About Institute of Free Technology
What is the Institute of Free Technology?
The Institute of Free Technology (IFT) describes itself as "a mission-driven tech startup studio" that takes "ideas from the drawing board to market with financial, technical, legal, people operations, and brand-building support at every step." In its own words, IFT "curates, incubates and builds startups using shared resources and infrastructure," all "focused on building public goods to safeguard civil liberties in the digital age." It is the umbrella behind a family of decentralized, privacy-preserving Web3 projects including Status (a secure messenger and Ethereum wallet), Logos, Nimbus, and Keycard. IFT "emerged from Status, which Jarrad Hope and Carl Bennetts founded to enable the free flow of information and protect the right to private, secure conversations in 2017." Its work is guided by published principles spanning liberty, censorship resistance, security, privacy, transparency, openness, and decentralization.
Where will I work?
From anywhere in the world. IFT states plainly that it "is a fully remote, location-agnostic organisation – meaning that we don't mandate the location where you should provide your services." Every open role on its careers board is tagged "Remote (Worldwide)," open to candidates in any country and time zone. You can even relocate while engaged: being location independent "means you could decide to move away from where you were first delivering your services, and that's okay."
What is the Institute of Free Technology team like?
A globally distributed, asynchronous team of engineers, researchers, and operations people building frontier decentralized technology — from peer-to-peer messaging protocols and cryptography to on-chain treasury and finance. IFT is deeply values-driven: it strives "for complete openness and symmetry of information within the organisation," with "no border between our core contributors and our community." Work is collaborative and async, with design discussions and handovers happening across time zones rather than in fixed meetings.
Work-Life Balance
IFT runs a self-managed, async culture. It does "not mandate the days, schedule, or hours that you take to deliver the services – you're free to set your schedule and work from any place... and time zone." Contributors are encouraged to be away from the keyboard "for at least 20 days a year (plus your local or cultural bank holidays)... We encourage you to disconnect as much as you need on top of this." There are no org-wide mandated days off — you book the public holidays "close to your heart or beliefs." New parents get up to 16 weeks (primary caregiver) or 3 weeks (secondary) of supported time away.
Perks and Benefits
IFT backs its remote model with concrete allowances. The standard kit "includes a laptop, a Keycard, a Yubikey, and a Ledger," with the laptop budgeted "up to USD 3,000." Contributors can expense "up to USD 270 / EUR 250... per month for coworking costs," plus a free Headspace premium subscription for mental wellbeing. IFT sponsors conferences and ecosystem events such as "DevCon, ETH[city], ETHCC, Hackathons." Compensation is flexible — contributors can choose to be paid in a mix of fiat and crypto.