Engineering Lead (Rust)
About Keyrock
Since our beginnings in 2017, we've grown to be a leading change-maker in the digital asset space, renowned for our partnerships and innovation.
Today, we rock with over 180 team members around the world. Our diverse team hails from 42 nationalities, with backgrounds ranging from DeFi natives to PhDs. Predominantly remote, we have hubs in London, Brussels and Singapore, and host regular online and offline hangouts to keep the crew tight.
We are trading on more than 80 exchanges, and working with a wide array of asset issuers. As a well-established market maker, our distinctive expertise led us to expand rapidly. Today, our services span market making, options trading, high-frequency trading, OTC, and DeFi trading desks.
But we’re more than a service provider. We’re an initiator. We're pioneers in adopting the Rust development language for our algorithmic trading, and champions of its use in the industry. We support the growth of Web3 startups through our Accelerator Program. We upgrade ecosystems by injecting liquidity into promising DeFi, RWA, and NFT protocols. And we push the industry's progress with our research and governance initiatives.
At Keyrock, we're not just envisioning the future of digital assets. We're actively building it.
Mission statement
The Tech Lead plays a pivotal role in bridging business objectives with technical execution. This role is not purely managerial nor solely individual contributor, but a hybrid position that combines hands-on engineering, architectural leadership, and team enablement. A Tech Lead ensures delivery excellence by actively contributing to the codebase, guiding the team technically, and aligning execution with long-term strategic goals.
At Keyrock, the Tech Lead is a senior technical contributor who drives the implementation and delivery of engineering initiatives within their Business Unit. The Tech Lead is accountable for technical execution and delivery quality, ensuring that systems are built to high standards of reliability, performance, and maintainability.
While the Head of Engineering (HoE) focuses on strategic alignment - ensuring that engineering outcomes meet the broader objectives agreed with the Head of Product (HoP) - the Tech Lead operates as the executional deputy, translating those strategic objectives into code, architecture, and delivery outcomes.
Job Description
Act as the technical point of accountability for the Service Market Making Business Unit.
Balance strategic thinking with pragmatic delivery, ensuring systems are built to last while meeting immediate needs.
Champion collaboration across teams, ensuring alignment between product, design, QA, and engineering.
Inspire and develop engineers through mentorship, coaching, and technical guidance, fostering growth and autonomy within the team.
Key Responsibilities
Drive Delivery and Alignment: Partner with the Head of Engineering to own delivery of entire work-streams, ensuring architecture and engineering decisions align with both immediate requirements and business strategy.
Balance Code and Leadership: Contribute directly through coding, while also focusing on architecture design, peer reviews, and cross-functional communication.
Mentor and Elevate Engineers: Provide structured feedback through design and code reviews, support skill development, and empower junior and mid-level engineers to take ownership.
Technical Leadership: Guide system design, ensure scalability and resilience, and optimise performance across applications and infrastructure.
Maintain Standards: Uphold engineering best practices, enforce coding guidelines, and partner with QA to embed automation and validation in the delivery pipeline.
Codebase Health: Manage technical debt, lead refactoring initiatives, and ensure long-term maintainability and operational excellence.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with product managers, designers, and QA engineers to define scope, refine requirements, and plan delivery in a transparent and predictable manner.
Risk Management: Anticipate technical risks, dependencies, and trade-offs early, and propose mitigations to safeguard delivery timelines.
Requirements
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience
5+ years in a Technical Leadership position guiding teams, shaping architecture, and driving delivery of complex projects
Demonstrated expertise in architecting and maintaining high-concurrency, low-latency trading systems at scale
Advanced proficiency in Rust; working knowledge of Node.js (JavaScript/TypeScript) and Python is an advantage
Deep experience with data-intensive architectures and real-time data pipelines
Proven track record deploying, optimising and operating AWS environments for ultra-low-latency workloads
Hands-on experience containerising applications and managing Kubernetes clusters in production
Familiarity with GitOps workflows to automate infrastructure provisioning, configuration and deployments
Solid command of software engineering best practices, including Agile methodologies, DevOps principles and end-to-end CI/CD pipelines
Knowledge of DevSecFinOps principles to embed security, compliance and cost-governance throughout the delivery lifecycle
Demonstrated leadership of engineering teams, with a commitment to fostering collaboration, mentorship and continuous professional growth
Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills, able to partner effectively with Product, Architecture, Quantitative Research and Operations
Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset, with a passion for building scalable, reliable and secure systems
Deep domain knowledge of finance and trading, particularly within the cryptocurrency sector
Experience in fast-paced, dynamic financial or fintech environments is highly desirable
We would like the successful candidate to be based in the UK or Europe. Remote and flexible work options are available.
Soft Skills & Competencies
Ownership & Reliability – Take full responsibility for your work. Deliver high-quality service, meet deadlines, and follow through on commitments. Anticipate and proactively address potential issues before they arise.
Initiative & Problem-Solving – Approach challenges with a problem-solving entrepreneurial mindset. Make sound, independent judgments and take the initiative to drive solutions rather than waiting for instructions.
Operational Diligence – Respond strategically to technical and operational challenges, ensuring robust and reliable trading infrastructure while instilling confidence in the team’s processes.
Curiosity & Growth Mindset – Continuously seek to improve your technical skills and knowledge. Stay ahead of industry trends and take the initiative to practice and explore new technologies that excite you.
Excellent Communication Skills with a team player mindset, collaborating within a fully remote global team.
We would like the successful candidate to be based in the UK or Europe. Remote and flexible work options are available.
Our recruitment philosophy
We value self-awareness in our recruitment process. We seek people who understand themselves and their career goals. We're after those with the right skills and a conscious choice to join our field. The perfect fit? A crypto enthusiast who’s driven, collaborative, and delivers solid, scalable outcomes.
Our offer
A competitive salary package, with various benefits depending on the method of engagement (employee or freelancer).
Autonomy in your time management thanks to flexible working hours and the opportunity to work remotely
The freedom to create your own entrepreneurial experience by being part of a team of people in search of excellence
As an employer we are committed to build an inclusive, diverse and non-discriminating work environment. We welcome employees of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, creed and sexual orientation. We hire, reward and promote entirely based on merit and performance.
Due to the nature of our business and external requirements, we perform background checks on all potential employees, passing which is a prerequisite to join Keyrock.