Defines async programming standards for blockchain team: event-driven monitoring guidelines, async transaction management reviews, concurrent multi-chain integration patterns. Establishes best practices for async patterns in blockchain applications.
Roles · Blockchain Developer · Lead
What a Lead } should know
28 core skills, 79 in total. Expectations per skill, and what changes at the next level.
This page lists what a Lead } is expected to know and do, skill by skill. Core skills are the ones a manager and peers assess in a review cycle; the rest count only in self-assessment. Main areas: Programming Fundamentals, Backend Development, Frontend Development.
Core skills for a Lead
Grouped by area. The label on the right is the expected depth: Awareness, Working, Advanced or Expert.
Programming Fundamentals · 2
Defines OOP and SOLID Principles standards at team/product level. Conducts architectural reviews. Establishes best practices and training materials for the team.
Backend Development · 1
Defines Node.js Frameworks architectural decisions at product level. Establishes standards. Conducts design reviews and defines technical roadmap.
Frontend Development · 1
Defines frontend architecture at product level with React Core. Establishes standards and best practices. Conducts architectural reviews.
API & Integration · 1
Defines API strategy at product level. Establishes design standards. Conducts API design reviews. Coordinates cross-team API interaction.
Testing & QA · 3
Defines testing strategy at product level. Establishes quality assurance standards. Introduces shift-left testing culture.
Defines integration testing strategy for blockchain protocol ecosystems spanning L1/L2 solutions and DeFi composability layers. Establishes quality standards for cross-chain bridge testing and smart contract upgrade verification. Introduces shift-left testing culture with formal verification of critical protocol integration points and economic simulation testing.
Defines testing strategy at product level for blockchain systems: smart contract audit testing standards, consensus protocol testing governance, security testing frameworks for DeFi protocols. Establishes shift-left testing culture with automated quality gates for on-chain deployments.
Security · 3
Defines security strategy for blockchain development spanning smart contracts, DApp frontends, and infrastructure. Establishes security policies for contract audit requirements, web3 security standards, and DeFi-specific threat modeling practices. Coordinates security incident response and trains teams on blockchain-specific vulnerability patterns.
Defines secure coding strategy for blockchain development teams spanning smart contracts, DApp frontends, and infrastructure. Establishes security policies for contract audit requirements, secure upgrade mechanisms, and web3 security standards. Coordinates vulnerability response and trains teams on blockchain-specific secure coding patterns.
Defines threat modeling strategy for blockchain product portfolios. Coordinates cross-protocol threat assessments covering DeFi composability risks, bridge security, and L2 assumptions. Establishes threat modeling standards for smart contract audits and pre-deployment security reviews. Drives adoption of automated threat detection in the development workflow.
Architecture & System Design · 1
Defines event sourcing strategy for decentralized applications combining off-chain event stores with on-chain finality. Establishes guidelines for event replay, chain reorganization handling, and cross-chain event correlation. Conducts architecture reviews of event-driven indexer and subgraph designs.
Blockchain & Web3 · 16
Defines cryptographic standards for blockchain product: key management policies, signature scheme selection, and entropy source requirements. Establishes security audit processes for cryptographic implementations and coordinates with external auditors.
Defines blockchain product architecture: chain selection criteria, node infrastructure strategy, and protocol upgrade planning. Establishes security standards for validator operations and key management. Coordinates cross-team blockchain integration efforts.
Defines blockchain product architecture. Establishes security standards. Coordinates audits.
Builds expertise in consensus mechanism selection for new blockchain projects. Evaluates security assumptions and economic guarantees of various algorithms for 5+ organizational products.
Defines cross-chain product architecture: bridge selection criteria, multi-chain deployment strategy, and interoperability governance. Establishes security standards for bridge operations and coordinates cross-chain integration testing.
Defines DeFi infrastructure strategy for the organization. Establishes oracle integration and risk management standards. Evaluates protocol composability risks for production deployments.
Defines Ethereum product architecture: L2 rollup strategy, bridge integration selection, and MEV protection standards. Establishes node infrastructure governance and coordinates team on Ethereum protocol upgrade readiness (hard fork preparation).
Defines blockchain product architecture. Establishes security standards. Coordinates audits.
Defines L2 infrastructure strategy for the organization. Evaluates appchain vs shared rollup approaches for various products. Establishes cross-chain interoperability standards.
Defines NFT product architecture: platform scalability strategy, creator tool ecosystem, and cross-marketplace interoperability. Establishes metadata standards, content moderation policies, and IP protection frameworks for NFT collections.
Defines smart contract security standards and audit processes for blockchain products. Establishes pre-deployment security checklists and automated scanning pipelines. Coordinates external audit engagements and manages remediation workflows.
Defines testing methodology and standards for the blockchain organization. Establishes coverage, fuzz testing, and formal verification requirements. Coordinates testing infrastructure.
Defines Solidity development standards and coding guidelines for blockchain products. Establishes contract architecture patterns, upgrade strategies, and deployment workflows. Conducts code reviews focused on security, gas efficiency, and maintainability.
Defines tokenomics strategy for blockchain products and protocols. Establishes economic modeling standards and token launch frameworks. Coordinates with business teams on token utility and market dynamics. Reviews tokenomics designs for sustainability and regulatory compliance.
Defines wallet integration strategy and standards for blockchain products. Establishes multi-chain wallet support guidelines and security review processes for transaction signing. Coordinates with UX teams to optimize onboarding flows and wallet connection experiences.
Defines Web3 frontend architecture standards and development workflows for blockchain products. Establishes patterns for RPC provider management, contract ABI versioning, and cross-chain UI consistency. Conducts code reviews focused on Web3 UX quality and security.
Additional skills
Not assessed by the team, but part of the self-assessment and the development plan.
What changes at Principal
0 skills get a higher expectation or become core when moving from Lead to Principal. The biggest jumps first.
} in the open competency matrix: 79 skills across 5 levels. The matrix is free for individuals and stays free.