Backend Software Engineer -- Rust & Real-Time Crypto Trading

Published: 6/14/2022

Technology

Job Description

Job DescriptionBackend Software Engineer — Rust & Real-Time Crypto Trading Company: HireNow Staffing (Direct Placement Partner) Location: New York, New York
Employment: Full-Time | Direct Hire
Work Arrangement: Onsite, five days per week
Base Salary: $185,000–$300,000 annually
Equity: Competitive equity package
Visa Sponsorship: Not available HireNow Snapshot HireNow Staffing is recruiting a backend engineer with meaningful production Rust experience to help build the infrastructure behind a real-time crypto trading platform. This opportunity is designed for an engineer who understands asynchronous systems, cares about performance, and has a demonstrable interest in trading and financial markets. You will work on risk engines, live market data, distributed state coordination, and APIs where millisecond-level response times matter. The hiring company is a small startup building a unified trading experience across multiple crypto venues and products. Engineers work closely with founders and senior technical colleagues; with significant ownership of the systems, they build. HireNow Staffing is acting as a direct placement partner. HireNow Package Annual Base Salary

$185,000–$300,000, based on qualifications and experience

Equity

Competitive equity package
Grant details and vesting terms to be discussed during the hiring process

Employment and Location

Full-time, direct-hire position
New York City office
Onsite attendance required five days per week
Remote and hybrid arrangements are not available for this opening

Work Authorization and Relocation

The supplied employer criteria specify U.S. citizens or Green Card holders
Current or future visa sponsorship is not available
Relocation assistance has not been confirmed

Key Responsibilities Risk and Trading Infrastructure

Build and maintain risk and liquidation engines that support capital efficiency in volatile markets.
Process live market data and coordinate time-sensitive actions across trading venues.
Develop reliable backend services for real-time, high-throughput trading workflows.

Distributed Systems and Blockchain

Design and implement blockchain state machines supporting trading, settlement, and risk operations.
Maintain consistent state across asynchronous processes using voting, consensus, and coordination mechanisms.
Address concurrency, reliability, and performance challenges across distributed services.

APIs and Performance

Build high-performance REST and WebSocket APIs with millisecond-level response times.
Manage WebSocket streams and other real-time data workflows.
Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks.
Collaborate with a small engineering team to deliver and improve production systems.

Required Qualifications

2–4 years of relevant backend software engineering experience
Meaningful, hands-on production Rust experience
Asynchronous programming experience with Tokio or directly comparable Rust-based systems
Experience building real-time, high-throughput backend services
Experience with low-latency or trading systems
Experience with multiple database types, such as relational, time-series, or key-value databases
Meaningful startup experience
Relevant experience in fintech, crypto, trading, high-frequency trading, or blockchain
Demonstrable interest in trading and financial markets
Meaningful personal technical projects, particularly in Rust or C
Strong backend and systems-engineering fundamentals
Willingness to work onsite in New York City five days per week
Ability to meet the employer's stated work-authorization requirements without current or future sponsorship

Production Rust is essential. General backend experience or proficiency in another systems language does not replace this requirement. Preferred Qualifications No separate optional qualifications were specified. Particularly strong evidence of fit includes:

Direct ownership of production Rust services
Experience with distributed state consistency and coordination
REST and WebSocket API development
Measurable improvements to system latency, throughput, or reliability
Personal Rust or C projects demonstrating technical depth
Experience delivering critical infrastructure within a small startup team

Technical Environment Rust, Tokio, asynchronous programming, distributed systems, blockchain, REST APIs, WebSocket APIs, Docker, low-latency services, real-time data processing, and relational, time-series, and key-value databases. HireNow Checklist HireNow Staffing is seeking a hands-on backend engineer with production Rust expertise and relevant trading or financial-technology experience. Candidates should be prepared to:

Explain what they personally built in Rust and how it operated in production.
Describe their use of asynchronous programming and concurrency.
Discuss real-time data streams, throughput requirements, and latency constraints.
Identify the database technologies they used and why.
Explain their experience with trading, fintech, crypto, HFT, or blockchain.
Share meaningful personal projects and their technical contributions.
Demonstrate successful work in a startup environment.
Confirm five-day onsite availability in New York City.
Confirm work authorization, compensation expectations, and potential start date.
Explain employment transitions and demonstrate professional follow-through.

HireNow Standout Candidates Standout candidates can move beyond naming technologies and explain their engineering decisions: how a service handled concurrent events, where latency came from, how failures were managed, and what changed after an optimization. The strongest applicants will combine production Rust experience with curiosity about financial markets, substantive personal projects, and enthusiasm for building alongside a small team. This role is best suited to someone who wants to remain close to the code and take ownership of difficult backend problems. HireNow Disqualifiers

No meaningful production Rust experience
No relevant asynchronous programming experience
Lack of real-time, high-throughput, low-latency, or trading-systems experience
No relevant fintech, crypto, trading, HFT, or blockchain background
Primarily frontend or mobile experience without the required backend depth
No meaningful startup experience
Preference for remote or hybrid work
Recent experience centered on executive leadership or people management rather than hands-on engineering
Need for current or future visa sponsorship
Failure to meet the employer's stated work-authorization criteria
Frequent, unexplained job changes; jumpy résumés are not accepted

Work Environment This is a collaborative, in-person startup environment with direct access to founders and senior engineers. The company seeks engineers who are motivated by challenging systems work, open to feedback, and comfortable with rapidly changing priorities. The role requires five days per week in the New York City office. Team members sometimes choose to collaborate on weekends; weekend work has not been stated as mandatory. Interview Process The employer aims to complete the process within approximately 14 days, subject to scheduling.

Introductory screen — 30 minutes: Background, experience, and interest
CTO introduction — 30 minutes: Company, technical environment, and role
Two technical interviews — 60 minutes each: Rust, asynchronous programming, coding, and systems knowledge
Investor conversation — 45 minutes: Opportunity to ask questions and evaluate the company
Final behavioral interview — 30 minutes: Working style, motivation, and fit

HireNow Staffing Disclaimer HireNow Staffing handles candidate information confidentially throughout the recruitment process. Responsibilities, compensation, equity terms, work arrangements, and hiring requirements may evolve based on employer needs. Submission does not guarantee an interview or offer. Please apply only if you meet the core qualifications, including production Rust experience and onsite availability. Your Journey. Our Priority. https://www.careers-page.com/hirenow-staffing-inc/job/3W8YR388