About Humanity Protocol
Humanity Protocol is building the human verification layer for the AI age - a decentralized identity platform that establishes human uniqueness in the digital world. Our technology combines palm-based biometric verification, zero-knowledge cryptography, and blockchain infrastructure to create a system where over 9 million users maintain complete control of their digital identities.
In an era of increasingly sophisticated bots and deepfakes, we provide a trust layer that works universally across both digital and physical spaces. Our platform enables developers to build Sybil-resistant applications, organizations to verify real humans without invasive data collection, and individuals to prove their humanity once while accessing everything from social networks to secure venues - all without ever sacrificing privacy.
Our mission is to empower humans with the freedom to own their identity, control their data, and shape a future where trust is built, not bought.
We are looking for
We are seeking an experienced Engineering Lead to architect and build our Developer API Platform from the ground up. This is a rare greenfield opportunity to define how thousands of developers will integrate human verification into their applications - creating the foundation that positions Humanity Protocol as the category leader in decentralized identity infrastructure.
As the technical owner of our external-facing platform, you'll design the API contracts, authentication architecture, and developer experience that will power the next generation of Sybil-resistant applications across Web2 and Web3.
As Engineering Lead, Developer Platform you will
Architect and build our greenfield Developer API Platform, establishing the technical foundation for OAuth 2.0 flows, credential verification, and SDK integrations that will serve 100+ developer teams
Design and implement production-grade authentication infrastructure including PKCE flows, JWT issuance, scope management, API key lifecycle, and rate limiting strategies that balance security with developer experience
Lead the development of W3C Verifiable Credential APIs, enabling developers to issue, verify, and revoke credentials while maintaining zero-knowledge privacy guarantees and selective disclosure patterns
Build and own the self-serve developer portal, including API key management, sandbox environments, comprehensive documentation, and quickstart guides that reduce integration time from weeks to hours
Establish technical standards for API design, versioning strategies, error handling, webhook systems, and SDK architecture across TypeScript, Python, and Go client libraries
Collaborate with DevOps to define infrastructure requirements for API gateways, traffic management, observability, security guardrails, and multi-region deployment strategies
Mentor and grow a team of 2-3 engineers, providing technical direction, code review, and architectural guidance while maintaining hands-on contribution to critical path features
Partner with product and ecosystem teams to translate partnership requirements into scalable API primitives, ensuring our platform can support diverse use cases from DeFi protocols to enterprise KYC systems
Drive technical excellence through comprehensive testing strategies, security reviews, performance optimization, and incident response procedures that maintain 99.9% uptime SLAs
Shape the roadmap for developer platform features including real-time subscriptions, analytics dashboards, and advanced identity primitives like zero-knowledge proofs and credential schemas
You are a good fit if you have
8+ years of backend/platform engineering with proven experience building developer-facing APIs and infrastructure at scale
Deep expertise in identity and authentication systems, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, PKCE, JWT/JWE, API scopes, consent management, and session security patterns
Proven track record designing and shipping REST APIs consumed by 100+ external developer teams, with strong opinions on API design principles, versioning, and backwards compatibility
Strong experience with SDK development, having built or maintained client libraries in multiple languages, with deep understanding of developer experience and integration friction
Production experience with high-reliability systems, including rate limiting, circuit breakers, graceful degradation, multi-region failover, and comprehensive observability
Hands-on expertise with TypeScript/Node.js and modern backend frameworks (Express.js, Fastify, NestJS), with ability to make pragmatic architecture decisions that balance speed and quality
Security-first mindset, with experience implementing defense-in-depth strategies, threat modeling, secure key management, and compliance requirements (SOC2, GDPR)
Strong communication and leadership skills, able to mentor engineers, document architectural decisions, and present technical tradeoffs clearly to cross-functional stakeholders
You will succeed if you have
A self-starter mentality with the ability to drive greenfield projects from concept to production with minimal oversight
Extremely strong technical writing skills for API documentation, RFCs, and architectural decision records that enable team alignment
Experience scaling API platforms through hypergrowth (10x+ traffic increases), including caching strategies, query optimization, and database scaling patterns
Passion for developer experience and product thinking, with strong opinions on what makes an API elegant, intuitive, and delightful to integrate
Technology Stack
FE/BE: TypeScript, Node.js, Express.js, Bun, NestJS
Databases: MongoDB Atlas, PostgreSQL, Redis
Infrastructure: AWS ECS Fargate, Docker, API Gateway, CloudFront, Vercel
Authentication: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, PKCE, API keys
Identity Standards: W3C Verifiable Credentials, DIDs, BJJ+ signatures
Cryptography: Zero-knowledge proofs, selective disclosure, encryption libraries
DevOps: GHA, Terraform
Team Values
First-principles: We approach problems by breaking them down to their fundamental truths and reasoning up from there, rather than "doing things just because"
Agency: We are a team of self-starters and trust our engineers to make decisions independently because of our culture of clear communication.
A.I.: Our team wholly embraces the tasteful use and integration of A.I. in all our workflows from product to engineering.
If you're passionate about building developer infrastructure that will power the future of human verification, excited about shaping API standards in the identity space, and ready to lead a critical platform initiative from zero to scale, we'd love to talk with you.
Shoot us an email at eng-jobs@humanity.org with "Engineering Lead, Developer Platform" in the subject line.
