Vice President of Applied Research & Creative Engineering (ARC)

Who are we?

IOG, is a technology company focused on Blockchain research and development.

We are renowned for our scientific approach to blockchain development, emphasizing peer-reviewed research and formal methods to ensure security, scalability, and sustainability.

Our projects include decentralized finance (DeFi), governance, and identity management, aiming to advance the capabilities and adoption of blockchain technology globally.

We invest in the unknown, applying our curiosity and desire for positive change to everything we do.

By fueling creativity, innovation, and progress within our teams, our products and services are designed for people to be fearless, to be changemakers.

What the role involves:

You will provide senior enterprise-wide leadership to ensure that research investment is converted into tangible business impact and scalable solutions.

Operating as a regulating and commissioning hub for innovation, you will set the vision, strategy, and operating model for ARC to triage requests, commission prototypes and technical analyses, and recommend build-versus-outsource approaches that best serve IOG’s ventures and product teams.

By integrating insights from competitive intelligence, foundational research, and architectural design, the VP ensures that prototyping and solution validation are carried out with clear objectives and measurable outcomes, delivering decision‑ready outputs that reduce risk and accelerate time‑to‑market.

Accountable for building and continuously improving a repeatable, scalable operating model that can flex with organisational growth and the increasing volume of venture requests, while embedding rigorous scientific and engineering methodology, transparent governance, and measurable KPIs.

Through strategic direction, cross‑functional leadership, and strong executive communication, you will ensure that new technologies and creative engineering concepts move efficiently from exploration to practical application, bridging research, engineering, and commercial product development to drive IOG’s long‑term innovation agenda.

Strategic and Organisational Leadership

• Set and evolve ARC’s vision, service model, and operating framework to integrate foundational research into product and venture development.
  
  
• Define governance structures to commission, regulate, and prioritise prototyping requests, ensuring transparent intake, queue management, and resource allocation.
  
  
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators for cycle throughput, quality of outcomes, and adoption of ARC outputs by downstream product teams.
  
  

Regulating and Commissioning Function

• Operate as a balancing and regulating hub that triages new technical and research‑driven requests from across IOG’s ventures and product groups.
  
  
• Provide expected recommendations on build‑versus‑outsource decisions, considering internal capability, innovation risk, and time‑to‑market.
  
  
• Commission prototypes, technical analyses, or exploratory research as needed to validate proposals and inform business decisions.
  
  
• Deliver validated prototypes, competitive analyses, and documented insights back to the requesting product or venture teams to enable informed strategic choices.
  
  

Innovation Cycle Management

• Drive a structured ~90‑day innovation cycle for each commissioned request to achieve measurable progress, validate feasibility, and reduce risk.
  
  
• Maintain cadence and operational discipline while allowing flexibility for high‑priority or breakthrough opportunities.
  
  
• Continually improve cycle efficiency and impact using data‑driven reviews and lessons learned.
  
  
• Incorporate AI‑powered simulation, modelling, and code‑generation tools to accelerate prototype development and technical feasibility assessments.
  
  

Research‑to‑Product Integration

• Embed research experts within product and engineering teams during prototyping to ensure knowledge