Alpha Researcher

Defuse Labs develops NEAR Intents to enable seamless cross-chain interactions in an automated world—connecting AI, services, and financial applications. At Defuse Labs , we design intent-driven liquidity layers where smart contracts breathe, AI transacts, and chains sync in real time. With expertise in AI, cryptography, and decentralized finance, our team is redefining how intelligent agents interact across blockchain networks. We are looking for a technically exceptional Alpha Researcher to help build and scale Defuse's quantitative strategies and infrastructure. This role sits at the intersection of market making, quantitative research, software engineering, and decentralized markets, working hands-on on systematic trading strategies, signal generation frameworks, and execution systems that power the next generation of intent-based liquidity. You will report to the Head of Alpha and work closely with protocol engineering, product, and ecosystem teams. The ideal candidate combines a strong quantitative and engineering background with hands-on trading experience and a track record of turning research into profitable production systems. Responsibilities Design game theoretical models of interaction between the NEAR Intents protocol, distribution channels, market makers and the end users Research, design, test, and iterate quantitative trading strategies across on-chain and cross-chain competitive markets Build frameworks for signal generation, alpha discovery, and performance attribution Develop systematic trading and liquidity optimization capabilities for Defuse's Alpha Platform Partner closely with protocol engineering to translate research into production-grade systems Develop analytical infrastructure, simulation environments, and tooling for strategy research and execution Monitor market conditions, execution quality, and portfolio performance, continuously improving trading models Collaborate with product and ecosystem teams to identify new market opportunitie