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 volatileDesigning and implementing the blockchain state machines behind trading, settlement and risk operationsDeveloping services that keep state consistent across asynchronous processes, using voting, consensus and coordination mechanismsProcessing live market data and coordinating actions across trading venues, managing WebSocket streams and time-sensitive workflowsBuilding 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 experienceA 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 systemsStrong command of asynchronous programming (e.g. Tokio)Proficiency with a range of databases, including relational, time-series and key-valueStartup experience, ideally in a VC-backed environmentA performance-driven mindset and a preference for working closely with your team in person Nice to Have Experience in FinTech, trading or blockchainLow-latency or trading-systems experience, whether at a trading firm or on Cloudflare-style infrastructurePersonal 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 experienceCompetitive equityFull-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.