Protocol Risk Lead
Makina
Hirezar Summary for South African Applicants
This fully remote full time position at Makina is open worldwide, so South Africans can apply. This role is suited for senior-level professionals. As a remote position, you can work from anywhere in South Africa — whether you're based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, or a smaller town.
Job Description
Company Overview:Makina, a crypto-native organization of builders and DeFi leaders, is seeking a full-time Protocol Risk Lead. This is an excellent opportunity to join a dynamic and fast-growing team focused on building trust-minimized infrastructure for the next generation of onchain strategies.
Makinaintroduces a novel framework for onchain asset management that addresses a significant gap in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. While DeFi has successfully replicated many traditional financial primitives, asset management remains underdeveloped, and sophisticated yielding strategies are not broadly available to users across the space.Makinaprovides a highly adaptable and secure architecture designed to facilitate a broad spectrum of strategies.
Job Summary:We are looking for a Protocol Risk Lead with strong onchain and DeFi analysis skills excited about contributing to a novel DeFi building block. This position offers an exciting role as part of a dynamic team, with the ability to shape and impact technical decisions and direction.
Key Responsibilities:
* Develop a comprehensive framework to assess and monitor protocol wide risk
* Conduct strategies analysis, review and risk scoring
* Set up and maintain a robust monitoring system for the Machines running onMakina
* Onchain DeFi risk analysis and monitoring
* Interact and audit risk management framework of authorized operators
* Research protocol exposure to individual protocols and tokens
* Develop stress testing framework to model the resilience of the protocol to outlier events
Key Requirements:
* In-depth understanding of DeFi protocols
* Strong expertise in risk control and management
* Proficiency in analyzing protocols across various risk categories (e.g., smart contract, economic, governance, etc)
* Advanced proficiency in on-chain investigation tools (e.g., Etherscan, Nansen, Phalcon) and data tools (Dune, Subgraphs)
* Entrepreneurial mindset with a capacity for independent and flexible thinking
* Self-motivated, disciplined, and detail-oriented approach to work
* Strong work ethic and team player
* Great written communication and presentation skills
Nice to have:
* Prior experience curating, operating or investing in DeFi strategies
* Prior background in Web3 security or cybersecurity
* Experience with web3 libraries and smart contract interaction
* Familiarity with data engineering or financial data pipelines
Benefits:Makinaoffers an exceptional work culture:
* Dynamic and collegiality in a small team working in fields that are shaping the future of our society.
* As a modern employer, we offer you contemporary working conditions, a lot of space to develop yourself alongside the company as well as exciting and challenging projects.
* Compelling compensation, bonus, and participation opportunities.
* Exposure to extremely talented people and very interesting clients who have unique investment profiles.
* Supportive work and team atmosphere with flat hierarchies and a strong entrepreneurial spirit.
* Makinais an equal opportunity employer with a strong diversity of ideas.
Originally posted onHimalayas
Tips for South African Applicants
Timezone Advantage
South Africa (SAST, UTC+2) overlaps well with European business hours and has a few hours of overlap with US East Coast. Mention your timezone flexibility in your application.
Salary in Context
Even without a listed salary, international remote roles typically pay 2-3x more than equivalent local positions in South Africa due to the exchange rate advantage.
Application Tips
Tailor your CV to international standards — use a clean format, highlight remote work experience, and include your English proficiency. Many SA applicants succeed by emphasising their strong work ethic and cultural adaptability.
Load Shedding Preparedness
If you're applying for a remote role, having a backup power solution (UPS, inverter, or generator) and mobile data as a backup internet connection shows employers you're prepared for South Africa's infrastructure challenges.
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About Makina
Makina is a company in the Legal industry that hires remote workers from South Africa.