Head of Operations

About Statemind

Statemind is a smart contract security company. We audit the code that secures billions in onchain value. Our clients include Lido, Curve, Symbiotic, Fluid, Valantis and Yield Basis. The protocols we partner with ship and scale.

Through proactive security research and zero-day exploit discoveries, our work has helped prevent over $350M in losses across DeFi. Our auditors go deep: our reports are thorough, our findings are material, and our reputation is built audit by audit.

You can find more information about our work and recent audits on our website

What you'll lead

We need dedicated operational leadership. We're looking for a person to lead operations with curiosity and work closely with our leadership team to build the foundation for our next phase of growth.

People

You'll lead the operational side of people systems - benefits, insurance, relocation support, vacation management.

• Help team members navigate benefits and insurance
• Support relocation & legalisation of team members
• Manage vacation tracking and scheduling
• Be the person people can come to when team need operational help

Process

You'll drive operational execution across systems (tools, vendors, infrastructure), and coordination (benefits, travel). You'll work to spot issues early, make thoughtful calls about when to add process versus when to stay agile, and ensure operations support great work rather than create obstacles.

• Manage tools, vendors, and infrastructure
• Coordinate travel and team logistics
• Support team legalisation processes
• Spot issues early and make thoughtful calls about when to add process versus when to stay agile.

Fellowship

We believe in investing in people at the early stages of their careers. You'll own and run our fellowship program end-to-end — this is a core part of the role, taking up 50% of your time.

• Iterate on and develop the program over time — improving structure, experience, and outcomes
• Invent, source and onboard new fellows into the program
• Be the main point of contact for fellows day-to-day
• Track fellows' progress and schedules throughout the program
• Coordinate fellow participation in team events and retreats

You'll regularly navigate

• When we need more structure versus when we should stay flexible
• What to outsource versus what to handle ourselves
• Where automation helps versus where it adds unnecessary complexity
• What processes genuinely make life easier versus what's just overhead

What success looks like

• Operations run smoothly and support the team effectively
• Systems stay practical and fit our size - no unnecessary complexity
• You and the leadership team work well together on both operational execution and strategic planning
• The team feels well-supported ❤️

What You'll Do

Fellowship

• Identify, source and onboard new fellows into the program
• Manage fellows' day-to-day experience and address their operational needs
• Track fellows' progress and schedules throughout the program
• Coordinate fellow participation in team events and retreats
• Ensure the program runs smoothly and delivers value for both fellows and the team
• Iterate on and develop the fellowship program over time — improving structure, experience, and outcomes

Legal & Compliance

• Support visa applications, residence permits, and relocation logistics
• Take care of corporate administration and entity management
• Support multi-country payroll infrastructure

Systems & Infrastructure

• Evaluate and improve our operational tools and payment systems
• Run benefits programs (insurance, education budgets, relocation support)
• Find smart opportunities to use AI and automation where it makes sense

Coordination & Logistics

• Organize team retreats (1-2 per year) and help coordinate conference attendance
• Support operational needs across our distributed team
• Manage vacation tracking and scheduling

Strategic Partnership

• Work with leadership team to plan operational improvements and scaling initiatives
• Help identify where we need to invest in systems versus where we should stay lean
• Contribute to broader company strategy discussions from an operational perspective

Financial Operations

• Maintain visibility into where resources are going and flag anything that needs attention
• Help us stay efficient as we grow

Who Thrives in This Role

Your background

You've worked in operations, project management or HR at a small technical services company (roughly 10-30 people), with significant responsibility for keeping things running. You've built practical systems that work without creating bureaucracy. You have experience in environments where details matter — maybe security, compliance, auditing, analytics or fintech — and you understand that operational excellence enables everything else.

What you bring

Systems thinking: You see how different parts of operations connect. You know when a new tool genuinely helps versus when it just adds complexity.

Good judgment: You ask thoughtful questions, think through decisions, and can run with things once you understand the context. You're comfortable working independently but know when to check in.

Comfort with ambiguity: You're okay figuring things out and adapting as you learn. You can sense when to add structure and when to keep things simple.

Professionalism: You handle sensitive topics (compensation, benefits, team concerns) with care and discretion.

Languages: Fluent Russian, professional English - you'll work with a distributed team across multiple regions.

Blockchain curiosity

You don't need to be a crypto expert or understand smart contract internals, but you should be genuinely interested in DeFi and blockchain security. It's easier to do this role well if you're curious about the space we work in.

This might not be the best fit if:

• You strongly prefer very established processes and clear playbooks for everything
• You've mainly worked at much larger companies with dedicated specialists for each function
• You'd rather focus on managing a team than being hands-on yourself
• You need a lot of structure and frequent direction to feel comfortable

Why Statemind

What makes this interesting

• Real opportunity to shape operations
• Direct impact - in a small team, your contributions immediately matter
• Build something meaningful from a strong foundation
• We work with leading DeFi protocols, supporting some of the most recognized names

The environment

• Fully remote and built for distributed async work
• Thoughtful, quality-focused culture where details matter
• Technical team that values rigor and craftsmanship
• Work with cutting-edge DeFi protocols on important security challenges

How to apply:

• TG @natallia_statemind
• Email careers@statemind.io
• You can find more information about our work and recent audits on our website
• Follow us on X: https://x.com/statemindio