Head of Engineering (Rust)

💻 Head of Engineering / Senior Engineering Manager

🙌 Leadership / Senior

☁️ Cloud Infrastructure & Developer Platform

🌍 Preference for Hybrid in London - Willing to flex to monthly/bi-monthly trips for great remote candidates

💷 Up to €170,000 + Equity + Benefits

A fast-growing open-source startup is reimagining how developers build and scale cloud-native backends. With a platform loved by thousands of developers, we’re creating the next-generation experience for building and shipping with Rust.

This is a rare opportunity to lead a highly technical team shaping the foundation of a developer platform used across the globe. We’re looking for a seasoned engineering leader who combines deep Rust and cloud infrastructure experience with the ability to scale teams, systems, and culture.

You’ll be both strategic and hands-on — driving architectural decisions, mentoring engineers, and ensuring that shipping velocity matches ambition.

What You’ll Do

• Own and evolve the core platform architecture to support our growing developer base.
• Lead a high-performing distributed team, driving technical direction and engineering best practices.
• Champion simplicity, reliability, and speed in every layer of the stack.
• Contribute directly to the codebase (Rust-based systems) and guide major technical decisions.
• Collaborate closely with the founding team to translate product vision into execution.
• Introduce and refine AI-assisted developer workflows as they scale.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 3+ in a leadership capacity.
• Proven track record building and scaling backend systems in Rust (or strong proficiency with a willingness to dive deep).
• Experience designing or operating cloud-native architectures on AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems and developer tooling.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, IaC tools (Terraform/Pulumi), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to lead through influence — mentoring engineers, improving velocity, and driving technical clarity.
• Startup mindset: ownership, pragmatism, and bias for action.

Nice to Have

• Background in building PaaS or developer platforms.
• Experience with open-source projects or developer communities.
• Interest in applying AI tools to accelerate developer productivity.
• Prior experience scaling small teams into high-performing orgs.

Benefits

• Salary up to €170,000 + Equity
• EoR or B2B
• Flexible hours and opportunity to have remote-friendly working
• Mental & physical health stipend
• Education and professional growth budget
• Regular off-sites and socials
• Health insurance and wellbeing benefits