Rust Engineer

Arcus Search; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Part time

Job summary

Arcus Search is seeking a Senior Rust Software Engineer for a 12-month contract in London, working onsite in a hub model to build a next-generation distributed storage platform.

You will design and develop core backend services, tackle complex distributed systems, and collaborate with quantitative researchers and engineers on a greenfield infra project.

Qualifications

• 1–2 years of commercial Rust experience
• Strong software engineering fundamentals
• Experience building distributed systems or large-scale backend platforms
• Experience with Kafka
• Experience with Kubernetes
• Background in infrastructure or platform engineering

Responsibilities

• Designing and building distributed backend systems using Rust
• Developing core platform infrastructure from scratch
• Building scalable services to support large-scale research workloads
• Working closely with quantitative researchers and engineering teams
• Contributing across the full software development lifecycle, from architecture through to production

Skills

Rust

Tools

Kafka

Kubernetes

Job description

Senior Rust Software Engineer (Contract)

12-Month Contract | London (Hub Model)

A leading quantitative technology firm is looking for an experienced Rust Software Engineer to join its infrastructure engineering team on an initial 12-month contract.

This is an opportunity to work on a long-term greenfield programme focused on building a next-generation distributed storage platform from the ground up. The project already has an MVP in production and forms part of a wider multi-year investment into the firm's core research infrastructure.

Working alongside highly experienced engineers and quantitative researchers, you'll help design and develop critical infrastructure that underpins large-scale research and data-intensive workloads. This is a role for engineers who enjoy solving complex distributed systems problems and building platforms from first principles.

The Role

You'll join a specialist infrastructure team responsible for designing and delivering core platform services.

The team is building a bespoke distributed storage solution to replace an existing third-party platform, giving engineers the opportunity to influence architecture from an early stage. The work is highly technical, performance-focused and centred around creating scalable, resilient systems that will support the firm's continued growth.

What You'll Be Doing

• Designing and building distributed backend systems using Rust
• Developing core platform infrastructure from scratch
• Building scalable services to support large-scale research workloads
• Working closely with quantitative researchers and engineering teams
• Contributing across the full software development lifecycle, from architecture through to production

What We're Looking For

• Around 1-2 years of commercial Rust experience
• Strong software engineering fundamentals
• Experience building distributed systems or large-scale backend platforms
• Experience with Kafka
• Experience working with Kubernetes
• Experience designing and building platforms from first principles
• A background in infrastructure or platform engineering

Previous storage experience isn't required, but you'll need experience building complex, scalable platforms and enjoy tackling challenging engineering problems.

Why Apply?

• Join a long-term greenfield infrastructure programme
• Work on technology that sits at the heart of a quantitative research platform
• High level of ownership and technical influence
• Collaborative engineering culture with exceptionally high technical standards
• Opportunity to join a growing team on a multi-year programme
• Working Model: Onsite 4 days a week for 3 weeks of the month, 5 days for the 4th week.

Interview Process

• 90-minute onsite technical interview with the engineering team
• 30-minute final interview with the hiring manager