What Makes a Blockchain Team?

New technologies define industries and industries are defined by the people that work within them. So when a new innovation comes along that has the potential to overhaul the way processes are carried out, there is a need to define new roles for team members working with this new tech. Blockchain falls into the category of disruptive technology and promises to change the way the world stores and shares data. As such, there is a need to set new roles, but what are they and what tasks should these team members carry out?

Developer

Developers are core to a blockchain team as they write the software and develop it into a product. These team members also decide on the level of security required for the solution the company is offering the market. Security is usually traded off against speed and part of a developer’s responsibility is to find the optimal middle ground. A must-have key skill for blockchain developers is the need to write smart contracts to automate data transaction execution.

User Researcher

A user researcher is someone that really understands the market needs and looks to gain a deep knowledge of what blockchain clients require from the technology on offer. This means that they should fully comprehend the market’s current problems and be able to present how blockchain can solve such issues. Moreover, these team members look to define how different parties within the network ecosystem interact and behave.

Network Engineer

A blockchain network engineer’s duties bear great importance in ensuring data communication efficiency. This work relates to how data is sent only to intended network participants. The network engineer’s tasks also define how the peer-to-peer network operates at scale to ensure the smooth running of the blockchain network.

System Architect

Blockchain networks require architects in order to define how the system operates by incorporating and bringing together the insights that the user researcher, developer, network engineer and user experience designer come across in their work. The system architect holds a position of responsibility for the system’s integrity and scalability whilst also defining some of the key features of the network.

Project Manager

Project managers are necessary across a broad range of industries (if not in every sphere of economic activity). These team members not only control and oversee work processes, but also define how they take place by setting tasks for other employees. This generally involves converting complex ideas from technical team members, converting them into simple language so that others can understand the task at hand and complete it properly. This is a two-way conversion of technical to simple and back to technical language again. Without project managers, blockchain teams can easily lose sight of original goals.

User Experience Designer

User experience (UX) designers are needed to make the blockchain platform or application easy for users to work with, and these designers make sure that client-side operation of the software takes place without requiring technical knowledge. UX designers are concerned with simplicity and making sure that users are not frustrated with how the blockchain network works when they are using it. Furthermore, these designers also test the application or platform in different versions, analysing how users take advantage of certain features, and then incorporate their analysis into the final version of the product. Their work is never finished and they strive for UX perfection.

Quality Engineers

Team members assigned the role of quality engineers make research and advise on the blockchain tools to be implemented across the network, whilst also developing automated test standards for quality assurance. In addition, quality engineers create strategies for load performance tests. These tests give an indication of how the network will perform at launch, defining network latency, speed and security.

Legal Consultant

Legal counsel is very important in the blockchain sphere. Blockchain legal consultants give advice on how to hold and structure Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) so that they comply with legislation in relevant and applicable jurisdictions. This is a very important task, taking into accountant the rise of this crowdfunding technique. Moreover, legal consultants develop legal partnerships and contracts for automated execution of smart contracts. These contracts execute automatically on the basis pre-defined inputs, but must be compliant with the legal provisions of different contract laws in order to be deemed valid.

Engineer

Engineers fulfil an important role throughout a range of different industries just as they do in tech-based ones. Blockchain teams need a person who can study the technological needs of an organisation and determine where blockchain can be implemented. This is where blockchain engineers come in. They create and implement digital solutions for companies using blockchain, deciding how the technology can be applied to suit an organisation’s needs.

Blockchain Architect

Just as system architects need to have a deep knowledge of how information systems operate, so do blockchain architects. The job of this team member is to understand different consensus mechanisms which define how the nodes (computers) of a blockchain network agree on how data is declared valid and added to the chain. This job involves real expertise in distributed systems, since this architect sets forth how the network operates. Blockchain architects will tweak the consensus mechanism in order to suit the network’s requirements.

Business Development Manager

Again, this team member can be found across all types of industry and is key to the development of organisations. The business development manager is tasked with facilitating business partnerships across the board, whether they be within blockchain or outside. Business development managers help a blockchain organisation to develop by pitching sales proposals and convincing organizations that their technology is the one the market is in need of. These team members find leads for cooperation and development of the industry.

Marketing Officer

Marketing of any idea is important in order for it to flourish. If consumers do not know about an idea, no matter how good it is, it will not sell. This is where marketing professionals com in. Marketing officers develop and create a product strategy, creating a vision for how the company should be interpreted by the world at large. Creating a recognisable brand image is of key importance for the development of a company and, as an internet technology, blockchain organisations need an online presence and for word about what they are doing to spread. This involves setting clear content benchmarks to become an industry thought leader.

There are many different components to blockchain teams and all are very important. What many should bear in mind, however, is that there are many blockchain organisations out there that create applications that rely on already working networks and don’t need a full team of blockchain professionals.

Author: Alina Nuzhenko

Alina has a background in PR for IT companies and banks and has recently made it her special challenge to educate people on how to benefit from blockchain technology.

Blockchain Business Review from Apla provides high-quality educational material from the world of blockchain to inform the business community of the competitive advantage that can be gained by integrating distributed ledger data storage within organizations. Our mission is to promote knowledge about blockchain and its uses in both the private and public sector and demonstrate the value of blockchain integration.