Welcome to the Chainlink Labs hiring process. Our interviews are clear, efficient, and designed as a two-way dialogue. All conversations happen on Zoom for speed and flexibility, giving you the chance to connect with the leaders you’ll collaborate with. The process is tailored to your role and may adjust as needed - we’ll keep you updated. Reach out anytime with questions; our team is here to support you.
Interview steps
Intro Call (30m)
Conversation with our Head of Executive Talent Acquisition on your background, the role scope, and how our principles guide how we build.
Hiring Manager (45m)
Deep dive into your career trajectory, leadership philosophy, and alignment with team goals.
Team Interviews
Quick sessions with team members on your experience, industry knowledge, and project work.
- Stakeholders (45m each)
Discussions with leaders you’ll collaborate with on Web3 expertise and leadership approach.
- Advisor (45m)
Dialogue with an external advisor on leadership, team-building, and scaling organizations.
- Web3 Bar Raiser (45m) - Case-by-Case Basis
Explores your fluency in the Web3 ecosystem—concepts, trends, and hands-on experience.
Take-Home Project + Presentation
Scoped project to complete within 7 days, followed by a 45-minute team presentation.
Alignment Interview (90m)
Conversation with a senior leader outside the team for a broader perspective on fit.
Final Call with Sergey (45m)
Deep dive on skills, leadership, and mutual fit at the highest level.
Closing
References, background check, and final recruiter check-in.
Job description
About the Role
Chainlink Labs is building the infrastructure that enables global finance to move on-chain. As the leading provider of decentralized data and computation services, we power mission-critical applications across capital markets, tokenized assets, and Web3 protocols.
We are hiring a Chief Financial Officer to lead Chainlink Labs’ finance organization through its next phase of growth. This is a role for a high-agency operator with a full-stack finance background and a track record of solving hard problems in complex, capital-constrained environments.
As CFO, you will partner directly with our Co-Founder & CEO to shape capital allocation, drive cost and resource efficiency, and architect a financial infrastructure that spans token economics to crypto-native treasury structures. You’ll lead the design of scalable systems and processes that support a dynamic, multi-entity, and multi-product environment, while ensuring Chainlink Labs operates with discipline, trust, and clarity at every level.
Your Impact
- Own and lead Chainlink Labs’ global finance function—including FP&A, tax, treasury, accounting, and business operations—with a focus on efficiency, clarity, and strategic leverage.
- Serve as a core decision-making partner to the CEO and executive team, guiding resource prioritization, capital allocation, and strategic tradeoffs across the company.
- Evolve a high-performance finance org that is lean, scalable, audit-ready, and designed to support rapid product and market expansion.
- Deliver a unified, crypto-native financial model that links protocol usage, token dynamics, and corporate health to inform strategic decisions.
- Partner with product leaders to define business models, pricing plans, and unit economics across a growing multi-product suite.
- Resolve key tax and compliance issues, ensuring a robust and trusted financial reporting foundation.
- Ensure compliance, reporting, and audit functions— including supporting systems and reporting infrastructure—meet world-class standards while supporting a fast-moving and decentralized operational model.
- Successfully support or lead major strategic finance events (e.g., capital raise, token structure revision, treasury shift) that extend runway or unlock leverage.
- Serve as a first-principles thought partner and challenge function to the CEO and exec team across company-wide decisions.
Requirements
- Full-stack finance ownership: Has run FP&A, treasury, accounting, strategic finance, and tax as the senior-most leader at a high-growth company in developer tools, infrastructure/security, or fintech.
- High-agency operator: Personally led cost-cutting and treasury strategy during capital-constrained or volatile market conditions (e.g., Web3, frontier markets). Demonstrates a bias for clarity, discipline, and speed.
- Product-centric financial strategist: Deep experience supporting technical product teams and founder-led leadership. Translates complex product dynamics into compelling business cases, unit economics, and investment decisions.
- Financial systems builder: Proven ability to implement scalable, audit-ready infrastructure from low-maturity or zero base. Clear examples of building processes that improved operational quality and informed decision-making.
- Founder-caliber judgment: Trusted partner to executive teams. Demonstrates ability to influence decisions across the org, with a history of challenging assumptions, managing uncertainty, and navigating strategic tradeoffs.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior CFO or senior-most finance leadership experience in infrastructure, developer platforms, crypto, or fintech.
- Strong understanding of crypto-native financial structures—including token design, staking models, on-chain risk, and treasury management.
- Experience leading and scaling global, multi-entity finance organizations, including entity setup, intercompany agreements, and international tax optimization.
- Hands-on experience with fundraising, token events, or secondary sales in complex or frontier environments.
- Track record of hiring and retaining top-tier finance talent across all subfunctions.
- Worked closely with engineering-heavy teams or in protocol environments.
- Familiarity with tokenized ecosystems and decentralized value capture.
Advanced degree (e.g. MBA) is a plus—especially when paired with crypto-native, technical, or high-growth operational experience.
Why This Role?
- Strategic scope: Own capital allocation, pricing, runway, and financial modeling at one of the most foundational companies in Web3.
- Pure execution: Operate in a high-leverage environment where clarity, speed, and good judgment are required every day.
- Protocol + Corporate: Work across both traditional and crypto-native domains—integrating token incentives, on-chain data, and protocol usage with real-world financial strategy.
- Impact: Chainlink is securing $20T+ in transaction value and powering critical infrastructure for capital markets, DeFi, and beyond.
- Culture fit: We’re a team of builders with high conviction, high standards, and low ego. If you’re looking for a high-trust, high-ownership environment—we’d love to connect.
General tips for success
Listen carefully
Reframe or clarify questions as needed. Take a pause if you want time to think.
Be direct
Answer the question head-on. Keep examples relevant and specific.
Show your process
We value how you think, not polished scripts. Expect follow-ups.
Communicate clearly
Talk through your reasoning so we see your approach.
Come prepared
Interviews are two-way. Bring thoughtful questions about priorities, culture, and how the role aligns with your goals.
Learn about us
We highly encourage you to visit our resources page to deepen your understanding of our organization. Familiarizing yourself with our mission, products, and recent initiatives can help you feel more confident and prepared for each step in the interview process.
Prep (Pre-Interview)
Explore who we are and how we build with the curated resources below, providing context for a thoughtful discussion.
Keynotes, case studies, and recent press about Chainlink:
Get a deeper understanding of the Chainlink platform and how it powers the verifiable web:
Why join us?
Our mission
Build decentralized systems that link everything to the truth, creating a fair, unbiased world.
Why join us?
Work with an A-team of industry experts, driving Chainlink’s growth at the forefront of blockchain. Boldness is essential here.
Key Principles alignment
We are proud of our collaborative culture. Be prepared to discuss how you align with our Key Principles:
Ownership
We apply high standards in our work and take complete, unconditional responsibility for all outcomes. We always go the extra mile when helping one another, our users, and our community and working toward achieving our objectives.
Focus
Prioritizing outcomes and avoiding the many distractions in our industry enables us to pay full attention to our objectives and achieve more in less time without wasting energy.
Dialogue
Chainlink Labs is an idea meritocracy. We seek to arrive at the truth about every situation through open, honest, and constructive dialogue. We avoid personal biases and ego and seek to overcome the fear of engaging in productive conflict to arrive at truth.