Technical Lead (Rust/C++)

Since our beginnings in 2017, we have 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 initiators, 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

As Technical Lead at Keyrock, you will assume responsibility for the technology underpinning our Strategic Market Making team, designing and developing mid/high-frequency, large-scale trading platforms that provide Keyrock with a competitive advantage. You will oversee the entire development lifecycle - from initial architecture and code reviews to performance optimisation and continuous deployment - harmonising strategic vision with hands-on engineering. You will foster a culture of innovation and collaboration, working closely with Product, Quantitative Research and Operations to translate strategic objectives into scalable systems and measurable outcomes. Ultimately, you will ensure the delivery of secure, reliable and high-performance solutions that maintain Keyrock’s market leadership.

Job Description

• Lead and manage a team of talented engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
• Drive the design, development, and maintenance of high-concurrency, high-performance trading systems.
• Collaborate closely with product management to align engineering efforts with product goals and roadmap.
• Implement and enforce best practices in software development, including code reviews, testing methodologies, and deployment strategies.
• Ensure the scalability, reliability, and security of our systems by implementing robust architectures and engineering practices.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to team members, fostering their professional growth and development.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies, identifying opportunities for innovation and improvement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Collaborate with System Architect and other Engineering managers to align with our company-wide technical strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide both strategic direction and day-to-day hands-on development across our suite of high-concurrency, high-performance trading platforms.
• Lead, mentor and inspire a multidisciplinary team of engineers, embedding a growth mindset, agile practices and engineering excellence.
• Partner with Product Management to translate roadmap objectives into scalable architectures, rigorous engineering plans and sprint deliverables.
• Define, implement and uphold industry-leading development standards - including comprehensive code reviews, test-driven development, CI/CD pipelines and release orchestration.
• Architect and validate robust, secure and resilient systems; proactively identify performance bottlenecks and champion continuous optimisation.
• Collaborate with the System Architect and fellow Engineering Managers to ensure alignment with our overarching technical vision and technology stack roadmap.
• Drive innovation by evaluating emerging technologies, fostering proof-of-concepts and rolling out improvements that deliver measurable business impact.
• Engage with cross-functional teams (Operations, Security, QA, Architecture) to streamline processes, elevate operational maturity and guarantee 24/7 production reliability.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in architecting and maintaining high-concurrency, low-latency trading systems at scale.
• Advanced proficiency in Rust (or C++ and willing to learn 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, 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.

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.