Lead Software Engineer - Backend, Distributed Systems, Rust

Smarkets (Headquarters: London - Hybrid (Onsite in London or Malta))

Location: London - Hybrid   |   Full-Time
Rust Distributed Systems Backend Lead Tech Lead Back End Engineer Staff Engineer

About Smarkets: Smarkets is a betting exchange for sports and political trading that has handled over £37 billion in volume since 2010. Our mission is to fix the betting industry by creating a transparent platform that offers the best value for users, with the best odds, best technology, and a superior customer experience.

The Role: As a Lead Software Engineer in our Engineering organization, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and maintaining the services that power Smarkets’ core exchange functionalities. You will collaborate closely with engineering managers, technical leadership, and product managers to lead complex technical projects aligned with the Smarkets product roadmap.

Responsibilities:

  • Engineer and optimize exchange solutions, focusing on scalability, low latency, reliability, monitoring, security, and automation.
  • Drive sprint planning, including proper scoping of tasks, and execution of the roadmap delivery goals.
  • Set the standard for quality engineering by improving processes and maintaining high excellence.
  • Collaborate with other leads and stakeholders in the implementation and future development of product roadmap.
  • Be proactive during incident management with hands-on troubleshooting.
  • Ensure the career growth of engineers in your team.
  • Represent the team in cross-functional meetings.
  • Articulate the company vision and strategy to the team.

Requirements:

  • Proven experience leading and mentoring exchange-focused engineering teams.
  • 6-8+ years of experience designing, developing, and implementing distributed systems.
  • Deep knowledge in running services in cloud microservice environments with hands-on experience with Kubernetes.
  • Familiarity with AWS cloud, observability principles, and tools like Grafana, Prometheus, Jaeger.
  • 5+ years of experience with compiled languages, preferably Rust, C++, or Go.
  • Excellent planning and communication skills.

Our Tech Stack: Rust (low-latency distributed services), Python, PostgreSQL, Apache Kafka, Nix-based CI/CD.

Benefits: Competitive salary, stock options, health insurance, flexible working, training budget, incredible meals provided daily, and more.

Post Date: July 25, 2025