Head of Research
Hopae provides global electronic identity verification infrastructure for enterprises. Its products enable businesses to connect to government, bank, and private eID providers through a unified API, and to build compliant digital identity wallets.
Funding
Investors
About Hopae
Hopae is an identity-verification technology company offering global eID access through its Hopae Connect platform. Connect provides a unified API, hosted OIDC flow, and direct REST API integrations for verification against government, bank, and private identity providers. Hopae also offers an accredited, eIDAS 2.0-compliant wallet SDK. It serves identity-verification and e-signature providers, financial services, and businesses in sectors such as gambling, telecoms, retail, travel, hospitality, and mobility.
Skills
About the Role
You will lead the team exploring what comes next in digital identity — from government eID systems to hardware-based, in-person identification — and translate that exploration into products and partnerships that matter. This is a leadership role with real scope: you'll set the research agenda, grow and lead a team, and sit at the intersection of technology, regulation, and product.
Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in identity, digital trust, cryptography, or a closely related technical domain — with at least 3 years in a research leadership or team lead capacity
- Deep knowledge of eID ecosystems — government identity programs, standards (W3C, ISO, ETSI), and regulatory frameworks across multiple jurisdictions
- Hands-on experience or strong familiarity with hardware-based identification technologies — NFC, biometrics, secure elements, or related domains
- A builder and a leader — you set the research direction, develop your team, and drive work from hypothesis to real-world applicability
- Comfortable operating at the frontier where requirements are unclear and precedents are few
- Strong external presence — engaged with standards bodies, published research, or represented an organization in industry forums
- Based in Luxembourg; fluent in English — additional European languages are a plus
Responsibilities
- Define and own Hopae's research roadmap across eID and government identity systems globally, and hardware-based in-person identification solutions
- Lead, grow, and mentor a team of researchers — setting standards, creating focus, and building a culture of rigorous, outcome-oriented inquiry
- Translate research findings into actionable product direction — working closely with Engineering, Product, and Legal
- Monitor the global identity landscape — standards bodies, regulatory developments, emerging technologies, and competitive dynamics
- Represent Hopae externally in relevant industry forums, working groups, and standards organizations (including OpenWallet Foundation and eID authorities)
- Partner with Business Development to turn research assets into commercial opportunities
Benefits
- Unlimited PTO
- Remote-friendly work model
