Atlas Axis - Ecosystem Governance & Operations Lead

We are Atlas Axis, a startup venture incubated by Sky (formerly MakerDAO). As one of the earliest DAOs on Ethereum, Sky was launched in 2014 and became the first DeFi application to earn significant adoption. Today, the Sky Ecosystem stewards the longest-running protocol on Ethereum with a TVL of over $5 billion.

To achieve a resilient, decentralized and unbiased world currency, Sky is undergoing a radical structural, organizational and cultural transformation which it has dubbed “Endgame.” The heart of Endgame is the Atlas, the massive, AI-enhanced governance ruleset powering the entire Sky Ecosystem.

Atlas Axis has been entrusted with developing and helping operationalize the Atlas. We are driving toward a vision of decentralized governance that is not only ambitious, but stands to create transformative social change.

Deliverables

Taking on this role makes you a key architect of the Atlas and Sky's governance processes. As a founding team member of Atlas Axis, you will steward all aspects of the end-to-end workflow, including conducting original research; preparing raw data in various forms for integration into the Atlas; setting up and continually refining Atlas core infrastructure and meta-rules; coordinating workstreams with numerous ecosystem stakeholders such as Alignment Conservers, community members, drafters and domain experts; and drafting, validating and harmonizing Atlas data.

You will also play a key role in operationalizing the Atlas, including defining workflows for different members of the ecosystem to work together, reviewing outputs from other actors for compliance with the Atlas, and feeding back learnings from practical experience to continually improve the Atlas.

We are in the early stages of this experiment. The ideal candidate has to be excited about venturing into the messy unknown and shaping the future of self-governance at the Sky Ecosystem and beyond.

• You should be familiar with the Atlas and Sky (formerly MakerDAO). We are willing to make an exception for people who are very quick learners and possess all other qualifications. If you lack familiarity with Sky, significant experience with community-driven organizations (Web3, decentralized or otherwise) would be a differentiator.

• Sharp thinker, logical and creative. We’re grinding through mountains of data and need intense focus to navigate the multiple interconnections among data points.

• Obsessive about learning and tackling complex problems.

• Strong organizational skills. Meticulous, detail-oriented. A sixth sense for “things being out of order”.

• Deep operations orientation. You think not only of "what" but "how", breaking down high level processes into detailed workflows and developing tools to optimize them.

• Self-starter: you observe and listen deeply so that you can “read between the lines.” We can have a sync, and you can go away with confidence to get from point A to Z with minimal additional direction. You can discern what is needed.

• Exceptional ability to read, analyze and synthesize large volumes of information. Adept at pattern recognition. Strong working memory a must.

• Excellent communication skills in English. In particular, you must write rather quickly (not counting chatGPT). We are a writing-heavy team and we ourselves are learning the Atlas as we build it. This means we have to hash out, in text, fine-grained arguments with one another.

• Ability to interact with external stakeholders with clarity and credibility. Judgment to resolve issues when possible and escalate them when necessary.

• You must be familiar with wringing meaning out of precise facets of language. Working with the Atlas, you’ll find that seemingly insignificant changes to syntax can transform the logic of a provision. Hopefully, you find this exciting.

• Non-binary thinker. The Atlas presents innumerable, complex legal and ethical governance issues that cannot be grasped with black-or-white thinking.

• You’re a proud generalist. No hesitation to wear whatever hat is needed. You’ll be working toward the moonshot with us, but the day to day will involve admin; research; stakeholder coordination; workflow optimization; data input, creation and review; preparation of documentation; etc.

• Tools: Notion! We’re building out large parts of our workflow in Notion, so you’ve got to be comfy using it. Big plus if you’re deep into orchestrating AI-assisted workflows and are tasting/trying all of the AI tools and models.

• Culture is key. We look for highly capable colleagues, but also kindness. We look for people who feel sincere love for the mission, people who want to build for a future whose full bloom they will not live to see.
  

Additional Role Specs

• This founding team role is a contract engagement whose demands will require full-time focus.

• The application process may proceed to a timed work test (compensated), and the most promising candidate(s) will be initially onboarded on a trial basis. If the trial period is successful, the candidate(s) would then join our team on an ongoing basis, contingent as always on standards/expectations continuing to be met.

• We are looking for colleagues who are ready and excited to build with us, shoulder-to-shoulder, for the next two-plus years. This is not the right position for those looking for short-term opportunities.
  

Compensation

We offer highly competitive compensation (USDS and SKY), with bonus potential. If you are the right person, there is incredible potential to grow with us.