Low-Latency Systems Engineer; Rust

Our client are a London‑based, engineering‑led technology company building ultra‑high‑performance infrastructure for decentralised financial networks. Their systems operate at extreme scale and low latency, supporting sophisticated trading and financial activity while preserving decentralisation. The company is venture‑backed, profitable, and focused on solving hard, real‑world performance problems where engineering decisions directly impact outcomes. They keep hierarchy as minimal as possible. Engineers own problems, not tasks.

You'll have significant autonomy from day one. You'd own systems end‑to‑end, from design through deployment through iteration. The code you write can be shipped within the hour and will directly affect market share and P&L.

Rust is their primary language. They are open to strong C/C++/etc. engineers who are willing to switch.

• Design, build, and operate high‑throughput, low‑latency distributed systems in a highly competitive, adversarial environment.
• Optimise performance‑critical code paths where microsecond‑level improvements compound across millions of executions.
• Work on complex optimisation problems, including transaction ordering, simulations, and state computation at scale.
• Build and maintain ultra‑low‑latency components where simplicity, determinism, and speed are paramount.
• Analyse competitor behaviour and system dynamics, turning insights into engineering or strategic improvements with direct commercial impact.
• Own systems end‑to‑end: design, implementation, deployment, monitoring, and iteration, with rapid feedback loops.
• Contribute to innovation in a fast‑evolving technical domain where protocols, algorithms, and access patterns are still being defined.

Required:

• Strong systems programming experience in Rust (or C++ with willingness to switch).
• Deep understanding of concurrency, including lock‑free data structures, synchronisation primitives, and multi‑core data flow.
• Proven ability to profile and optimise software, with strong knowledge of how code interacts with hardware (CPU caches, memory layout, branch prediction, compiler behaviour).
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and comfort operating in novel, adversarial, and fast‑moving environments.
• High ownership mindset, with experience taking systems from concept through production and continuous improvement.

Nice to Have:

• Familiarity with blockchain systems or virtual machine execution environments.
• Experience with high‑performance networking or kernel‑level optimisations.
• Exposure to auction systems, game theory, or adversarial market design.

Salary Package: Base + Cash Bonus + Equity