Senior Data Scientist - Blockchain Research

TRM Labs is a blockchain intelligence company committed to fighting crime and creating a safer world. By leveraging blockchain data, threat intelligence, and advanced analytics, our products empower governments, financial institutions, and crypto businesses to combat illicit activity and global security threats. At TRM, you\’ll join a mission-driven, fast-paced team made up of experts in law enforcement, data science, engineering, and financial intelligence, tackling complex global challenges daily. Whether analyzing blockchain data, developing cutting-edge tools, or collaborating with global organizations, you\’ll have the opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting impact.

As a Senior Research Data Scientist, you will have end-to-end ownership of custom models, heuristics, algorithms, and other data products that feed directly into TRM’s UX. In collaboration with a highly skilled team of engineers, data scientists, and research scientists, your goal will be to uncover valuable and defensible information that can be used to detect, prevent, and mitigate cryptocurrency fraud and financial crime.

The models and algorithms you create will be specifically designed to identify new threat vectors that are unique to cryptocurrencies and blockchains. These tools will be consumed by prestigious entities such as former FBI, Secret Service, and other law enforcement agencies, enabling them to stay ahead of evolving criminal activities in the cryptocurrency space.

In particular, the Traceability Team is responsible for investigating and tracing illicit actors that utilize technologies intentionally designed to obscure their blockchain transactions. The problems we face are exciting, challenging, and open-ended, requiring strong research-minded focus and curiosity. If you like solving hard problems with smart people, this is the place for you!

The impact you will have here:

• As leader of the Traceability team, you will drive technical data science investigations & research, resulting in statistical models tailored to identify patterns and anomalies associated with cryptocurrency fraud and financial crime. These models will help detect potential threats and provide valuable insights for law enforcement agencies.
• Research novel methods to parse blockchain data & “crack” obfuscating technologies, to consistently derive insights & learnings from huge amounts of data.
• Develop custom models, algorithms, and interactive visualizations that will be consumed by former FBI, Secret Service, and Europol agents and analysts to detect new threat vectors unique to cryptocurrencies and blockchains
• Collaborate with engineers and research scientists to design algorithms to analyze complex data structures inherent to cryptocurrencies and blockchains.
• You will stay up to date with the latest developments in the field of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and financial crime. This will involve continuous learning, attending conferences, and exploring research papers to incorporate cutting-edge techniques into your work.

What we’re looking for:

• Your academic background is in a quantitative field such as Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, Economics or Physics . Advanced degree preferred.
• You have 4+ years of experience working in a data science role, and leading research projects E2E
• You have strong proven experience with data science programming languages in production environments (Python & SQL heavily preferred)
• You have a high tolerance for ambiguity. You find a way through. You anticipate. You connect and synthesize.
• Experience with investigating financial data is preferred. Experience with and/or interest in blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies is preferred.

About the Team:

• TRM operates with a high level of collaboration and interdependence, fostering an inclusive culture where connections extend beyond work. We value diverse personalities and seek someone who is both results-driven and sociable, with strong communication, leadership, and teamwork skills, along with a positive, solutions-oriented mindset.
• As a globally distributed team, members may observe different timezones. However, most of the team will overlap between the hours of 7am-12pm PST for meetings and collaboration.
• All team members, regardless of location must have at least 4 hour overlap with PST business hours.
• The team is involved in 2 different on-calls
  • Analytics on-call: only requires focus on working time (average of < 1 hour a day every month)
  • Data Science on-call: full week on-call to ensure Data Science pipelines are running smoothly (average of 1-2 hours a day every 3 months)

Learn about TRM Speed in this position:

• Deliver a last minute impactful project for a key customer
• Build complex products effectively with tight timeframes (1-2 sprints for MVP)
• Work on several projects in parallel with different priorities and stakeholders

The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:

• The estimated base salary range for this role is $170,000 – $195,000. Please note that the base range is applicable to the US and will be different depending on the country.
• Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.

Life at TRM Labs

Leadership Principles

Our LPs are foundational elements of our strategy, guiding how we make decisions, how we treat each other, and how we behave day-to-day.

• Impact-Oriented Trailblazer – We put customers first, driving for speed, focus, and adaptability.
• Master Craftsperson – We prioritize speed, high standards, and distributed ownership.
• Inspiring Colleague – We value humility, candor, and a one-team mindset.

Accelerate your Career

Join a mission-driven team of industry leaders and make a real-world impact—disrupting terrorist networks, recovering stolen funds, and more. At TRM, you will:

• Work alongside top experts and learn every day.
• Embrace a growth mindset with development opportunities tailored to your role.
• Take on high-impact challenges in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
• Thrive in a culture of coaching, where feedback is fast, direct, and built to help you level up. We expect everyone to both give and receive feedback as part of how we get better—together.

What to Expect at TRM

TRM moves fast—really fast . We know a lot of startups say that, but we mean it. We operate with urgency, ownership, and high standards. As a result, you’ll be joining a team that’s highly engaged, mission-driven, and constantly evolving.

To support this intensity, we’re also intentional about rest and recharge. We offer generous benefits, including PTO, Holidays, and Parental Leave for full time employees.

That said, TRM may not be the right fit for everyone . If you\’re optimizing for work life balance, we encourage you to:

• Ask your interviewers how they personally approach balance within their teams, and
• Reflect on whether this is the right season in your life to join a high-velocity environment.
• Be honest with yourself about what energizes you—and what drains you

We’re upfront about this because we want every new team member to thrive—not just survive.

Thrive as a Global Team

As a remote-first company, TRM Labs is built for global collaboration.

• We cultivate a strong remote culture through clear communication, thorough documentation, and meaningful relationships.
• We invest in offsites, regional meetups, virtual coffee chats, and onboarding buddies to foster collaboration.
• By prioritizing trust and belonging, we harness the strengths of a global team while staying aligned with our mission and values.

Join our mission!

We’re looking for team members who thrive in fast-paced, high-impact environments and love building from the ground up. TRM is remote-first, with an exceptionally talented global team. If you enjoy solving tough problems and seeing your work make a difference for billions of people, we want you here. Don’t worry if your experience doesn’t perfectly match a job description— we value passion, problem-solving, and unique career paths. If you’re excited about TRM’s mission, we want to hear from you.

Recruitment agencies

TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.
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