Lead Rust Engineer
First seen by Alion on Oct 23, 2026.
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We are hiring a Lead Rust Engineer to own the technical direction and build the service and API layer of a next-generation data platform for one of our clients. The immediate work is backend services and APIs, including moving existing client integrations onto a new API surface and building out a Rust service layer.
The new services we are building are in Rust, with some C# in the mix, while parts of the current platform still run on Ruby. We need a hands-on technical leader who is comfortable across that landscape and picks up new pieces quickly.
Key responsibilities
Set technical direction, priorities and engineering standards.
Own architecture and API design decisions for the new service layer and the migration path from legacy systems.
Design, build and maintain backend services and APIs, with Rust as the primary language.
Develop and extend the Rust service layer that sits at the core of the new platform.
Migrate existing clients, written in C# and Ruby, from the current API surface to the new one with minimal disruption.
Work in the existing Ruby codebase where needed while the platform moves to the new architecture.
Contribute to API design, versioning and contracts so consumers can adopt new endpoints cleanly.
Support data synchronization work through delivery, helping get it across the finish line.
Write well-tested, observable, production-ready code and set the bar for code quality through reviews.
Partner closely with client engineering leads and the wider Transcenda team.
Must have
8+ years of backend engineering experience building services and APIs in production, ideally 2+ years in a tech lead role.
Hands-on commercial experience with Rust, including async services (for example Tokio, Axum or Actix).
Working knowledge of Ruby, enough to read, maintain and safely change an existing Ruby codebase (using code assistants).
Strong API design skills: REST and/or gRPC, versioning, backward compatibility and client migration.
Solid grounding in relational databases, SQL and service-to-service integration.
Experience with testing, CI/CD and observability for backend services.
Proven ability to ramp up quickly on unfamiliar codebases and languages, and to bring a team along with you.
Experience driving agentic coding practices across a team: setting guidelines, defining review standards for AI-generated code, and helping engineers use these tools effectively and safely.
Clear written and spoken English and comfort working directly with client engineering leads.
Nice to have
C# / .NET experience, particularly on API clients or services.
Prior work on API platform migrations or strangler-pattern rewrites.
Exposure to metadata management or data synchronization systems.
Data engineering or ETL experience.
Background in regulated industries.