Software Engineer - Rust - Payward Services

Kraken; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraken is seeking a Software Engineer to design and scale Rust-based services powering trading, payments, and crypto experiences. The role emphasizes reliability, low latency, and secure system design.

You’ll collaborate across teams to deliver reusable, high-performance components, take end-to-end ownership, and work within a fast-paced, product-driven environment with a focus on open finance infrastructure.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of software engineering experience.
• Proficient in writing network services or asynchronous code in Rust.
• Security-first mindset during system design.
• Autonomous debugging across OS, network, and application layers.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems, RPC, and Kafka.
• Collaborates with product teams to gather requirements and constraints.
• End-to-end ownership of systems and libraries.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement robust Rust services and libraries powering trading, payments, and crypto experiences, focusing on reliability and performance.
• Write reusable, testable code that scales across teams and revenue-critical systems.
• Collaborate on large-scale distributed systems architecture and translate product requirements into scalable solutions.
• Work with a large Rust engineering team to deliver high-performance, robust infrastructure.

Skills

Rust

Async I/O

Distributed systems

Kafka

RPC

Debugging

System design

Security

Job description

Building the Future of Open Finance
Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.

Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our culture page to understand what drives us and how we work.

The team

Payward Services is an enterprise infrastructure platform that enables companies to seamlessly integrate trading, payments, funding, and digital asset services through a single unified system. It provides coordinated liquidity, custody, compliance, risk management, and settlement capabilities, reducing operational complexity for fintechs, banks, brokerages, and payment providers.

As a Software Engineer in Payward Services you'll build and scale the systems that make this platform work under the hood, from real-time coordination across services to the infrastructure enterprise partners depend on to move money and assets safely, at scale, every day. We’re looking for builders who thrive in ambiguity, move quickly with ownership, and care deeply about creating robust solutions.

The opportunity

• Design and implement robust Rust services and libraries that power trading, payments, and crypto experiences with a focus on reliability, performance, and user impact.
• Write reusable, testable, and highly efficient code that scales across teams and supports revenue-critical systems without compromising safety or security.
• Collaborate on large-scale distributed systems architecture, translating evolving product requirements into resilient, low-latency solutions.
• Work alongside hundreds of experienced Rust engineers, contributing to a high-performance, product-driven engineering culture.

What You Bring

• 3+ years of software engineering experience
• Proficient in writing network services or asynchronous code in Rust
• Have a security-first mindset during system design to ensure robustness
• Demonstrate the ability to autonomously debug issues across the stack (OS, network, application)
• Apply a solid understanding of distributed systems and technologies, including RPC protocols, Kafka, and Event-Driven Systems, to design scalable solutions
• Collaborate effectively with product teams to gather requirements and constraints for designing appropriate systems
• Take complete end-to-end ownership of systems and libraries

Nice to haves

• Experience building B2B focused products, ideally in the fintech or crypto space

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Our commitment

Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

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