After nine months, New York City is still seeking to fill three vacancies for policy advisers to work on municipal uses for blockchain technology, Crain’s New York Business reported. The city's Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) is seeking to fill two, and its Department of Social Services is seeking to fill a third.

The title of the two OTI jobs is policy adviser, digital assets and blockchain, and the position pays $160,000 per year.

That may be a pay cut for come candidates, Crain’s opined, comparing that salary to that of a principal technical product manager at BNY Mellon, which became an official digital asset custody platform in October. That job pays between $108,000 and $208,000.

“The individuals who will fill these positions will work with government and external stakeholders to identify, assess, and develop strategies to implement blockchain applications in the right way,” OTI Commissioner Matthew Fraser told the New York City Council’s Technology Committee. “It is important to note that while blockchain could have a plethora of use cases in government, our team is laser-focused on researching and determining where blockchain implementation could make more sense than traditional technology.” 

The new hires will join OTI’s research team within its Strategic Initiatives division. This team will develop frameworks to implement emerging technologies, Crain’s reported.

The  title of the third open job is director of the security operations center at the Department of Social Services, and it has been open for more than two years, according to Crain’s. It is a more general technology position that requires an ability to “identify, recommend and help procure innovative threat and compliance monitoring systems … that utilize the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence, analytics and blockchain.”