Backend Software Engineer (Rust)

Software Engineer, Backend Systems (Rust) | San Francisco | $185K–$300K + Equity

About the Opportunity

We're partnering with a fast-growing, VC-backed trading technology company in San Francisco to hire 3–5 Backend Software Engineers with production Rust experience. They're building the backend infrastructure for a real-time trading platform, systems where milliseconds matter, markets move fast, and getting it right has real consequences.

This is a chance to work on hard problems: risk engines that hold up in volatile markets, blockchain state machines that power trading and settlement, and distributed systems that stay consistent under pressure. You'll join a small, high-bandwidth team that works together in person, five days a week, and moves quickly.

What You'll Be Doing

• Building and maintaining risk and liquidation engines that manage exposure and improve capital efficiency when markets turn volatile
• Designing and implementing the blockchain state machines behind trading, settlement and risk operations
• Developing services that keep state consistent across asynchronous processes, using voting, consensus and coordination mechanisms
• Processing live market data and coordinating actions across trading venues, managing WebSocket streams and time-sensitive workflows
• Building high-performance REST and WebSocket APIs that power the trading interface with millisecond-level response times

What You'll Bring

• 2–4 years of experience as a backend software engineer, with in-depth, production-level Rust experience
• A genuine, demonstrable interest in trading or financial markets. This matters most to the hiring team, so tell us what draws you to markets.
• Experience building backend services for real-time, high-throughput systems
• Strong command of asynchronous programming (e.g. Tokio)
• Proficiency with a range of databases, including relational, time-series and key-value
• Startup experience, ideally in a VC-backed environment
• A performance-driven mindset and a preference for working closely with your team in person

Nice to Have

• Experience in FinTech, trading or blockchain
• Low-latency or trading-systems experience, whether at a trading firm or on Cloudflare-style infrastructure
• Personal side projects, especially in Rust or C. If you've built something you're proud of, we'd love to see it.

Tech Stack

Rust, Tokio, Distributed Systems, Blockchain, REST APIs, WebSocket APIs, Docker

The Package

• Base salary of $185,000–$300,000, depending on experience
• Competitive equity
• Full-time, on-site role, 5 days a week in the San Francisco office

Visa Sponsorship

Our client can support TN visas and H-1B transfers, including candidates currently on OPT moving to H-1B. They can't support H-1B transfers for candidates in year 3 or year 6 of their H-1B.

Interested?

If you write production Rust, care about performance, and want to work on systems where markets and engineering meet, we'd love to hear from you. Apply with your CV, plus a short note on your interest in trading or financial markets and any relevant side projects.