Grove Engineer - Technical Interview

[Olshansk]

Grove Engineer - Technical Screener

tl;dr The technical interview is a total of four PRs in pokt-network/poktroll and buildwithgrove/path showing that you have navigated our onboarding docs and tackled a simple TODO.

Introduction

We don’t believe in whiteboard puzzles or LeetCode questions.Here’s how it works:

• You’ll spin up a local Pocket Network and a local PATH instance.
• You'll be onboarded to our development environment before even starting.
• You'll contribute to open source and your online presence as part of the interview process.
• We’ll give you real POKT to get started in the technical interview.
• You’ll pick a TODO in the codebase (or we’ll hand you one if you prefer).
• We’ll see how you think, build, debug, and collaborate in asynchronous code reviews.
• We're sure you'll have fun and learn a ton along the way.

Part 1: Pocket Network Onboarding

1. Go to dev.poktroll.com and navigate the documents to spin up a local network.
2. Create a new pull request that contains the following:
   • A screen recording of your local environment running
   • Improvements to our documentation
3. Create another pull request that fixes a TODO
   • A lot of these are ourated, so let's align on which one you want to do after (2) is complete.

Part 2: PATH Onboarding

1. Go to path.grove.city and navigate the documents to spin up a local network.
2. Create a new pull request that contains the following:
   • A screen recording of your local environment running
   • Improvements to our documentation
3. Create another pull request that fixes a TODO.
   • A lot of these are ourated, so let's align on which one you want to do after (2) is complete.

What We're Looking For

1. Technical Independence

   • Show us that you have the skills to figure things out.
   • Push through bugs, issues, and ambiguity along the way.

2. Thoroughness & Bias to Action

   • Don’t be afraid to update our docs. Delete or create pages. Add tools. Go beyond just fixing typos.
   • We’re 100% sure our docs are not perfect, and we always strive to improve them for future developers. Your perspective as someone new is extremely valuable. Don’t be afraid to delete things, create new pages, and go far beyond just fixing typos.

3. Agency & Communication

   • Bias toward asking questions when you're truly stuck, but push through issues independently rather than taking the easy path.
   • Show us how you collaborate in async code reviews and document your thought process clearly.

4. Craftsmanship & Curiosity

   • Demonstrate attention to detail in your code and documentation.
   • Share insights or ideas that show you’re thinking beyond the immediate task—whether it’s performance, reliability, or developer experience.

Communication & Support

1. Create GitHub issues if/when you need help. Support, bugs, questions, direction, etc...
2. Join our discord server. Faster responses, request for POKT, etc...
3. I'm sure we'll figure everything else out along the way! 🌿

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Grove Engineer - Job Description

Expand for the job description details

At Grove, we’re the R&D engine behind Pocket Network, the blockchain that first pioneered decentralized RPC.

• Our vision: Unstoppable Data through API Discovery & API Quality.
• We coined the term RPC Trilemma: Reliability, Performance, and Cost-effective infrastructure.
• We’re obsessed with Ruthless Prioritization of our Customers.
• We build quality at scale to show that blockchains aren’t just for DeFi, but for internet-native utility.
• We handle tens of millions of relays on a daily basis that settle on a permissionless network across dozens of different blockchain - data sources.

The Role

We’re looking for a Grove Engineer to dive deep into infrastructure, backend, and protocol work.

• Join a small, sharp team of engineers.
• Expect to get both your hands dirty and your mind stretched.
  Help shape how developers connect to the internet’s next infrastructure layer.
  Report directly to the CTO.

We will pay accordingly for the individual’s level of seniority and experience, but are looking for the right fit moreso than anything else.

What We’re Looking For

You don’t need to tick every box, but you should be excited by most of these:

• Experience with the Cosmos SDK.
• Proficiency in Go.
• Comfort with infrastructure work (Kubernetes, Postgres, monitoring, networking, etc.).
• Ability to use AI tools to accelerate, not replace, your engineering skills.
• Hungry to ship, experiment, and produce real impact.
• Not afraid to dive into new tools or weird debugging rabbit holes.

Pay & Perks

• Part-time / Contract. If we love working together, there’s a clear path to a full-time role.
• Cash & tokens (POKT). Transitioning to full-time also makes you eligible for Grove equity.
• Work from anywhere. We’re a fully remote team. Be available, get things done, and work the hours that suit you.

Why Join?

If you want to:

• Work on problems that actually move the needle in blockchain infra.
• Learn fast, ship fast, and see your work touch billions of relays.
• Be part of a team that calls BS on hype and builds quality at scale.

Then you’ll fit right in at Grove 🌿