a live network. In addition, we can test out new concepts and modules on the protocol without affecting live users.
Aside from that, the team maintains infrastructure to monitor the protocol and trigger corrective actions (such as price stabilizer) when necessary.
As engineers working on simulation & risk, they:
- build simple models that have realistic assumptions
- perform research with models of the protocol to answer business questions
- provide findings and recommendations to the governance on parameters for different scenarios & objectives
- monitor on chain activities for notable events and triggering alerts
- running corrective actions, such as price stabilizer, when necessary
- ensuring safety of the protocol
Trading Desk
Any protocol working on stablecoins will likely rely on arbitrageurs and market makers to ensure prices are stable across different AMMs. Newer protocols without an arbitrage community, will likely have to bootstrap this process with their own traders.
As such, engineers working on the trading desk will research and examine the various swap pools available on chain, and perform trades to arbitrage or market make to bring stablecoin prices to par. The focus of the role is not profit but to ensure that the protocol can provide the most efficient swaps at any given point in time.
Engineers performing trading functions will:
- research various pools and swap routes available for specific assets
- write smart contracts to execute different types of swaps
- execute trades to either market make or arbitrage on various pools
- provide reports on performance of different stablecoin swap path
- propose components to optimise stablecoin swaps further
Business Support
Since Bluejay is a tech driven company, many other business functions may need to lean on the engineering team every once in a while. The engineering team also supports or aggregates data from business functions like marketing, business development, operations, etc from time to time.
One example is the use of POAPs in Bluejay where it is not only used for marketing and community management, but also in whitelist allocations eventually (major alpha leak).
Within this function, engineers are free to have fun exploring ways to work with and empower the rest of the organisation!
Which function suits you?
Now you might wonder if you fit into a specific function, or if you may try different functions at the same time. The good news is that while the functions are well defined, engineers in Bluejay are not “trapped” into any single, or group of, functions.
The team makes use of a single project board, or more accurately a scrum product backlog, where engineers are free to choose any task from any functions. If they would like to take a jab at a task in a new area, they are welcome to work with engineers who has more experience in that area. The team has a peer review process to provide additional guardrails to encourage learning and experimentation without compromising on safety!
Hatchlings welcomed!
For the first time, the engineering team is also accepting internship applications.
Previously, only senior candidates who are experts in their field of work were accepted into the organisation to build a strong foundation of culture and processes.
With the initial groundwork laid out, the team is now ready to welcome hatchlings who are excited to learn and can bring high level of energy to the team!
Applying to the team
If you are excited about what you read, feel free to apply to any open engineering position on our careers page or create one that best suits you!
Applications are only accepted on our careers email at careers[at]bluejay[dot]finance.
Be sure to send us an introduction of yourself that is IRRESISTIBLE!
